I’ve told you about the first two Calvinists who helped me see the merits of their position. And we’ve had some good discussions about it, which tickles me. I never dreamed this would garner the amount of comments – and hits – that it did. Kinda makes me feel like Riverdancing.
The third leg of this tale is slightly different than the first two. I told about George and Trevor in dialogue format, which I think I write slightly weaker in. This part of the story takes place some time after graduation from college, after I had finally taken Trevor’s advice about who to ask my questions of. However, instead of seeking them out directly, I purchased the book they had written on the subject. You can see it on my rarely-updated sidebar: “Who Can Be Saved?” by Dr. Terrance Theissan, putting forth the view of Accesibilism.
The issue that was tying me up in knots was this: I could conceive how predestination and free will could be amalgamated; in fact I saw the necessity of such a duality. I had arrived at an understanding (albeit a new and fragile one) of God’s relationship to the saved – that is, I for the first time began to see how the concept of “the Elect” did not turn God into and evil deity. Rather, I began to see that God was more loving and more glorious than I had hoped. But one question burned inside me and refused to be quenched: If we are saved by accepting the Gospel of Christ, then what of those who have no opportunity to do so?
I asked this question of a few people, all of whom gave me answers that seemed sound yet tasted foul in my mouth as I repeated them. Answers like, “If God had wanted them saved, they would be,” and, “They live away from the Gospel because they aren’t supposed to hear it and be saved, and when the time is right God will bring the Gospel to them.” My issue with these theories were twofold; for one, it seemed very unfair of God to not give everyone the opportunity to be saved, even if he knew the would reject it; and for another, if that was your theology the WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN NORTH AMERICA!? GET YOUR ASS OUT THERE AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL because if you don’t get it out there, they have no chance. Yet it seemed that the majority of folks that held this belief had little or no interest in spreading the Gospel at all, rather they for all intents and purposes withheld the Gospel, and did so with smug superiority.
So I was quite distressed, in fact it was almost a deal-breaker between God and me. All those people – Natives, Incas, Celts, Asians, the unborn – who had never heard the Gospel, yet had rich lives with love and suffering and brightness and pain and all the things we did? Mother loving their kids, making sure they didn’t stay out too late; deeds of valour done by desperate men to protect those they loved; sacrifices made by people for those they loved; suffering and dying and all the rest – why, none of it mattered! Not if they never had a chance! Better off they would have been if they had never been born, then they would have skipped the horrors of life and just been ushered into emptiness. I could not accept it! I would not!
Such was my mindset when I cracked this book. I was in a state, let me tell you. Sleepless night followed sleepless night, and by the time I began to read I was physically and spiritually weak. It was last summer, on my week of vacation at the lake. This is what I learned.
Theissan better defined “the unevangelized” than I had. Namely, he not only included the unborn and people who lived before Christ, but infants who die before being able to understand the Gospel, the mentally handicapped who do not have the ability to understand the Gospel, and everyone living after the resurrection of Jesus who never hear the Gospel in an understandable manner OR those who hear it but are unable to recognize it as Good News because of the actions/atrocities of those who bring it. One could hardly expect a tribesman to accept the Gospel of Jesus when the only Christians he has seen have raped his wife, killed his children, and destroyed his home. What of his fate?
Paul writes in Romans: "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." (Rom 1:18-25) This verse has often been cited as proof that those who do not hear the Gospel are all doomed.
But read it closely - "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened." This says clearly that they knew God. That those whom the Gospel had never reached knew God as Creator. Yes, it also says that among those people there were those "who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth" - but it does not say that all did so. Those who do suppress the truth and do not honour him are without excuse. What of the rest? Consider the God-fearing Roman that Peter visits in Acts. Through General Revelation - that is, through God revealed to his creation in nature - humanity is aware of God.
So the question was then posed: how are we saved? Through acceptance of the Gospel? That much seems obvious – but what of Abraham, and David, and Moses, and all the Old Testament people? There was no Gospel for them to accept. Perhaps the system of temple sacrifice? But that originated after several characters in Genesis had already lived and died. How were Adam and Eve saved, for that matter? Can someone be saved if all they recieve from God is General Revelation?
Thiessen has this to say: "Salvation has always been by grace through faith, but the faith that God expects (and gives) is appropriate to the revelation of himself that he has given to a particular individual. God requires people who recieve General Revelation to honour him as the Creator and Provider, to be thankful to him... to cast themselves on his mercy when they are aware of their failure to do what is right. If the Spirit of God were graciously to elicit this response in anyone's heart, they would be saved." So what he's saying is that God is revealed to everyone, even if only through General Revelation. And if someone were to respond to that revelation, would God not save them? Consider this: God asks us for faith. Is it really possible that, in all the billions of people who had lived, that none of them responded to their Creator? Let's go back to the Bible. The criminal on the cross - what did he do to recieve salvation? He turned to Christ and asked to be remembered. That's all. I doubt he even knew what Jesus was. He responded to what little he knew, and it was enough. Could this not be the way it is for the unevangelized?
I'm falling drastically short of explaining this argument. Dr. Theissen's book is 2 inches thick, and he's got more years of schooling than I've been alive. I need to wrap this up, but let me just finish with this: I am not trying to say that evangelism is unnecessary, or that other religions save people. far from it. I'm saying that any who are saved are saved by Christ - but that God's mercy may extend farther than we knew. I don't know who among the unevangelized are saved, but I have hope that some - perhaps many - are. And whenever I fear that God is bloodthristy, or evil, or eagerly desiring the suffering of his children, I think of this: "Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?" Eze 18:23, and "The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." 2 Pet 3:9
Scripture tells me that God is more merciful and righteous than I am, than anyone is. If I can trust anyone to do what is right - what is really right - I can trust him. And that is where I arrived. Thanks for tagging along.
I was planning on heading on to the next point today; that is, talking about the salvation of the unevangelized (as it was so eloquently shot down by George in pt. 1). However, the comments of last post have shown me that there are some things that need to be said before I continue.
