The Destiny of the Unevangelized Debate - Research Paper Example

The Destiny of the Unevangelized Debate Ever from the spread of Christianity in the world, there has become an intense debate on the topic ‘the destiny of unevangelized’ ones. According to Christianity, Christ is the only saviour and so it is only through Christ that salvation is possible. This has led many newly evangelized people to become anxious about the destiny of their forefathers. They worried that their forefathers were died of without evangelized and according to their beliefs their souls would not get salvation as they were not evangelized. It was a prevailing question regarding the destiny of the unevangelized for many years. It has put theologians to focus on this debate, whether a person born as unevangelized is saved to eternity or not. Many have differences of opinion regarding the destiny of people who are not evangelized. Taking the example of Cornelius in the Acts, it says, “Cornelius-even with all of his godly characteristics and even though an angel appeared to him –was not already saved. No, he had to hear the gospel and, as the result, believe in the Lord Jesus” (Penney 2001, 99). The book, Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology by Gregory A. Boyd and Paul R. Eddy has dealt with the issue on the destiny of unevangelized people very clearly. The research analyses the various aspects included in the debate and makes out the strengths and weaknesses of each point. The attitudes and opinions of theologians are considered to make out a solution for the debate. Thesis Statement: Problems of Unevangelized: the position of theologians and the church in the debate. The Bible says, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12) The wordings in bible make a person think that non Christians are denied of salvation. “Whether I am a Calvinist, Arminian, dispensationalist, covenant theologian, charismatic, high church may give a particular coloring to the model I choose, but these factors do not determine which model I favour regarding the destiny of those who have never heard the gospel” (Fackre et al. 1995, 17). When comes to the case of unevangelized, the salvation is denied for them and so this subject has led way for a hot debate in the Christendom. What will be the destiny of all unevangelized people who belong to Jews, Muslims, Hindus, etc? Are they not the sons of God? The book, Across the Spectrum, gives out three types of approach towards this debate, namely, ‘exclusivism’, ‘inclusivism’, and ‘pluralism’. The first term exclusivism considers Jesus as the only saviour and without him no salvation is possible. The second term regards Jesus as the only saviour but salvation is possible without the knowledge of him. According to the second one, the good faith in God is enough to attain salvation irrespective of religion. The term of the category, pluralism does not consider Jesus as the only saviour but one among many and salvation is possible for others (Boyd and Eddy 2009, 198). The theologians found pluralism completely against Christian ideology and so they rejected the term from the debate. This term, may be, later made way for neglecting the importance of Christ as the only saviour. The terms, exclusivism and inclusivism gave way for many contradictions in the church. Most of theologians support the aspects of these in their studies. They have found three ways of life that stood for exclusivism. They are restrictivism, universal opportunity, and post-mortem evangelism. According to the first one no one is attained salvation without Jesus Christ. In the Bible Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life .No one comes to the Father except through me.”(John14:6) These words affirm that Jesus Christ is the only saviour and many believers are attached to this point of view. They consider that the only possible way to save the humanity from the clutches of sin and make them attain salvation is adopting the restrictive way of life. It suggests the unevangelized people will go to hell as they don’t realise the saviour of the world. True this way of life has been put to harsh criticism from all abounds. It is not at all fair to side with only those who support this view; “It is not a person’s fault for being born in a time and place when and where he or she cannot hear the gospel” (Boyd and Eddy 2009, 201). More over it is understood that a person is judged for his own deeds and so irrespective of evangelized God is fair to all. “This “fewness doctrine” has, unfortunately, served to turn a fair number of people toward universalism (the belief that every single human being will actually saved)” (Fackre et al.1995, 25). Through the second term, ‘Universal opportunity’, theologians tell that God wants all the people to be with him in heaven and so he sent His only son to earth to save the humanity from sins. God will never see his sons perished. So in the view of universal opportunity, “He will send a missionary, an angel, or perhaps come to a person in a dream or deathbed vision. One way or another, all who have a heart to believe will be given the chance to do so” (Boyd and Eddy 2009, 203). God will find a way to understand Him and does not want the person to go astray. In the Biblical history God was mercy enough to send prophets and even His son to redeem the humanity from sin and attain salvation. The theologians like Thomas Aquinas, Jacob Arminius, etc are the advocates of this view. But this view has got the opponent notions too. There is no clear evidence for this view. The opponent notion of this view is the general view. Christopher R. Little takes the words of Erickson to describe general view as, “A close examination of the definition of general revelation discloses that it refers to God’s self manifestation through nature, history, and the inner being of the human person”(Little 2000, 10). According to the third view, Post- mortem Evangelism, people are given a chance after death to accept or reject Christ and in this way they will be saved. It is the hope beyond the grave (Boyd and Eddy 2009, 205). John 5:25 says, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” It indicates that the spirits of the dead will hear the voice of God and be saved to eternal kingdom with Him. According to evangelical point of view all those believe the son of God will be saved and this process takes place in the life of each and every human being. But together with the advocates of this view the fierce opposition also is seen. The book, Earth habitat: eco –injustice and the church’s response says, “He believes, however, that for those who did not accept Jesus Christ in life on earth, there is every possibility that they will not change even if given another chance after they die” (Hessel, Rasmussen 2001, 46). There are both positive and negative views regarding the salvation of the unevangelized which put the church to get an appropriate way out to solve the debate. In this context it should be noted that, “The inclusivist view allows us to embrace the exclusivity of Jesus Christ without sacrificing either the universality of God’s love or the just nature of God’s character” (Boyd and Eddy 2009, 211). The universal opportunity view of the church has gained much control over others in this regard.The parable of Prodigal son shows God’s unending love to sinners and out thrown. The writer takes up Jesus’ wordings, “For many are called ,but few are chose.” as, “Thus Jesus takes a saying by which the religious authorities ruled themselves in and everyone out, and applies it to them-saying, in effect, that the religious establishment is not among the elect but the sinners are!” (Fackre et al.1995, 32). Most of the theologians of church advocate for the complete salvation of the human beings and the universality of God’s love over all people irrespective of evangelized or unevangelized. Between the terms exclusivism and inclusivism, church and others give more priority to inclusivism in the debate of the issue of the destiny of the unevangelized. “The strength of inclusivism is that it is not simply as ethics of civility within an increasingly vicious world. It is a way to maintain the finality of Christ while viewing the other religions as possible ways to God” (Inbody 2005, 326). The Christendom has gained much priority in the world and the missionaries have spread the religion through their evangelical mission. The possible questions that they face from the newly Christians regarding the destiny of their forefathers could be well answered with the new interpretations of the debate. The unending love and concern of God towards the mankind shows the salvation over unevangelized matter. The terms inclusivism and exclusivism could make much debate among the theologians about the destiny of the unevangelized. Whatever be the debate, no one can deny the supremacy of Christ as the epitome of love. Christ has been named as the only saviour but the meaning of evangelized has spread its connotative aspects. It has spread from Christians to all who believe in God. True the debate has made way for an analysis of the Bible in connection with the issue and the new reading of the debate has led the people in realising God’s ways to human beings in a new manner. Reference List: Boyd A. Gregory, Eddy R. Paul. 2009. Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology. Edn 2: Baker Academic. Fackre J. Gabriel, Nash H. Ronald, Sanders John. 1995. What about those who have never heard?: three views on the destiny of the unevangelized: InterVarsity Press. Hessel T. Dieter, Rasmussen L. Larry, eds. 2001. Earth habitat: eco-injustice and the church's response: Fortress Press. Inbody Tyron. 2005. The faith of the Christian church: an introduction to theology. Edn. Illustrated: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. Little R. Christopher. 2000. The revelation of God among the unevangelized: an evangelical appraisal and missiological contribution to the debate: William Carey Library. Penney L. Russell, ed. 2001. Overcoming the World Missions Crisis: Thinking Strategically to Reach the World: Kregel Academic. Read More