Poster | Thread | tjservant Member

Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Did the North American Indians go to heaven
| | or Hell? I have heard many ideas and opinions about the salvation of the North American Indian. Many generations never heard the Gospel. What do you think?
in His service
TJ _________________ TJ
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| 2007/1/14 21:17 | Profile | Smokey Member

Joined: 2005/2/21 Posts: 417 Edmonton Alberta Cda.
| Re: Did the North American Indians go to heaven
| | Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. Rev 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
The Question must be, How does one get their name written in the book of life?
Rev 17:8 The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. I think only God knows, as the names were written into the book before the foundation of the world. The only thing I am sure of, is that God will be fair, and just. Blessings Greg
_________________ Greg
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| 2007/1/14 21:46 | Profile | tjservant Member

Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
Smokey wrote:
The only thing I am sure of, is that God will be fair, and just. Blessings Greg
Very true. I remember my mother saying "There won't be anyone in Hell that doesn't deserve to be".
A very sobering thought.
Peace be with you
TJ _________________ TJ
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| 2007/1/14 22:28 | Profile | ginnyrose Member

Joined: 2004/7/7 Posts: 7534 Mississippi
| Re: | | Tj,
If you read enough Christian literature you will eventually discover testimonies of people who came to the LORD WITHOUT any human intervention. The LORD revealed himself supernaturally to them and then they responded. Presently this kind of thing happens frequently in Muslims countries which are closed to the Gospel. "I Dared to Call Him Father" by Bilquis Sheikh is the story of one such incident. Jayapradha Bendela is another person who experienced this when she was a young girl of 6 years. Sammy Morris is another example.
Romans 1 discusses this issue. So it is my understanding that God will reveal himself to people if he knows they will respond to him.
Does this make sense?
ginnyrose
_________________ Sandra Miller
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| 2007/1/14 23:39 | Profile | tjservant Member

Joined: 2006/8/25 Posts: 1658 Indiana USA
| Re: | | Quote:
ginnyrose wrote: Tj,
If you read enough Christian literature you will eventually discover testimonies of people who came to the LORD WITHOUT any human intervention. The LORD revealed himself supernaturally to them and then they responded.
My question would be ....What was their response? Repentance? Servitude? Did they ever come to understand that Jesus was the lamb of God. It is hard for me to understand being saved without understanding what I was saved from.
Thank you for your reply. I will try to find some of the information you suggested.
Peace be with you
TJ
_________________ TJ
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| 2007/1/14 23:54 | Profile | Smokey Member

Joined: 2005/2/21 Posts: 417 Edmonton Alberta Cda.
| Re: Did the North American Indians go to heaven
| | 1Pe 3:18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 1Pe 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water
The scripture above clearly states that Jesus went and witnessed to the souls that were in "prison" after the flood. The souls of all the people that God destroyed in the flood were given the opportunity of hearing the witness of Jesus himself. Will God do any less for those that have never heard His name?
Again, if you look at Romans 1:18-20, you find the verses that a lot of questionable "christian" groups use to claim that all will be saved. Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
I believe that these verses only point out that God has created enough wonder in His creation, that men should begin to look (seek)for Him. Blessings Greg _________________ Greg
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| 2007/1/15 0:40 | Profile | Meriwether Member

Joined: 2006/8/13 Posts: 33
| Re: Did the North American Indians go to heaven
| | Hello, check out this excerpt from "Ten Shekels and a Shirt" by Paris Reidhead. See if you think it speaks to your question. (This sermon is a must-listen, if you haven't already.)
"Now I ask you; What is the Philosophy of Missions? What is the Philosophy of Evangelism? What is the Philosophy of a Christian? If youll ask me why I went to Africa, Ill tell you I went primarily to improve on the justice of God. I didnt think it was right for anybody to go to Hell without a chance to be saved. So I went to give poor sinners a chance to go to heaven. Now I havent put it in so many words, but if youll analyze what I just told you , do you know what it is? Humanism. That I was simply using the provisions of Jesus Christ as a means to improve upon human conditions of suffering and misery. And when I went to Africa, I discovered that they werent poor, ignorant, little heathen running around in the woods looking for someone to tell them how to go to heaven. That they were Monsters of Iniquity! They were living in utter and total defiance of far more knowledge of God than I ever dreamed they had! They deserved Hell! Because they utterly refused to walk in the light of their conscious, and the light of the law written upon their heart, and the testimony of nature, and the truth they knew! And when I found that out I assure you I was so angry with God that on one occasion in prayer I told Him it was a mighty little thing Hed done sending me out there to reach these people that were waiting to be told how to go to heaven. When I got there I found out they knew about heaven, and didnt want to go there, and that they loved their sin and wanted to stay in it..."
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| 2007/1/15 0:52 | Profile |
| Re: | | I am part Cherokee and am very familiar with the Cherokee spiritual history and folk lore. I have also studied other tribes, especially the Souix. One thing these two bands of American Indians have in common with the Bible is that they believed in One God, the Creator. While their versions of creation did differ from the Biblical account, they whole heartedly believed in creation and in the Great Spirit. Most American Indian tribes believed in a world-wide flood.
They also believed in many untrue things as well. Im not sure I really have an answer to the question asked by the original post, but I personally believe that the American Indians did have a measure of faith, and a measure of truth revealed to them. (And not in the way the Mormons think they did!)
God is the ultimate judge, and I am happy to leave that to Him. I do know that when Christianity came to the Cherokee nation it was embraced with very little resistance. Many of the leaders of the Cherokee nation saw the Good News brought to them by missionaries as a completion of what they had already believed. They had a small bit of truth, but the missionaries completed the story for them. Today, the largest religion (if you want to call it that) among Cherokee is Baptist.
If you ever have a chance to come to Cherokee, NC (just ignore the casino) and visit Cherokee village, and take in the outdoor drama Unto These Hills, you will see the parallel of their history with Biblical truths. In fact, while youre touring Cherokee Village (a model of an old Cherokee village with re-enactors) many of the people who do demonstrations will bring their Christian beliefs into what they are doing. Its very cool.
Ive known people who believe that missionaries actually do damage by taking the Good News to remote tribes. They think that these tribes would have had a better chance to make it to heaven on their own, but missionaries actually give these people the opportunity to reject God when they didnt have that opportunity before.
Yet
what was Jesus last command before He left the earth? GO! Go where? The ends of the earth. Preach the gospel.
Our job is to be obedient. Our job is [b]not[/b] to debate the merit of the command. Those of us who have served in the military understand this.
Krispy
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| 2007/1/15 9:02 | |
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