QUESTION: Is God unjust for punishing people in eternal hell if they never even heard of Jesus?
ANSWER: The answer unfolds from the teachings of a series of verses.
The first is Romans 1:19-20. “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” This makes clear that God has provided mankind with abundant evidences from which each can easily reason to the existence of God. [See also, Psa. 19:1-2; Heb. 3:4]. Such evidences are: teleological in that design in nature (as in any animal, plant, man, ecosystems, etc.) demands a Designer; cosmological in that cause (sun, stars, earth, man) necessitates a First Cause; and moral law (inborn law that murdering, stealing, etc., is wrong [Rom. 2:15]) implies a Law Giver.
Second, having supplied man with abundant evidence regarding the existence of God, God has also so made man that he should then seek and find God. This is taught in Acts 17:26-27, “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.” Thus, with such a God-given desire, man should seek to find if He has revealed His Will to man.
Third, the Gospel of Jesus had been preached to the whole world. Colossians 1:23 makes this clear, “And be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.” Furthermore, with the thousands of missionaries throughout the world, the Bible is now everywhere. While it is true that there are a great number of false teachers, the fact is, the Bible is throughout the world, and the man who has come to know that there is a God and who is seeking after God can read the Bible and understand it (Eph. 3:3-4) and come to know the Truth which will set him free (John 8:32).
Thus, (1) since every person can know there is a God, and (2) since every person should then seek God; and (3) since the Gospel is available to be found, then if they are not saved on earth it is not God’s fault, and thus, He is not unjust for punishing them in eternal hell.
Gary Henson
[Note: the above does not relieve the Christian from his responsibility in teaching others about Jesus (Mark 16:15); rather, it encourages us by revealing there are doors that are open!]