How does that situation square with the idea of a "God of Justice"? This person was born, lived a hard life, was never told the "rules" and did the best he could, yet he's going to be tortured for billions of billions of years because of other humans' inability to get the message to him in time?
It isn't the fault of the poor peasant - it's the fault of every Christian who has blood on their hands if that person never got told the rules. Blame the people with the power and knowledge. Ezekiel - story of the watchman...if you don't get the message out both you and the guy that never got the message - both toast.
Now of course to me Christian means Christ like or follower of Christ and none of those writings are based on what Christ said or did. He is more forgiving and compassionate and isn't that why we want to be like him??? If we want to flit and flutter back to the OT why insist that one is a Christian? The OT is full of violence - Ezekiel 9:5..do not feel sorry for any man, virigin, child or woman.
My question is this. Who is better off during life? The wretch who spends every waking hour of his life trying to run as fast as he can to spread the good word, scared and shaking all his life that his God will kill him at any minute and for any reason? Or the peasant who has no knowledge of how scared he should be in this life so he goes about living and surviving and being a good person in his community and to his family without being burdened by all that? In the end we are all going to wherever God is and he'll judge then...so all these people fighting to stay on top of the religious-o-meter are running and scared for nothing. sammieswife.