"'Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared.'" CS Lewis The Horse and His Boy

 

 

sunset over the sahara-NASA

 

 

In CS Lewis’s final book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, called The Last Battle, Emeth, who had been a soldier of Tash, the evil Tisroc, is told to view the body of his dead leader in a stable. Unbeknownst to Emeth, this stable was a portal to the new Narnia. This was an allegory of the new earth as talked about in Revelation. The Lion is Aslan, the Christ figure. The following is Emeth’s account: LINK
 

“By the Gods, this is a pleasant place; it may be that I am come into the country of Tash. And I began to journey into the strange country and to seek him. […]"

"[…] there came to meet me a great Lion […] Then I fell at his feet and thought, Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honour) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen him.

 

But the Glorious One bent down his golden head and touched my forehead with his tongue and said, "Son, you are welcome. But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no son of Thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me. […] Not because he and I are one, but because we are opposites, I take to me the services which thou hast done to him, for I and he are of such different kinds that no service which is vile can be done to me, and none which is not vile can be done to him. Therefore, if any man swear by Tash and keep his oath for the oath's sake, it is by me that he has truly sworn, though he know it not, and it is I who reward him."

 

This passage in CS Lewis’ book is probably the most controversial of his writings. Some have used this as “proof” the Lewis was not a true Christian while others have said his writing fits within the pale of orthodoxy. I am one who adores Lewis. However, it is not my intention to be an apologizer for all of his writings. Instead I would like to explore the inherent issue. Who gets to go to heaven?.
Now, I could take the easy way out and simply say, “Let God be the judge.” In the end that is what this boils down to. But, treading into hot water, I plan to look at several opinions.

 

First, let me clarify something. I am NOT a universalist. I cannot reconcile that position Biblically. However, beyond that, I find a number of positions appealing. One further point must be made. I do not believe that we should judge one another as we, in good faith, wrestle with the enormously difficult issue of heaven and hell. Many people are in process. Some, like John Stott, were once traditionalists and have changed their positions over time. Perhaps we all need to cut each other some slack as we wrestle with the implications.
 

Here is a list of possibilities to consider.

• Infants
• Children
• Mentally challenged
• A schizophrenic
• A woman who shakes when she hears the word Jesus because her father raped her in the name of Jesus
• Old Testament Jews
• A soldier of Genghis Khan who never heard the Gospel
• A 20 year old male in an Amazon tribe in the 1400s
• A Muslim woman locked up in her house in the Middle East, abused by her husband who has no access to media.

 

So let’s take a look at some perspectives by various pastors/theologians/Christian leaders.
 

No one but actual Christians who are saved go to heaven.

I found only a couple of sources at The Puritan Board, LINK  that claim some babies go to hell. I found no sources that imply all babies go to hell.
“Babies that are born to elect families are saved, the rest are not."

 

Many babies go to hell

According to one source at the aforementioned Puritan Board that

“DR Twiss of the Westminster Assembly said: 'Many infants depart from this life in original sin, and consequently are condemned to eternal death on account of original sin alone. Therefore, from the sole transgression of Adam condemnation to eternal death has followed upon many infants.'”

 

Babies go to heaven

Al Mohler and Daniel Akin at Between the Times LINK

“It is our conviction that there are good reasons biblically and theologically for believing that God saves all who die who do not reach a stage of moral understanding and accountability. It is readily admitted that Scripture does not speak to this issue directly, yet there is evidence that can be gleaned that would lead us to affirm on biblical grounds that God receives into heaven all who have died in infancy. Some evidence is stronger than others, but cumulatively they marshall strong support for infant salvation.”

For the rest of the discussion of infants, I quote from a discussion at The Puritan Board. LINK

 

Caveats:

“Some are definitely saved (such as baptized infants), but we do not know about the rest. This has been the position of some Calvinists, such as FrancisTurretin, Herman Hoeksema, and several of the older Reformed theologians.”

“All dying infants are saved and elect, whether baptized or not. This is by far the prevailing view among Calvinists, such as Charles Hodge, B.B. Warfield, C.H. Spurgeon,A.M. Toplady, Ulrich Zwingli (probably the first to say so in no uncertain terms), Lewis Sperry Chafer, W.G.T. Shedd, Loraine Boettner,” I quoted John Piper stating this in another context.

 

Problems with this viewpoint:

"All babies that die are among the elect? So, if Adolf Hitler had died as an infant, he would have been among the elect? His life proves that he was not elected, which means he wasn't elected as an infant, either.

All babies are born sinners (Psalm 51:5). All babies, as they grow, need the gospel."

 

Children who die before the age of accountability to heaven

Probe Ministries presents this perspective well. LINK

“And the key issue here is one of comprehension of, or the understanding of the Gospel message. This is not only true for children, it is true for adults. When Philip saw the Ethiopian eunuch sitting in his chariot reading Isaiah 53, he was instructed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:29) to "Go up and join this chariot." Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading. The eunuch replied, "Well, how could I, unless someone guides Me?" (v. 31). Acts 8:32-40 goes on to relate that Philip explained how this Eunuch could become a Christian. He responded and was baptized.

 

My point in beginning with this incident is because there can be no salvation without an understanding of the gospel message. We find Paul throughout the book of Acts reasoning, debating, contending with people so they might understand the message of salvation. And so children must be old enough to understand the gospel, which involves a comprehension of their own personal sin and guilt.”
 

Most believe there is a particular age in which a child becomes able to understand. This age, according to many, starts around puberty.

 

Do the mentally challenged go to heaven?

I believe the preceding paragraph applies in this instance.

At Got Questions.org LINK  we read:
 

“We can postulate from this that mentally retarded people are covered by this principle as well. The Word of God does not specifically say this, however. Knowing the love, grace, and mercy of God, this would seem consistent with His character. Any person who is mentally challenged to the extent that he could not be aware of his sinful state and believe in Christ for salvation, is in the same category as a child and it is not unreasonable to assume that person is saved by the grace and mercy of the same God who saves babies and small children.”
 

 

How about the schizophrenic or severely mentally ill?
Once again, the issue surrounds the ability to understand the gospel message. I have a story for you that will cause you to tear up. It was written in Christianity Today 5/11 and titled “The Schizophrenic-Rediscovering my faith amid the ravages of mental illness.” by David Weiss LINK

Read it. The answer is yes. There will be those who were mentally ill in heaven.

 

How about a soldier of Genghis Khan and all those who have never heard the Gospel?
Now here is where the gloves come off.

 

Many say yes. Here is a quote from Billy Graham in an interview with Robert Schuller. LINK 

 

GRAHAM: Well, Christianity and being a true believer — you know, I think there's the Body of Christ. This comes from all the Christian groups around the world, outside the Christian groups. I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ, whether they're conscious of it or not, they're members of the Body of Christ … I think James answered that, the Apostle James in the first council in Jerusalem, when he said that God's purpose for this age is to call out a people for His name. And that's what God is doing today, He's calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the Muslim world, or the Buddhist world, or the Christian world, or the non-believing world, they are members of the Body of Christ, because they've been called by God. They may not even know the name of Jesus, but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don't have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and I think they are saved, and that they're going to be with us in heaven."

 

"SCHULLER: What, what I hear you saying, that it's possible for Jesus Christ to come into human hearts and soul and life, even if they've been born in darkness and have never had exposure to the Bible. Is that a correct interpretation of what you're saying?

 

GRAHAM: Yes, it is, because I believe that. I've met people in various parts of the world in tribal situations, that they have never seen a Bible or heard about a Bible, and never heard of Jesus, but they've believed in their hearts that there was a God, and they've tried to live a life that was quite apart from the surrounding community in which they lived."

 

However, it appears that JD Greear says “NO.” LINK

“The force of Paul’s logic is, quite simply, the lost nations cannot call on one whom they have not heard, and they cannot hear unless someone is sent to preach. Where there is no preached word, there can be no faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. There is not even a hint of a hole in Paul’s logic, and his conclusion is inescapable. There is no record of anyone in Scripture, ever, coming to faith in Christ apart from the instrumentality of the church.

 

And… if there was such a one as who worshipped Christ by worshipping God sincerely in his religion, and so found the ‘exception clause’ from needing to hear about Jesus, SURELY Cornelius was he! Yet, as I pointed out, the clear language of Peter is that Cornelius needed to be justified, not told that he was already justified.

 

Now, I left, intentionally, one “hole” in this whole thing… namely “could God do things he didn’t tell us about?” and I said “sure.” But, even so, it is clear that he never let on to us in the only revelation he gave to us that he was doing that. Throughout the Bible, which is ALL we have to go on (Deut 29:29), no one comes to faith apart from preaching by a human being. Can you find me even one example from any place in the Bible that even approximates such a case, where where faith and salvation was achieved apart from the preaching of a human instrument? Even one?”
 

Yet, again, Mark Driscoll says “maybe.”  Driscoll, writing for The Resurgence, says: LINK

"Do people who have never heard about Jesus go to hell?

 

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” Peter preached, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” The conclusion is simple: there is only one way to the Father and that is through Jesus Christ. All other religious roads lead to false gods and a real hell.

 

But there are many ways to Jesus. While the norm is responding to the preached Word of God, there are biblical examples as well as life experiences where God gives special revelation of the Messiah to unsaved people in other forms, including direct speech, dreams, and visions. God called Abraham directly. He gave Pharaoh dreams. He spoke to the treacherous prophet Balaam in a vision so that he prophesied about the Messiah. He appeared to Cornelius in a vision, which resulted in him being saved.

 

Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

There are many such stories. The reality is that anyone who is searching and willing to respond to the goodness of God as Cornelius did will receive special revelation. God is perfectly able to bypass the “normal” channels to accomplish his purposes.
No one who comes to the Lord will be cast out. As Paul says:For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

 

Therefore, while there is no salvation apart from faith in Jesus Christ, there is also no reason to overlook the creativity of God to get the gospel out. His creativity includes using us to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth as pioneering missionaries to unreached people groups and generous givers to ministries that translate the Bible into new languages."

 

What About the Old Testament Jews?

Here is an explanation from Grace Compass Church. LINK

 

“Salvation in the Old Testament was, of course, according to the same gospel that we know today (cf. Gal. 3:8), though it was revealed less clearly. It was by grace through faith, apart from personal merit. Saving faith in the Old Testament, like saving faith in the New Testament, was faith in God himself. Most basically, it is generally presented as a belief that God exists, in submission to God especially in the form of believing that what God says is true (e.g. Gen. 15:6), and in trust in God as Savior.

 

The point was that they believed that God was who he said he was (as far as they knew it), that they loved him, and that they trusted him to take care of them (especially by forgiving, saving, blessing, etc.). For example, Abraham believed God when God said he would bless Abraham, and Abraham was justified on this basis. We aren’t told that Abraham understood all the theological arguments regarding the means of salvation, or that he understood the relationship of faith to works, or even that he understood that he was justified on the basis of faith alone. We are told only that he believed God’s promise to bless him.”

 

 

So, what are we left with? Jim Abrahamson at Apt to Teach leaves us with some thoughts.    LINK

 

“Do you have to accept Jesus as your savior to go to heaven?
1. Only God decides who goes to heaven.

2. God will be perfectly fair in his judgment but God does not grade on the curve.

a. The standard of God’s judgment will be our integrity as humans. We will be judged by the extent to which we are true to our     humanity (which is defined as living our lives in the image of God) Jesus being the model.

b. For some of us there is great anxiety about that judgment because we sense that we have fallen short and are powerless to measure up to our calling.

c.God has graciously given His Son as a substitute whereby through faith in him we have his righteousness imputed to our account. This is the gospel.

d. But no one is forced to receive that gift. If we choose to face God clothed in our own righteousness, we are free to do so knowing that God will be perfectly fair.

 

2 Corinthians 5:18-19:  “18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

 

Who is Paul talking about? Different answers:
1. all people, (Origen, Barth)
2. all who fear God but may not know Christ (John Wesley, C.S. Lewis)
3. all who confess faith in Christ, (Luther)
4. only the elect? (Puritans, calvnists)

 

 

So where does this leave us? It is apparent, from this discussion, that there are few people who state you must accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior as the only way to heaven. There seems to be a continuum, and within that continuum, there are varying answers.

 

Take, for example, the “baby” question.Everyone agrees that babies go to heaven. John Piper argues that any baby who dies is elect and therefore saved. Others would say that God saves all those below the age of accountability. However, the Bible can prove none of these answers conclusively which means everyone is interpreting through her/his own lenses. (This will drive a few purists up the wall).

 

 I mentioned a woman who was serially raped by her father. While he was doing so, he spoke the name of Jesus and said the Lord’s prayer. She cringes when she thinks of Christianity. This is one that I leave in God’s gracious hands. The vast majority of Christians believe that God makes exceptions for the mentally handicapped and goodness knows this is a mentally abusive situation with long term psychological consequences. He alone knows her heart and I believe that He will send those to her to minister gently. Her father, on the other hand, had better have repented because the Bible is explicitly clear what happens to those who lay a hand on His “little ones.” 

 

So, time for true confessions about where I stand. I believe that God has made provisions for those who have sought Him earnestly but, due to time and place, did not hear the name of Jesus. For example, this might include the Muslim women who is confined to her house. So, I guess I fall along the lines of Billy Graham, Mark Driscoll and CS Lewis, at least for now. But, in everything, I am in the process of studying and thinking. That is why I question even my own assumptions. For example, would it be better not to preach the message of salvation to those who have never heard the Gospel so such people would not have the chance to reject it? Yet, we are called to do so. You see, it is never easy. But God knows our hearts and our willingness to be open to His ways. And you can bet he will continue to teach and challenge us on our way.

 

Lydia's Corner:Judges 11:1-12:15 John 1:1-28 Psalm 101:1-8 Proverbs 14:13-14