Classic question: "Are the heathen really lost?"
- Various positions have been taken on the eternal destiny
of those who never hear the Gospel.
- Different viewpoints include restrictivism (all unevangelized
are damned), universalism (all unevangelized are saved), religious instrumentalism
(non-Christian religions have saving potential), and universal evangelization (God ensures the gospel reaches
those who seek).
- The Church of the Nazarene does not have an official position on the fate of the unevangelized, but many leaders lean towards a "wider hope" perspective.
- John Wesley's "Sermon 106: On Faith" points to the concept of "living up to the light they
had."
How will God judge those who never hear the Gospel?
Do the unevangelized go to hell?
What happens to those who never hear about Jesus? Can God be considered loving and just
if He fails to provide all people with an opportunity for salvation through Jesus Christ?
What does the Bible say about those who never hear about the Savior? If the unevangelized
have an opportunity for salvation, how is it made available to them?
A variety of answers have been given to questions about the fate of
those who've never heard of Jesus. Some, of course, refuse to even seriously consider the
question. For instance, one Internet site scornfully notes:
"Are the heathen lost? This is the question of the college campuses, the skeptic and
the agnostic. This is the question of those who wish to deflect making a personal commitment to
Christ. This is the question of those who like to play mental gymnastics with
God."
The author of that paragraph is wrong. "Will those who never hear the Gospel be eternally
damned?" is a good question and deserves a thoughtful answer. It's not even enough to throw out
one or two Bible verses and say, "The Bible says . . ." Some scriptural support can be found for
most of the positions people have taken on the eternal destiny of the unevangelized heathen.
Does it really matter which position we take on people
holding other religious ideologies? Yes, it does. What we believe about the fate of the
unevangelized will determine what we think the ultimate purpose of world missions to be.
Note: "Unevangelized" means those outside Christianity who have never heard the
gospel. It does not mean simply those who haven't responded positively to the gospel.
Here are the major positions people have taken on this issue with Bible passages
used to support each one.
Differing viewpoints on the eternal destiny of the
unevangelized
- 1. Restrictivism (also called
Particularism or Ecclesiocentrism): Tragically, all the unevangelized are damned.
- Supporting scripture
- 2. Universalism: everyone, including the unevangelized, will be saved.
- Supporting scripture
- 3. Religious instrumentalism: Non-Christian religions have a positive saving
potential similar to Judaism in the Old Testament
- Supporting scripture
- 4. Universal evangelization: God ensures the gospel will somehow get to those
who are searching.
- Supporting scripture
- 5. Universal opportunity at the moment of death.
- Supporting scripture
- 6. The "If" theory: God will save those who would
have accepted Christ if they had heard about Him.
- Supporting scripture
- 7. Postmortem evangelization: People can hear about Christ and accept him after
they die.
- Supporting scripture
- 8. Wider hope (called Inclusivism by some writers): Salvation is possible apart
from evangelization. The unevangelized are saved or lost on the basis of their following what
light they have.
- Supporting scripture
1. Restrictivism or particularism: all the
unevangelized are damned. The uniqueness of Christ means that He alone is the
way.
- 1 John 5:11-12
- And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who
has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
- John 14:6
- Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me."
- Acts 4:12
- Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by
which we must be saved.
- Romans 1:20-21
- Men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God
nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were
darkened.
- 1 Corinthians 3:11
- For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus
Christ.
- Zechariah 10:2
- The idols speak deceit, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give
comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.
- Psalm 16:4
- The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods.
2. Universalism: all the unevangelized are saved.
- Luke 3:6
- All mankind will see God's salvation. (Isaiah 40:5)
- John 12:32
- But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
- Romans 5:18
- Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the
result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.
- 1 Cor. 15:22-28
- For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in
his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end
will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all
dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he "has put everything under his feet." Now when it
says that "everything" has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself,
who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made
subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all.
- Philippians 2:9-11
- Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the
name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and
on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.
3. Religious instrumentalism: Non-Christian religions have a
positive saving potential similar to Judaism in the Old Testament
- Matthew 5:17
- Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to
abolish them but to fulfill them.
4. Universal evangelization: God ensures the gospel will somehow
get to those who are searching
- John 4:23
- Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
- Acts 8:26-40
- Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert road--that goes
down from Jerusalem to Gaza."
So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian
eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians.
This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot
reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near
it."
Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you
understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
"How can I," he said, "unless someone
explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the
slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is
the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?"
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is
water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip
and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the
water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again,
but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching
the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
- Hebrews 11:6
- And without faith, it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must
believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
5. Universal opportunity at the moment of death.
- Known as the "final option" theory, it has been held by some Roman
Catholics.
- Its proponents have not used a lot of Scripture for support.
6. The "If" theory: God will save those who would have accepted
Christ if they had had the opportunity to hear the good news of
salvation.
- Matthew 11:21-23
- Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If
the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have
repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and
Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the
skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been
performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day.
7. Postmortem evangelization and outreach: People will receive an
opportunity to hear about Christ and to accept or reject him after death.
- Proponents say Mark 16:15-16 indicates that only those who explicitly reject Christ
will be damned.
- Matthew 12:40
- For as Jonah was three
days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three
nights in the heart of the earth.
- Mark 16:15-16
- He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
- John 15:22
- If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now,
however, they have no excuse for their sin.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:8
- He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus.
- 2 Timothy 1:16-18
- May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me
and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for
me until he found me. May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You
know very well in how many ways he helped me
in Ephesus.
- 1 Peter 3:19-20
- Through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago .
. .
8. Inclusivism or wider hope: Salvation is possible apart from
evangelization. The unevangelized are saved or lost on the basis of their commitment to the one
true God. A variation of this position is called Accessibilism, which means that God enables
everyone to respond to His self-revelation in faith, on at least one occasion in their lives, in a
way that leaves them accountable for their response.
- John 1:9
- The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
- John 3:16-17
- For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world
to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
- John 12:32
- But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
- 1 Tim. 1:15
- Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners--of whom I am the worst.
- 1 Timothy 4:10
- . . . and for this we labor and strive, that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the
Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
The Biblical texts here are from the New International
Version.
The fate of the unevangelized: What is the Nazarene position?
Question: Has the Church of the Nazarene taken an official position on the destiny or
fate of the unevangelized? If not, is there any agreement on this issue among our theology
scholars?
Neither the General Assembly nor the Board of General Superintendents has given an answer
to that exact question. We've been a bit like Abraham in approaching this issue by responding
with
a question: "Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25)
The closest we come to a direct answer can be found at the end of the last one of the 16
Nazarene Articles of Faith, which are doctrinal statements hammered out in the global General
Assemblies of the denomination. The final sentence of that doctrinal statement says,
"We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly
believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall
suffer eternally in hell." The bold is mine for emphasis.
Most Nazarene leaders I know would refrain from using that statement to promote a
narrow restrictivism or particularism. Most would hold some version of
the "wider hope" that at least leaves the door cracked open for someone to follow the grace of
God which, scripture says, has reached out in some way to all
people (this view is not in any way saying that being a faithful follower of another religious
system is enough to save a person).
H. Orton Wiley, the co-author of a classic multi-volume theology work
that was a long-time standard work in every Nazarene pastor's library, wrote:
"The heathen will be judged by the law of nature, or the law originally given
to man as the rule of his conduct. Some portion of this law has been preserved among them,
partly by tradition and partly by reason; and though the traces of it are in some instances
obliterated, and in others greatly obscured, yet enough remains to render them accountable
beings, and to be the foundation of a judicial trial."1
That statement is within the "wider hope" tradition. [
more on wider hope]
John Wesley spoke to the issue in his "Sermon 106: On Faith." In the first section of that
sermon, he lists a dozen or so different kinds of faith. The third and fourth kinds are:
"3. The next sort of faith is the faith of Heathens, with which I join that of
Mahometans. I cannot but prefer this before the faith of the Deists; because, though it embraces
nearly the same objects, yet they are rather to be pitied than blamed for the narrowness of their
faith. And their not believing the whole truth, is not owing to want of sincerity, but merely to
want of light. When one asked Chicali, an old Indian Chief, Why do not you red men know as
much as us white men?' he readily answered, Because you have the great Word, and we have
not.'
"4. It cannot be doubted, but this plea will avail for millions of modern Heathens. Inasmuch as to
them little is given, of them little will be required. As to the ancient Heathens, millions of them,
likewise, were savages. No more, therefore, will be expected of them than the living up to the
light they had. But many of them, especially in the civilized nations, we have great reason to hope,
although they lived among Heathens, yet were quite of another spirit, being taught of God, by His
inward voice, all the essentials of true religion. Yea, and so it was that Mahometan, an Arabian
who, a century or two ago, wrote the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdan. The story seems to be
feigned; but it contains all the principles of pure religion and undefiled."
Summary
Evangelical Christians approach the question of what happens to those who never
hear the Gospel from various perspectives. Here are some of those viewpoints:
- Exclusive View: Some evangelical Christians
strongly believe that salvation comes exclusively through accepting Jesus Christ as one's
personal savior. From this perspective, those who never hear the Gospel message would be
considered eternally lost because they had no opportunity to accept Jesus and be saved. A Bible
passage often quoted to support this view is John 14:6, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
- Inclusivist View: Others may take a more inclusive
approach, suggesting that while salvation comes through Christ alone, God may extend salvation
to those who, through no fault of their own, have not heard the Gospel message. They may
believe that God judges individuals based on their response to the knowledge of God that they do
have, whether through conscience, general revelation in nature, or other means. This perspective
is based on passages such as Romans 2:14-16, which speaks of Gentiles who do not have the
Mosaic law but still follow its precepts by nature.
- Mystery View: Some evangelical Christians
acknowledge the tension in this question and believe that the fate of those who never hear the
Gospel is ultimately a mystery known only to God. They may emphasize humility in
acknowledging human limitations in understanding the complexities of divine judgment. This
perspective often encourages believers to focus on sharing the Gospel with those who have the
opportunity to hear it rather than speculating on the fate of those who have not.
- Missions Imperative: Regardless of their specific perspective on the eternal destiny
of those who never hear the Gospel, many evangelical Christians emphasize the importance of
missions and evangelism. They believe it is their responsibility to share the Gospel with others so
that as many people as possible have the opportunity to hear and respond to the message of
salvation in Jesus Christ.
I would like to find quotes from the writings of other Nazarene theologians
for this page. Please let me know if you find material in books by authors like Dunning, Lodahl,
Purkiser, and Taylor.
How does Christianity relate to other religions?
Some books to read
Clarke, Andrew and Bruce Winter, eds. One God, One Lord:
Christianity in a World of Religious Pluralism
D'Costa, Gavin, ed. Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered:
The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions
Dunning H. Ray. Grace, Faith and Holiness, pp. 168-170
Fackre, Gabriel, Ronald H. Nash and John Sanders. What About
Those Who Have Never Heard? Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized
Knitter, Paul. No Other Name? A Critical Survey of Christian
Attitudes Toward the World Religions
Neill, Stephen Charles. Christian Faith and Other Faiths.
Netland, Harold. Encountering Religious Pluralism: The
Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission
Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel in a Pluralist Society
Nicholls, Bruce. The Unique Christ in our Pluralist World
Okholm, Dennis, et. al. Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic
World
Pinnock, Clark. A Wideness in God's Mercy: The Finality of
Jesus Christ in a World of Religions
Ramachandra, Vinoth. Faiths in Conflict? Christian Integrity in
a Multicultural World
Sanders, John. No Other Name: An Investigation into the
Destiny of the Unevangelized
Shenk, Calvin. Who Do You Say That I Am? Christians
Encounter Other Religions
Stackhouse, John. No Other Gods Before Me: Evangelicals and
the Challenge of World Religions
Tiessen, Terrance. Who Can Be Saved?: Reassessing Salvation
in Christ and World Religions
In his classic book My Utmost for His
Highest, Oswald Chambers has a devotional entitled "The Key to the Missionary's Work."
In that devotional Chambers says, "The key to the missionary's work is the authority of Jesus
Christ, not the needs of the lost. . . He does not say that the lost will never be saved if we don't
go -- He simply says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."
Try your hand at writing a "diamond" poem
| Diamond (or diamante) poems are great ways to
express two contrasting ideas. [ more ] |
-- Howard Culbertson,
Afterword
The term 'heathen" has historically been used to refer to someone who does not adhere to
the dominant religion of a particular culture or society. Most often, it is a label for people who
follow a polytheistic or non-Abrahamic belief system. Iot has also been used in a derogatory or
pejorative manner, particularly by members of dominant religious groups to describe those
outside of their particular group.
In modern usage, "heathen" may still carry negative connotations. However, it has
also come into use by some people as a neutral or even positive term to describe their
non-mainstream religious or spiritual beliefs.
So, be aware of the historical and cultural baggage associated with the term. Use it with
sensitivity.
More for you on theological issues