This is an awesome discussion! While we have no right to judge any man, God's word sems clear and plain. There is only one way to God, at least Jesus clearly taught that. As for those who have never ben presented Christ as Savior, it has been wiely taught that they will be judged by Christ according to the light they have received. Romans 1 teaches us that man is born with the knowledge that God IS. Abraham never was presented Christ, however his awesome faith was counted as righteousness. Since Christ has come and presented Himself as the spotless sacrifice that the holiness and justice of a holy God demands, it is incumbent upon men who have heard to come to grips with their sinfull ness and need for a savior. It would be stupid of me to try and delineate the criteria by which others who have not been presented Christ will be judged.

I believe Abraham lived with the promise of the Messiah in his heart's vision. God's providing the ram to take the place of Abraham's son was the perfect picture.

Does this make any sense to you?

Sorry guys.. my recent read of the Da Vinci Code has my mind racing now with issues like the literal interpretation of the bible vs metaphoric or allegory. Being that the Bible was put together years AFTER the time of Jesus, and being that men are fundamentally flawed beings... how does one pull literal translation from (well... a translation of another tongue for one) the text and not think (for even a second) that maybe something is upped a little there, or shifted a little there.

I know... someone is going to throw faith at me here and Im ready for that and I want to reiterate that I have faith in the Lord but wonder about the others who wrote the stories. Had the Bible been authored by Jesus I would feel much more secure in being more literally true. If you are a follower of Jesus and you write about how to be a good christian in the face of another view (islam etc) wouldnt you by the very flawed nature of a normal mortal individual going to skew it to your side?

Ive always bantered this question around to myself and I find that more people wonder about it than I expected but I think that God himself made us to question, to wonder, to think outside the box so to speak.

At the time of the compolation of the bible there was pretty much ZILCH in the way of religious tollerance for others. To expect ANY writer to go against that would be pretty much absurd.

Here's a scenario I go through on this one (in my head usually). If I sat down and wrote of my time with some of the most influential people that Ive encountered. Would my accounts be true without fault or would they be skewed simply by the fact that I admire and respect these people. Obviously if they said anything that might be a little off.. I might just overlook it... omit it from the text for fear it might be taken out of context etc... your own brain would literaly act as a personal editor.

Is it possible that you could look at the writing of the accounts of Jesus and especially those before and after as having the same mental edit? What if something was changed ever so slightly and then got pushed a little in some translation? Doesnt that open the bible to questions in its STRICT interpretation?

Shouldnt we then consider the bible as a text of how you might do things as opposed to how you SHOULD do things?

Touchy stuff... I was raised Lutheran, hung out with the "protestant" troops in the Army and now go to prebyterian services. I call it Catholic Lite... What I have always admired was the ability to throw a question or two and not get my head taken off. I attribute much of it to my Pastor growing up who treated our questions as a good way to answer and teach. Since growing up and running into a lot more religions Ive noted that we have a WHOLE lot of people who get VERY nasty if you so much as question the Bible ... Questions beget answers and answers are what we all seek... because in the answers we learn our own truths.

I guess I like what another member posted that Christ taught Love and forgiveness, where as Mohammod believes in...well Jihad or kill the Infidels? At least that is what his devout believers interpret his teachings to espouse. No one can say that Christ ever believed in harming others who did not believe in him or who turned their back on him or who crucified him...that is a big difference!

Mark you are correct, I believe our Creator gave us free will and a inquisitive nature. He wants us to question, but he also teaches that we cannot reason out faith...we must make the leap to faith!