Hi, Laura —

The answer is, it depends.

It is both possible for someone who doesn't believe to do so out of invincible ignorance (that is, through no fault of their own, they are unaware), or to do so maliciously (for example, if they want to rationalize their wrongdoing), and incur guilt.

It is possible for someone who convinces them to do so for bad reasons (malice against God),
in which case they are guilty, or again merely out of ignorance. Now, given the glory of God manifest in all of creation, it is hard, perhaps impossible, to not realize that God exists. In other words, it may not be possible to be invincibly ignorant of God's existence, at least for a mature person.

God always looks at the heart, and so he takes all these things you mention into account.
He knows why people do the things he does. If someone truly believes that God doesn't exist because another person told him that, and he never received the opportunity to overcome that, then God will hold him guiltless in that regard, but if someone told him about God, and he didn't respond to that, he could be guilty.

It's up to God. It is not for us to judge. It is possible, albeit difficult, for those who do not believe in Christ to be saved. They can be saved by a kind of implicit belief in Christ. Christ is still working in them, Christ still saves them, but does so, without their explicit knowledge.

Eric

Hi, Laura —

Just to add to Eric's answer and directly address the question of who is at fault in the situations you described:

Parents will always be held responsible by God for the way they bring up their children. God may not look at the end result so much because the child does have free will but if a parent neglects to bring up a child properly, including proper religious education, then those parents will be held accountable. If they outright encourage the child not to believe in a God, they are in even more serious trouble.

That said, the child has a mind and heart of his own. God reveals Himself to every human being directly in one way or another. Each man knows there is a God because the natural law reveals it. The knowledge of God is written on our hearts. It's ultimately up to us to accept or reject it.

Of course, if you're brought up to reject it, you're more likely to reject it. Likewise, if you're brought up to accept it, you're more likely to accept it. Bad upbringing certainly mitigates the responsibility, but it doesn't always absolve a person completely.

I would refer you to the Prophet Ezekiel. I don't recall the exact text but, in a nut shell, God tells Ezekiel to go tell the sinners to repent.

• If he goes and they repent, then it will be to his credit and theirs.
• If he goes and they don't repent, then they will pay the price but he (Ezekiel) won't be held responsible.
• If he doesn't go tell them to repent, then their blood is on his hands.

The same principle applies to the scenario you've described.

John