So what does it take to get saved? What about those who have never heard the gospel? What does the Bible have to say about these things?
Christopher Morgan, Mid-America graduate and associate dean of the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University, and Robert Peterson, Drew University grad and professor of systematic theology at Covenant Theological Seminary, compile a variety
of essays that make up a conservative evangelical response in the debate
between exclusivists and inclusivists in Faith Comes By
Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism (Downers Grove , Ill.
The book exhibits three natural divisions. The first section is introductory with a
chapter on the categories and terminology involved in the debate and then a
chapter defining the inherent weaknesses of those rigid categories. In this
latter chapter, Morgan cites Sanders, Erickson, Strange and Tiessen as
opponents of the classic threefold classification. To highlight what most
theologians would say are nuances, Morgan presents an alternative spectrum of
nine potential responses.
As a continuation
of this line of questioning, Morgan and Peterson employ five traditional
Reformed evangelical essayists to answer specific issues related to
inclusivism. In chapter three Daniel Strange answers the question as to the
salvific value of general revelation. He presents three overarching responses
to general revelation–namely, totally sufficient, sufficient but not salvific
and finally insufficient. For the total sufficiency position, he cites Pinnock
and Sanders as the supporters of synergistic inclusivism and Morgan and Tiessen
as proponents of monergistic accessibilism. For the non-salvific suffiency
position, he interacts heavily with Clark and Tiessen to show that general
revelation simply “does not contain the truth content necessary for saving
faith" (68-69). He
then closes the insufficiency argument with an appeal to reject the inadequacy
of revelational categories while yet being positive about the gospel.
In chapter four
William Edgar seeks to answer the question of God’s fairness by briefly delving
into the nature, origin and conquest of evil. After asserting God’s
sovereignty, Edgar underlines the value of the gospel and the uniqueness of
Christ’s sacrificial death. He identifies the condemnation of the lost with
their refusal of God as opposed to any refusal of the gospel. However, he makes
exceptions for believers before Christ and with the mentally handicapped.
Eckhard Schnabel
highlights Paul’s theological exclusivity in chapter five. Looking at Paul’s
own interaction with the Isis cult, with the religious debate on Mars Hill in Athens and with Jewish
pride, Schnabel draws comparisons that relate to the current debate. According
to Schnabel, Paul was critical, condemning and confrontational with other
religious views. Instead of an accommodating religionist, Paul is painted as a
missionary with exclusivist Christology.
Because
inclusivists have argued for non-Christian believers who were seemingly saved
by a different kind of faith, Walter Kaiser demands a more correct exegesis of
Genesis 15:6. In his essay in chapter six, he claims that the focus of faith
must be Jesus and that merely fearing God cannot result in salvation. Kaiser
takes each of the biblical personalities cited by inclusivism and redirects the
argument by focusing on the object of his or her faith.
Stephen Wellum
handles the fifth question in chapter seven. To deal with the issue of implicit
faith, Wellum revisits Pinnock’s synergistic inclusivism and Tiessen’s
monergistic accessibilism. Wellum exposes Pinnock’s pneumacentrism as the
source of his error, as it places the Holy Spirit above the work of Christ. He
then interprets Tiessen’s theology as one based upon hypothetical situations.
Wellum concludes his critique with an admonition to avoid such extra-biblical
speculation.
The book then
takes a turn from these essayists answering specific questions to more broad
implications of exclusivism based on exegetical study. In chapter eight
Peterson takes eight specific Scripture texts and presents both the inclusivist
and exclusivist hermeneutic in each one. Interestingly, Peterson concludes that
the inclusivists reckless handling of Scripture makes it impossible to refute
theologically and fruitless to engage with dialogue.
Andreas
Kostenberger argues in chapter nine that the gospel is most central to the
Bible’s message and thus necessary for salvation. In doing so, he places a
primacy upon biblical theology and the urgency of Christian missions. In his
concluding thoughts related to inclusivism, he highlights the salvific nature
of the gospel, the Christocentricity of the gospel and the missions mandate of
the church.
Nelson Jennings
outlines a similar argument in chapter ten, but he bases his tenets upon God’s
own passion for mankind. He states that God’s zeal to reach lost men is much
greater than man’s need to believe. He interacts somewhat with Tiessen’s
monergistic accessibilism, but he concludes that real faith in God can only
come through the exclusivity of the gospel.
Almost as an
addendum, Morgan and Peterson attach chapter eleven to re-answer questions
related to the fate of the unevangelized. They cast blame upon the faulty
assumption that condemnation is based on interaction with God through general
revelation. They do respond to the question of infants who die and the mentally
challenged. They also speak to the issue of other world religions and the
purposes of general revelation. However, in the end they reaffirm saving faith
as being only actualized as a response to the message of the gospel.
Regardless of your theological palate, I highly recommend this book as a primer on the conservative evangelical stance in the exclusivism/inclusivism debate. I make no apologies for being an exclusivist personally, in that I believe no one can ever be saved apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ. But later this week, I'll do a critical evaluation of the book. Suffice it to say, though, this book should be a staple in any library of a serious student of theology.
No comments:
Post a Comment