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  was witnessing to a coworker last night and he asked me about salvation for people who had never heard the name Jesus and used early American Indians as an example... I said they were very aware of their Creator and the creation around them, the sun, stars, water, mountains etc... but he brought up the fact that Jesus is the only way...  which is true, so now I am not sure what to think about this... my thought is that God goes by your heart and they knew they had a Creator... is it the same thing? 

 was witnessing to a coworker last night and he asked me about salvation for people who had never heard the name Jesus and used early American Indians as an example... I said they were very aware of their Creator and the creation around them, the sun, stars, water, mountains etc... but he brought up the fact that Jesus is the only way...  which is true, so now I am not sure what to think about this... my thought is that God goes by your heart and they knew they had a Creator... is it the same thing?  

psalmgirl---

Usually if asked that I will ask "Have YOU had the opportunity to hear and receive the message?"  The answer is "yes".  They deflect the Gospel by "excusing" their unbelief by bringing up those who "might not" have had the chance to believe.

The fact that God is giving THEM the chance to hear is sufficient.   We simply do not know the answer to the question about who may or may not have heard the message and believed--- but one day at the throne of God we will hear the answer.  The important thing for them to understand is they are personally being given the chance to receive the message, and for them to use "an excuse" to refuse it is very foolish indeed.

I think it's important to remember that God has many names. In the OT, Jews and other believers didn't refer to God as Jesus. They knew God by other names: I Am, Jehovah, God of Israel, Elohim, God of Jacob and etc. They didn't know about the name Jesus, yet they still knew about God based upon his various names. That was sufficient for that time period. God is loving and kind, and he made sure that knowledge about himself was spread throughout the earth during the Old Testament.

Case is point, the Queen of Sheba was not a Jew, yet she heard about Solomon's reputation as a Godly and wise king. Long story short, when she visited Solomon, she recognized that his wisdom and prosperity came from the God of Israel. She was not a Jew, yet she believed in the God of Israel. Jesus himself remarks about the Queen of Sheba's quest for wisdom and belief in the God of Israel. Mat 12:42, Luke 11:31

If God made provisions for the nations of the OT, how much more will he make provisions for modern day nations to know about New Testament Jesus?

Verses to consider
Ps chapter 117
Ps 46:10 (NLT)
Ps 86:8-10
Ps 22:27
There are many more verses about God and the nations in Psalms.