what about those who died before hearing the gospel

The difference between creational revelation and biblical revelation concerns the degree of specificity about what God is doing, not a difference of kind, since it is the same God doing the revealing. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. the iniquity of us all. Paul writes that the Gentiles were strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). And He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, O Lord God, You know., Again He said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. Yet, for Paul, there is continuity between believers such as Abraham and Christians such as those at Rome, because both believe in and seek to follow the same God (see Romans 4:24). God asked Ezekiel if these dead Israelites could live again, and then in vision God puts sinews, flesh and skin on the dead bones and breathes the breath of life back into them and they come alive. Christians: Dialogue With Skeptics Part 2 The existence of an eternal hell without the possibility for repentance would raise questions about Gods power, justice, and love. 801-422-6975. 1. Those evangelicals who trace their heritage to the Old Princeton School and the Fundamentalist movement tend to affirm restrictivism. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christs at His coming. It is for this reason, the need of sharing the gospel, that Paul said what he did in Romans 10:8-15 and particularly in vss. [4] John Hick, An Interpretation of Religion: Human Responses to the Transcendent (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1989); and Paul Knitter, No Other Name? The idea is also present in 2 Esdras 9:10 and in early Christian writings such as 2 Clement 8:3: For after we have gone out of the world, no further power of confessing or repenting will there belong to us. In Roman Catholic theology and in much Protestant thought, it is assumed that death ends our period of probation and seals our destinies.[17]. Hence those incapable will not be condemned. Then He said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Finally, the end comes, and Scripture explains what happens to the rest of mankind who are not Christ's at His coming. [35] Gavin DCosta, Theology and Religious Pluralism (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986), 69. Please note this prophecy in Ezekiel 37:1-14 Before doing this, however, some clarifications are in order. Next are texts that proclaim the unlimited Atonement of Christ (see 1 John 2:2; Hebrews 2:9; Titus 2:11; 2 Corinthians 5:19). Proponents of the final option theory claim that all people will have an encounter with Jesus Christ at the moment of death and will have to give their final answer while dying. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. The Creator who gave us life is the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. Interested in knowing God personally? The Gentile that inclusivists highlight is Cornelius, a God-fearing uncircumcised Gentile who prayed continually. While it is true that no one seeks God out of his own initiative (Rom 3:11), God is drawing all to Himself (John 12:32), so then all are free to respond to God. We have heard about Gods promise to save us on the Day of Judgement by Jesus death, and we are trusting that he will. eds., Through No Fault of Their Own: The Fate of Those Who Have Never Heard (Grand Rapids MI: Baker Book House, 1991). Those Who Have Never Heard: A Survey of the Major Positions Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, says the Lord.. . Davis, Steven. 3 Reasons We Avoid Evangelism 50 Quotes from Tim Keller (1950-2023) Why Church Leaders Need to Practice Theological Triage 20 Quotes from the New Book About Tim Keller The man on the island. Greg Laurie Answers: Did People Who Died Before Jesus' Resurrection Go A favorite text of universalists is 1 Corinthians 15:2228: For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Inclusivists of evangelical persuasion are typically quite willing to admit that there are truths in the other religions of which God may make use. Were you purchased for God with Christs blood? Add an RSC shortcut to this device's Homescreen, In the menu, scroll past any icons and tap. This requires people to die more than once. So the question is, what are you going to do with Jesus? The Presence of Grace Outside Evangelization, Baptism and Church in Thomas Aquinas Theology, in eds. 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. They were calling for a serious decision, and the nature of their existential preaching required graphic imagery to portray the importance of the choice. . Since God is sovereign and omnipotent . The Macedonian vision of Acts 16:9 suggests that God will bring the message of life to anyone who is crying out for it. [14] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1984), 2:253. . Walter M. Abbott (New York: American Press, 1966), 35. Richard and Clara Winston (Garden City, NJ: Anchor Books, 1963), Bloesch, Donald. This point is also raised in several Reformed confessions: Scottish Confession of Faith (1560), chapter 17; Second Helvetic Confession (1566), chapter 26; Westminster Confession (1646), 32.1; Westminster Larger Catechism (1647), question 86. They knew what the promised one was coming to do, they just had to trust God that He was going to save them through it - exactly what we need to do. The different interpretations stem from the answers given to three key questions: (1) Who are the spirits in prison? According to Justin Martyr, the seed (sperma) of the universal logos is present in all races, even though the fullness of the logos is present in Jesus. On John Paul II see his Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Knopf, 1994), 81. [38] Pinnock, A Wideness in Gods Mercy, 109. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Had he intended otherwise He would have supplied the means leading to the designed end.[19]. God's justice: Four attributes about God the Bible emphasizes are His holiness, justice, love, and wrath. While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? The Apostle Paul says that God will approve of those Gentiles who, though they do not have the law (the Old Testament revelation), do by nature the things required in the law (see Romans 2:616). Personal salvation by grace through faith in the atoning work of Christ on the Cross may not have been as clear at the time of Noah as it is to us today. Yet, a question continues to be raised over the faith of these heroes. "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" ( 1 Timothy 2:5 ). Inclusivists reject any notion that people are saved on their own apart from divine grace. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, How Were People Saved Before Jesus Came in the Flesh? What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? Cornelius was one such man. 14 (1993): 13152. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (1 John 5:1112). [27], The classic text used to support postmortem evangelization is 1 Peter 3:1820, 4:6: For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in whom also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. The idea that unbelievers can be born again without faith in Christ, if they are somehow following the dictates of their own consciences and religions, is a direct rejection of the teaching of Scripture. eds., Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), OMeara, Thomas. Or perhaps they were caused to be prejudiced against Christianity by skeptical parents or teachers. Unfortunately, Apple's iOS doesn't support home screen shortcuts in the Chrome browser. The truth is far more inspiring. At our website we have several articles and studies on this important subject. Question: Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew that the day of judgment would be "more tolerable" for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and Tyre and Sidon, than for those who heard and rejected Jesus' message during His ministry on earth. The view taken by most modern commentators is that after Jesus died, He descended and proclaimed triumph over the fallen angels. A fourth view, held by many in the early church and regaining popularity today, is that during His descent into hell Jesus preached the gospel to all present and then led all who accepted Him as Savior out of that prison. If so, how might God work to accomplish this purpose? [6] See chapters six and seven in Knitters No Other Name? The fact that multitudes of people from groups who had never heard about Jesus have come to faith shows that it is indeed possible. From these texts the following argument is constructed: (1) the salvation in Jesus is universally accessible, (2) explicit knowledge of Christ is necessary for salvation, and (3) the only reason anyone is condemned to hell is for rejection of Jesus Christ. All biblical citations are from the New American Standard Version. [10] Nels Fredrick Solomon Ferr, Evil and the Christian Faith (Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971), 118. God does not provide salvation to those who fail to hear of Jesus and come to faith in him before they die. [34] Barclay, An Apology for True Christian Divinity (Philadelphia: Friends Bookstore, 1908), 181. Dexter, Michigan History and Trivia Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 1920. There is only one God (see Romans 3:29). 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, Here Paul draws an analogy between the first and second Adams. How can this be? Though there is some evidence for this in Thomass writings, the insightful study by Thomas OMeara convincingly shows that Aquinas was an inclusivist. However, the Bible also teaches that there is only one Savior, Jesus, and it is through Him and Him alone that salvation has been brought to humanity. Widespread support for universalism began in Protestant theology in the latter eighteenth century, sprouted with the Reformed theologian Schleiermacher in the nineteenth and fully bloomed in the twentieth when a wide array of Protestant and Catholic writers affirmed it. And we should support others, financially and through prayer, who are relocating to other countries to share the message of life. Richard and Clara Winston (Garden City, NJ: Anchor Books, 1963), 47, 52. and the LORD has laid on him The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world came to the nation of Israel approximately four hundred years after the Old Testament canon was closed. Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. Being right with God is about trusting God to save us from sin. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. He restores our broken relationship with God, that we might live with Him forever, Christians: Dialogue With Skeptics Part 2. Hope youll give us another try and check out some other articles. Though this would seem to imply that very few are saved, Dante gives this caution: Although explicit knowledge of Christ is necessary for salvation, Dante, in canto 20, writes of a number of pagans who received visions of Christ, even a thousand years prior to the incarnation, and of one pagan who was removed from hell and restored to his body long enough to hear of Christ and be converted. We know this because the Word of God says repeatedly that God shows no partiality (Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9). Thank you for signing up to receive email newsletters from Answers in Genesis. Charles Hodge says, The revelation of the plan of salvation is not made by the works or by the providence of God; nor by the moral constitution of our nature, nor by the intuitions or deductions of reason; nor by direct revelation to all men everywhere and at all times; but only in the written Word of God.[15] Natural revelation only brings knowledge of sin and condemnation, it cannot provide enough light to provide divine salvation. When people died in the Old Testament believing in the coming Messiah, they went into this place of comfort, as Jesus said, in Abraham's bosom," he continued. Provo, UT 84602 The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World (London: Edinburgh House Press, 1938). Like one from whom men hide their faces Especially with all the bad things that happen in the world? To use our advanced search functionality (to search for terms in specific content), please use syntax such as the following examples: What happens to those who die without hearing the true Gospel? The basic idea is that God knows not only all the things that possibly could happen and all the events that actually will happen, but He also knows what would have happened had something in the circumstances been different. When you click on the image below you will be taken to the discussions where others from this community may add to or discuss your topics or questions. All rights reserved. GES uses all contributions and proceeds from the sales of our resources to further the gospel of grace in the United States and abroad. Some people use this as an excuse to reject the light they have, but interestingly, others still come to faith in Christ, regardless. In Acts 10 the Roman centurion Cornelius was searching for the true God, and God sent Peter to him to proclaim the gospel.

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