Lan Barnes wrote:
Hmm ... I wonder if pagan marriages are to be honored in these
discussions? Of course, that begs the old question of what kind of a god
damns people who could never have heard of him (like anyone born B.C.).
There is at least some evidence in Scripture that indicates that a
person will be judged by his own judgements of others. This alone is
enough to condemn almost anyone.
And besides, in your exposure to the Bible, do you recall when Jesus
said to the sinner on the cross next to His, "Surely today you will be
with me in Paradise."? Four days later, He's talking to Mary Magdelene
and He says "Do not cling to me for I have not yet risen to my Father.".
Now here's a question that bothered me for seven years before I found
the answer: "If Paradise was not with the Father, where was it?" The
answer makes perfect sense (and fits another Scripture, a fulfillment of
prophecy that says that He needed to preach to the dead and that He led
away the captives of Hell): Paradise was a place known as Abraham's
Bosom, or Sheol. When Jesus died, he went to the place where there were
those who would have been saved had they only heard the gospel, and
there preached to them the gospel, and took them out of there. If
you've ever heard it said that Heaven and Hell are only 18 inches apart,
this is what they were referring to, only it's not Heaven, but Paradise.
Jesus spoke of the two places in a parable (before he was crucified)
about a rich man and Lazarus who both died, the rich man going to Hades
and there was tormented while Lazarus went to Abraham's Bosom and there
was comforted.
This is how God took care of those ("who were born B.C.") who would have
believed the gospel had they only heard it.
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