# People who haven't heard of Jesus **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 11, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852 "2001-10-11T19:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Billy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Billy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Billy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/21 "2001-10-12T16:27:04Z")
The fact of the matter is that the Bible just simply doesn’t say very much at all about this particular question. There is very clearly a teaching in Christianity that all of humanity sins and comes under the judgment of sin. And there is also very clearly a teaching in Christianity that there is absolutely no chance whatever of any of us ever meriting salvation by virtue of our own righteousness. It’s – admittedly – not a rosy picture on its face for those who are not Christians. But we simply are not told in any explicit fashion how God will apply the teachings that are clear to the cases of people who have never heard. Here’s a really interesting article about how some Christians have tried to fill in the gaps with regard to this question, more-or-less: > **[Issues Archive](https://www.firstthings.com/issue/2001/08)** > > Religion and public life is not a new topic. Grab a cup of coffee and read through the archive of First Things issues that date back to 1990! Just the first part, titled “Will all be Saved?” Conjectural. But perhaps it will be comforting. Or enlightening. Or something. –B ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/22 "2001-10-13T17:04:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > **BTW, Cliffy, I’m female.** :o ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/23 "2001-10-13T17:19:38Z")
RickJay wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Podkayne \* > > **Let me just say, this cheeses me off a bit.** > > Why? Because “cheeses” sounds like “Jesus.” I mean, duh! ---
**Author:** ![Lost\_In\_Reality](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Lost\_In\_Reality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lost_In_Reality)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/24 "2001-10-13T20:10:07Z")
I would just like to preface this with the fact that I am not a Christian. Dante deals with this very subject in the Divine Comedy. When Dante visits Hell, the first circle he visits is for virtuous pagans. There he meets Homer, Ovid, and the like. They led great lives, and since Christ was not born they could not possibly believe. The first circle of Hell is called limbo. Here there was no physical punishment, just the mental anguish of knowing the truth and being part of it. According to Dante only circles 2-9 and the vestibule were where punishment took place. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/25 "2001-10-14T17:17:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*You aren’t born with love, you must develop it. And repeating that the Word of God is essentially love, then if one is never shown love then one has never has truly heard the Word of God and so cannot be found at fault. \*\* So now we’re back to my orignal post in this thread. What of the people who are told of the Word of God by a poor public speaker who is horribly unconvincing in his arguments? A group of people who were perfectly safe are now damned because they were unfortunate enough to be told about the Word of God by an idiot. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/26 "2001-10-14T18:42:47Z")
Jesus is the word of God.[sup]1[/sup] Not the Bible. Jesus. The relevant moral decision is whether you accept or reject Him. Not what someone says of Him. Not what is written of Him. Him. And He will greet you at some point in your existence, if He hasn’t already. He will reach out to embrace you and tell you He loves you. You will make your decision at that point. He won’t love you any less if you decide to run away. The thing is that we’ve all already made our decision long before we see Him. If we have treasured love, then we will treasure Him because that’s what He is. If we have treasured something else, then we will not consider Him to be what we’re looking for. And God grants to each of us whatever we seek. * * * Cite [sup]1[/sup][John 1:1](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=john+1%3A1&version=NIV&showfn=no&showxref=no&language=english) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/27 "2001-10-14T19:30:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\* > > So now we’re back to my orignal post in this thread. What of the people who are told of the Word of God by a poor public speaker who is horribly unconvincing in his arguments? A group of people who were perfectly safe are now damned because they were unfortunate enough to be told about the Word of God by an idiot. > > Haj \*\* I think you’re missing my point. My point about the whole love thing is that it is not something you can really convince someone of just through logical debate. If the missionary is effective than he will be able to touch people through his actions, respect and love. It won’t happen through his speaking ability. If the missionary fails to give a proper example of love and respect then that person still hasn’t truly heard the Word of God. For my next argument, I’m going to assume that God exists and there is an afterlife, since you do that in your argument. God also plays a part in the showing of love. God will speak to the person through the missionary. In essence, God will touch the other person with his (God’s) love. If the other person rejects this love and the message of love then that’s when they are in trouble. I know I’m not exactly being clear here, and I apologize. ---
**Author:** ![Alfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Alfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfie)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/28 "2001-11-09T06:57:05Z")
based on personal notions of fair play. The rules common to decent people everywhere, in all societies, are very few. Abhorrence of murder. A general live-and-let-live attitude. Certainly not subtleties of religious belief or even the same concept of the divine. Everyone everywhere knows when they’re injuring someone’s person or property; we know rape, robbery, and theft are wrong in and of themselves – what Catholics call “malum in se.” But other things aren’t so obviously wrong; or in human law, it’s not obvious why activities should be illegal if they don’t involve violent coercion, e.g. drug use, this or that form of consensual sex, walking about naked, driving at a certain speed, etc. A violation of a law in this sphere is a “malum prohibitum” – bad because prohibited – less severe than something obviously wrong in itself, and thus subject to a lesser penalty. Similarly, I think, many tolerant Christians can’t bear the thought that their God would condemn caring people who only violate rules about which they didn’t know, and in any case involved no harm to anyone. So they’re conforming their God to their own sense of fair play, reading themselves _into_ Biblical law, rather than extracting Biblical law _from_ scripture. On one hand, I agree that they don’t seem to be thinking rigorously based on the plain text of the Bible; on the other, they may have in mind notions of mercy without which human law is cruel indeed: consider where canonical application of the law in “Measure for Measure” or “Merchant of Venice” would have led. No light matter, and grist for discussion on law vs. mercy. But shouldn’t God’s law be perfect in a way that human law isn’t? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/29 "2001-11-09T13:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Similarly, I think, many tolerant Christians can’t bear the thought that their God would condemn caring people who only violate rules about which they didn’t know, and in any case involved no harm to anyone. So they’re conforming their God to their own sense of fair play, reading themselves _into_ Biblical law, rather than extracting Biblical law _from_ scripture. There _is_ Scriptural support for the notion that God will not condemn those who do not follow Christianity in [Pauls’s Letter to the Romans, chapter 2](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=Romans+2&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english). > [@](#): > > Dante deals with this very subject in the Divine Comedy. When Dante visits Hell, the first circle he visits is for virtuous pagans. There he meets Homer, Ovid, and the like. They led great lives, and since Christ was not born they could not possibly believe. The first circle of Hell is called limbo. Limbo was a theological construct by people wrestling with this very question. It was never actually a doctrine of the RCC (and has generally been rejected by Protestants and ignored by Orthodox). Going back to Romans 2, the majority of Christians (with the obvious exception of a few rigid groups) accept that God will judge a person based on the person’s heart, not on whether they have or have not happened to have heard (and understood or accepted) some biblical passages. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/30 "2001-11-09T17:14:40Z")
Ah, I’m glad this thread was revived . . . I’d lost track of it. \*\*Neurotic, I think this is a very good point: > [@](#): > > If the missionary fails to give a proper example of love and respect then that person still hasn’t truly heard the Word of God. [shameless flatterly]Since I have had plenty of time to absorb the kindness of Christians at the SDMB (and elsewhere), I’m bound to hell for sure.[/shameless flattery] And thanks, **tomndebb** , whichever one you are, for the cite. I found the following most apropos: > [@](#): > > **14** (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, **15** since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/31 "2001-11-09T18:41:01Z")
Well, verses 12 - 15 do seem to be the heart of the issue. In one of the few passages where Jesus actually discusses the judgement in concrete terms, [Matthew 25: 31 - 46](http://bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/bible?passage=MATT+25&language=english&version=NIV&showfn=off&showxref=off), he says > [@](#): > > 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. > 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. > 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. > 34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? > 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? > 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ > 40 "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, `Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. > 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, > 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ > 44 "They also will answer, `Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ > 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Note, that in this instance, he says not one word regarding belief. (Of course, that point can be argued regarding context and other statements of Jesus, but I always find it fun to toss out at folks who seem to believe that _expressing_ faith is a magic charm that guarantees salvation.) (I also think that the goats get a bum rap.) ---
**Author:** ![rarosett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@rarosett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rarosett)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/32 "2001-11-09T19:51:12Z")
My understanding is that the key ingredient to get into Heaven is faith. Love and good deeds are results of that faith. Having knowledge of Jesus is irrelevant. Romans 1:20 shows this: > [@](#): > > 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. This is why people who lived before Jesus existed still had a chance of making it to Heaven. For example, Galatians 3:6 shows that Abraham, who lived before Christ, made it to Heaven based on his faith. > [@](#): > > 6 Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” ---
**Author:** ![Alfie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@Alfie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alfie)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/33 "2001-11-09T21:10:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > Note, that in this instance, he says not one word regarding belief. (Of course, that point can be argued regarding context and other statements of Jesus, but I always find it fun to toss out at folks who seem to believe that _expressing_ faith is a magic charm that guarantees salvation.) > > (I also think that the goats get a bum rap.) \*\* Tom &/or Deb :), thanks for the reply. Romans 2 enjoins Christians not to condemn eagerly or hypocritically given their own foibles — but it doesn’t suggest that _God_ won’t condemn based on actions. As Podkayne emphasizes in citing verses 14-15, even the actions of those outside the law may either justify or condemn them. But your point on matters of belief as opposed to conduct is reasonable. I’m getting mainly at the latter here. [Romans 6](http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?passage=Romans+6&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english) expands on the outward, or behavioral, signs of salvation — the saved seek to avoid sin and those who go on sinning with gusto aren’t saved (it seems to contradict the notion of justification by faith alone, no? I.e. it proposes that if you have faith, you will show it by your actions, logically equavalent to saying that if you don’t show it by your actions, you don’t have faith). I fear my girlfriend and I fit into the latter category — we live together, and none too chastely. _We_ see nothing wrong with it; we respect each other’s and others’ free choice (our standard of ethics), but that certainly doesn’t cut it according to the doctrine of her RC church, which views it as a violation of natural law, a debasement of God’s purpose for sex (linked with procreation and only for married couples!), and a mortal sin. Accepting the admonitions of Romans 2 and not condemning us yourselves, you’d still have to admit, I think, that there’s not much in the Book to exonerate us. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/34 "2001-11-09T22:03:08Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by hajario \* > \*\* > What of the people who are told of the Word of God by a poor public speaker who is horribly unconvincing in his arguments? A group of people who were perfectly safe are now damned because they were unfortunate enough to be told about the Word of God by an idiot._\* Jesus is bangala! (Or something like that.) _The Poisonwood Bible_ by Barbara Kingsolver is about just such an idiot. It’s about the family of a missionary who goes to the Belgian Congo and is an utter and complete failure. Part of the problem is that he refuses to learn the language well enough, so instead of saying “Jesus is God,” he keeps telling the villagers “Jesus is poisonous.” Really interesting book. Anyway, you could say that the villagers never really heard “the good news,” but you could also say that the missionary did make himself clear in other ways, so the villagers are liable for not accepting Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/35 "2001-11-09T23:43:56Z")
\*\*Podkayne wrote: I’ll admit up front that I’ve always considered this “go to heaven for being a good person if you haven’t learned about Jesus” thing a cop-out by literalist Christians so that they do not have to accede to the monstrous unfairness of condemning all non-Christians to Hell, but maybe I’ve just never heard the whole story. (If your sect doesn’t believe that non-beleivers who have heard the World automatically go to Hell, Mazal Tov, but I’m interested in the literalist point of view.)\*\* This is probably something of a hi-jack, but I wanted to interject it since no one else has mentioned it. Non-Christians who have _The Word_ (and not converted) or haven’t heard it at all have nothing to worry about. Since they’re not Christians, they’re not bound by the rules and regulations of Christianity. They’ll end up going to whatever version of the Afterlife is described in their own faith. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/36 "2001-11-10T00:27:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Freyr \* > \*\*This is probably something of a hi-jack, but I wanted to interject it since no one else has mentioned it. > > Non-Christians who have _The Word_ (and not converted) or haven’t heard it at all have nothing to worry about. Since they’re not Christians, they’re not bound by the rules and regulations of Christianity. They’ll end up going to whatever version of the Afterlife is described in their own faith. \*\* Then nobody has anything to worry about. Only believers can go to hell. But if you are a believer then you will live a good life and go to heaven. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/37 "2001-11-10T06:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > \*\*Going back to Romans 2, the majority of Christians (with the obvious exception of a few rigid groups) accept that God will judge a person based on the person’s heart, not on whether they have or have not happened to have heard (and understood or accepted) some biblical passages. \*\* As a Methodist, which I do not believe is considered a _rigid group_, I wish you were right. The UMC believes that it is by the acceptance of Jesus as one’s savior and not by deeds that one goes to Heaven. Once during a bible study class the teacher (the minister) told me that the Book of James was almost left out of the bible, because of its statement of “deeds alone”. I personally agree with you and appreciate the cite of Romans 2. ---
**Author:** ![Freyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freyr/32/5763_2.png) [@Freyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freyr)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/38 "2001-11-10T13:39:46Z")
\*\*gazpacho wrote: Then nobody has anything to worry about. Only believers can go to hell. But if you are a believer then you will live a good life and go to heaven.\*\* By _believer_, do you mean _Christian_? What if I believe that the J/C/I God exists and that Christianity is a valid belief system, yet I chose to not follow it for my own reasons. Instead, I follow another religion that I feel is better for me? ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/39 "2001-11-10T17:30:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alfie \* > \*\*based on personal notions of fair play. The rules common to decent people everywhere, in all societies, are very few. Abhorrence of murder. A general live-and-let-live attitude. Certainly not subtleties of religious belief or even the same concept of the divine. Everyone everywhere knows when they’re injuring someone’s person or property; we know rape, robbery, and theft are wrong in and of themselves – what Catholics call “malum in se.” But other things aren’t so obviously wrong; or in human law, it’s not obvious why activities should be illegal if they don’t involve violent coercion, e.g. drug use, this or that form of consensual sex, walking about naked, driving at a certain speed, etc. A violation of a law in this sphere is a “malum prohibitum” – bad because prohibited – less severe than something obviously wrong in itself, and thus subject to a lesser penalty. Similarly, I think, many tolerant Christians can’t bear the thought that their God would condemn caring people who only violate rules about which they didn’t know, and in any case involved no harm to anyone. So they’re conforming their God to their own sense of fair play, reading themselves _into_ Biblical law, rather than extracting Biblical law _from_ scripture. > > On one hand, I agree that they don’t seem to be thinking rigorously based on the plain text of the Bible; on the other, they may have in mind notions of mercy without which human law is cruel indeed… But shouldn’t God’s law be perfect in a way that human law isn’t? \*\* I’d say you’ve got it; that is exactly what the “nicer Christians” are doing. In the US, Christianity is the dominent religion, in that it’s the one the most people say they belong to. But to me, it seems that a great many people are basically making up their own religion. It’s usually based on Christianity because that’s what they’re familiar with. But it’s really something they’ve made up themselves, choosing things they like from Christianity, and rejecting things they don’t like. And if they’ve heard of something they like in any of the many non-Christian religons, they may add that in, too. Bring up something “un-nice” in Christianity, and they’ll just dismiss it with an, “oh, I don’t believe in that”. Even if it’s a major point of Christianity, such as described in the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Hazel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Hazel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazel)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852/40 "2001-11-10T17:43:37Z")
“Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” In reference to my last post, let me add that I _approve_ of people making up their own religion. Better that then actual Christianity, say I, considering that Christianity includes such things as Podkayne describes in the OP. But I do kinda wish they’d face up to the fact that they are not really Christians. Instead of saying, "I’m a Babtist (or Catholic, or Methodist, or whichever church they were born into) why not say “I was raised as a (whichever brand of Christianity), but I’ve developed my own beliefs” or my “…my own version of Christianity” ? The thing is, if you reject any of the important tenents of the religion into which you were born, yet go on saying you’re a member, it incorrectly inflates the membership stats of that religion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-havent-heard-of-jesus/86852.md?page=3)