I’d like to engage in a little theological thought experiment. My purpose here is not so much to spur a debate – rather I’m interested in your various opinions and the reasons behind them. Call it research related to an larger project I’m working on.
I’m going to set out a virtually impossible fact pattern, but I need you to accept it as given. “That could never happen!” won’t be a useful response. I’m a little doubtful over whether this should be posted here or in GQ, so if it needs to be moved, Mods, Do yer stuff. I chose this forum for the overall quality of the posters (flattery’ll get you everywhere!).
Ready? Here we go…
Once there was a missionary working in the remotest depths of the Amazon rainforest. While there he found five villages which were utterly isolated from the rest of the world. He went from village to village, spending a year in each. The missionary was honest, kind and good. As a result of his forthrightness and good character, all of the villagers in each of the villages came to trust the missionary implicitly.
When the missionary left each village he told the villagers that he would give them the secret to eternal life in heaven. The villagers were intrigued. It was in a book, which he would translate into their language and have delivered to them. He told them to expect it to drop from the sky.
All the villagers in each of the villages waited patiently for the book. The missionary, after taking exact coordinates of the five villages with his GPS receiver, returned to “civilization”. He translated the New Testament, then made arrangements to have five batches of the translations printed. Then he chartered a cargo plane to drop the translations over the five villages. This undertaking completely tapped the funds of the missionary organization which had sponsored him, so he was never able to return to the Amazon.
Each of the villages found the translated Testaments, read them, took them to heart, believed them and did their utmost to live according to the wisdom of the Good Book.
Unfortunately, as a result of translation difficulties, printers’ errors, sabotage and other unspecified deus ex machina, some of the testaments contained errors and omissions – some minor, some egregious.
The Bibles dropped on the first village, Acedelphia were entirely correct.
The Testaments in the second village, Bobopolis, were almost right, but Jesus’s name was mistranslated throughout as “Howard”. They contained no other errors or omissions.
In Caer Bannog all reference to Jesus’s divinity had been left out. There was no reference to Jesus being the Son of God, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, nor any other indication that Jesus was anything other than a normal human. However, all of Jesus’s moral and ethical teachings, including the parables, the Beatitudes and “Love thy neighbor as thyself” were left intact.
The Testaments dropped in Dee Sicks were just the opposite. They contained only the portions of the Bible which discussed Jesus’s divinity, but none of his moral and ethical teachings.
Finally, in Eggton the Testaments contained accurate text about Jesus’s divinity. However, the moral and ethical teachings were wildly inaccurate, including such mistranslations as: “Love thy neighbor as thy dentist, but less than thyself,”; “It is as easy for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven as it is to drop a coconut on your foot” and “Let he who has sinned the most cast the first stone.”
Each of the villages read, believed and followed the version of the New Testament they received. They had no interaction with each other and no other source of information about Christianity, Jesus or his teachings.
Here’s the question:
Which villagers are Christians? Which will go to heaven? Why or why not?
It would also be helpful if you’d provide some information on your religious background and current practice. This is not absolutely necessary, but if you feel like sharing…
Thanks for bearing with me and for your input.
