What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?
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Notes
Transcript
Introducing the issue
Introducing the issue
It affects our view of God and the missionary task
Not “what about my friend who didn’t receive adequate explanation?” but “what about the uncontacted tribe?”
Verses to read — Ecc. 3:11, Rom. 1:18-20, John 14:6, Acts 17:22-23
Spectrum of 9 categories (3 original — exclusivism, inclusivism, universalism)
Exclusivism — people can only be saved if they hear and respond to the Gospel
Inclusivism — people who don’t hear the Gospel can be saved, but still by Jesus
Universalism — hell isn’t permanent
pluralism, world religion inclusivism, universalism, post-mortem evangelism, general revelation inclusivism, agnosticism, special revelation exclusivism, gospel exclusivism, church exclusivism
Church exclusivism
Church exclusivism
Originally talking about heresy, not the unevangelized. Today takes form with some folks thinking their church is the only true church.
Pluralism & world religion inclusivism
Pluralism & world religion inclusivism
In direct contradiction with John 14:6 and so many other verses
Also logically untenable (turn the blind men & the elephant on its head)
Universalism
Universalism
Has been rightly condemned by Christians for centuries
Fails to accept God’s character as including justice
Misunderstands 1 Tim. 2:4 in favor of other verses
Post-mortem evangelism
Post-mortem evangelism
Long-story short, mostly an argument from silence…might as well pick agnosticism
Agnosticism
Agnosticism
Because it’s a difficult issue and because the Bible is clear on so many other things (the need to preach the Gospel, the command to make disciples, the need for repentance to accept grace), John Stott says “…the most Christian stance is to remain agnostic on this question.”
A healthy agnosticism trusts in God’s justice while being obedient
The problem with agnosticism is when it is related to the number of the unevangelized who are saved (in that way it’s just GRI)
Gospel & special revelation exclusivism
Gospel & special revelation exclusivism
The strengths
Looks at John 14:6, Romans 10 + more (fits the plain reading of Scripture)
Majority Christian position for all of church history, affirmed by most evangelicals
Should be our default position when in doubt
Special revelation seems stronger because it’s hard to rule out God’s freedom to send an angel to preach the Gospel instead of one of us, even though we don’t have examples of that. (Instead, the burden is on us, and even when God is appearing to Muslims in dreams, he’s directing them to us.)
This issue is that it sees Rom. 1 as presenting general revelation as sufficient for damnation but not salvation.
“They would find their way to a church” doesn’t make sense if they never knew of a church.
The idea that God foreknew all these people wouldn’t believe and therefore lumped millions together in unreached people groups is logically valid, but hard to imagine.
General revelation inclusivism
General revelation inclusivism
The strengths
Notices the problems with general revelation being sufficient for damnation but not salvation (same issue as double predestination)
Looks at Romans 4:24, Abraham, Acts 17, etc. and says people are saved by Jesus through their faith in the Father, even if they don’t know it’s Jesus saving them
Good GRI emphasizing all core Christian ideas: that the person would need to recognize their sin, their inability to make right, the need for grace, make some kind of conscious decision to trust in the Creator for that grace, and live accordingly
The problem
Genesis 6:5 — “every inclination…only evil all the time”
The Karen people never cried out to God as far as we know. In Acts 17, no one was solely worshipping the Unknown God and asking for grace
J.I. Packer responds by saying “Living by the Bible means assuming that no one will be saved apart from faith in Christ, and acting accordingly.”
If we’re going to include it as an option, we need to call it “pessimistically hopeful”
Concluding thoughts
Concluding thoughts
“I cannot know if my lost neighbor will have another chance to hear about Jesus after he dies, but I do know God has told me to tell him about Jesus now.” — Rhyne Putman