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God the Just: Romans 1:18-20

by David Block

Often times when Christians and unbelievers dialog on religious matters the exchange can get quite heated. One specific area of contention is God's justice related to the person that never hears the gospel of Jesus Christ. Usually the unbeliever, sensing that his attempts to argue against Scripture are futile, cries out, “Unfair!” Unbelievers judge that it is unfair for God to condemn people that have never heard about Jesus. They complain about the small tribe in Africa that had gone unnoticed for the last two thousand years, never receiving the gospel. How can God condemn them? It's not their fault for not hearing. They also wail over the Native Americans that lived and died for centuries without ever hearing of Christ. It's not fair. Granted, there are many logical flaws in this argument; yet, there is a substantial amount of Scriptural and logical defenses against these fallacious claims. In fact, the Apostle Paul took on many of the accusations of unbelievers in his various writings. One such argument, the centerpiece of this paper, is Romans 1:18-20. In this short passage (two sentences in English) Paul explains and destroys the claim that God is unfair to send people to hell that have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Paul explains God's wrath, whom it's directed toward, and how it has been revealed. He also explains that God has presented himself, how long he has done this and what exactly the evidence of God is. Finally, Paul offers his conclusion or condemnation to all those that claim that God is unfair.

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