“Do people who have never heard about Christ go to Hell? What about infants and young children? If so, how is this just? If not, why?”
This is an excellent question, and one that deserves a lot of attention. I'm going to be focusing on the latter half of the question first, as it is has the most clear Biblical precedent. We'll also be examining a bit as to what the Nature of Hell itself is, and how it affects us.
First, let us look at the afterlife in relation to young children. As can be expected, the call for salvation does not even enter a child's mind until the end of early development, at the very earliest the age of four or five. However, it is a sad fact that many children in the U.S. and abroad die before reaching that age. What happens to them when they die? Some have taken the words of David in Psalm 51:5 to mean that children are doomed from birth. The specific quote is as follows: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.”(Psalms 51:5, New International Version). Can this be? Does God condemn children to Hell from birth?
I believe the Biblical evidence says otherwise. First, let us look at David's other words on the subject. As most who have studied the life of David know, one of his only moments of weakness came when he had an affair with a married woman, and put her husband in dangerous front-line positions so that he could wed her. Their affair produced a child, and as punishment for their sins God told him that the child would never see this world. David went into mourning for the child, but after he was delivered stillborn, he recovered almost immediately. His servants questioned him about this, and this is what he said: “And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept: for I said, Who can tell [whether] GOD will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”(2nd Samuel 12: 22, New International Version). David believed he would see his child again in the next life, and despite his rare transgressions David was not a man in danger of Hell. Described as a man after God's own heart, David's moments of weakness should not overshadow the fact that he had perhaps the closest relationship with God of anyone in the Bible outside of The Twelve Disciples. Thus we must draw the conclusion that if David knew he would see his son again, he must be meeting him in Heaven.
This is collaborated by other verses in the Bible. First John 2:12 states: “I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.” There are also numerous verses throughout each of the Gospels, including Matthew 19:13, Mark 10:13, Matthew 18:6, and Luke 9:48, which state that to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we must become like little children. This leads to a concept known as “The Age of Accountability.” You see, it is commonly theorized that before the age of cognizance, children are automatically covered under the grace of God. Until they are conscious of what they are doing, they are not held accountable for their actions and inherent sinful nature. I'll be explaining exactly why this is in a moment, but to do that I must touch on why this is different than those who simply have not heard the Good News.
The biggest issue that I had with Christianity growing up was those who never heard of Jesus and died. How was it fair for God to condemn them to Hell? What did they do? Well, we must establish exactly what sin is, for we know that Hell is the consequence of sin. 1 John 3:4 actually gives us a very direct picture of what sin is: “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”3 (New International Version, 1st John 3:4) James 2:10 further clarifies the nature of sin: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”4 (New International Version, James 2:10) Notice that no sin is treated as worse than any other in these verses, but rather all sin is classified as the same. This is because the essence of sin is disobedience. Let us look a the definition of obedience: “Submissive to the restraint or command of authority : willing to obey”(Merriam Webster). Obedience is a choice, and so is sin. We are all born with an inherent conscience which wars against our sinful nature, and it is our choice which to obey. Unfortunately, without God, we tend to side with the sinful nature, and as Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.”(Romans 6:23, New International Version).
This is why children are not held accountable for their sins, because there isn't a conscious decision for young children to sin. I realize this is a blanket statement and not true in every case, but in general children are not truly cognizant of good and evil and thus cannot be held accountable for their actions. Unfortunately, this does not hold true for the unreached. When someone who has not accepted Christ gives in to their sinful nature, they will be held accountable. This may seem unfair, until we consider what Hell is, and what the differences between Heaven and Hell really are.
We tend to focus on Hell as a terrible place of eternal torment, and while we are technically correct, society in general has a mistaken idea as to what that torment entails. Hell is depicted as a place of physical torture, where Satan rules and the pain never stops. This is simply incorrect, as Jesus always describes Hell as worse than the various physical torments of this life. In fact, 2nd Thessalonians 1:9 says, “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”5 (New International Version, 2nd Thessalonians 1:9). The destruction in question is not a physical or literal destruction, but rather a spiritual one, for to be cast into Hell is to be cast from the very presence of God Himself, from the source of all that is good and pure in the Universe. It is important to note, however, that there is no extra punishment heaped onto this, and no acts of hatred perpetuated by God within it. The fact is, we have all done things we shouldn't have, and we know it. We are held accountable for these things, and while Jesus provides an escape from that accountability, it must be accepted to be earned.
However, we must not think of God as unjust for this, for Hell in and of itself is not a punishment in the traditional sense. God does not force us to be unhappy, but rather there will be no alternative when the grim truth sets in for the spirit of the non-believer. It is not God's wish that any should enter Hell, and we are commanded to actively bring the Word to the world so that as few as possible should perish without it. We must also note that God reveals Himself in ways that are beyond us, just as He did to the Wise Men of the East when they came to Jesus, or he did to many otherwise paganistic tribes and cultures throughout the Old Testament. God does provide ample opportunity for souls to be saved, and I would hold that every soul is given at least one opportunity to find God. I am reminded of the Parable of the Sower: Just because someone hears the Word, does not mean they will accept it. Our decisions must be measured in the end, as our actions must be taken into account. The price of these actions is to be denied Heaven, where the emphasis should lie. Why is it that we say “Do that and you will go to Hell”, rather than “Do that and you won't be able to enter Heaven”? The Bible does not hide it's emphasis on these two topics, mentioning Hell a scant 54 times, while it mentioning Heaven 551 times, over ten times as often. The goal of Heaven, not the fear of Hell, is what we should be bringing to non-believers, and what the un-reached will be unable to achieve. That is why we must always be spreading the message of God to those who haven't heard it yet, so that they may join us in glory. I would leave you with what is perhaps my favorite verse in the Bible, 2nd Peter 3:17-18, which states, “ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.”(2nd Peter 3:17-18, New International Version)