Faith Comes by Hearing: A Response to Inclusivism

by Christopher W. Morgan

Book Overview

What about those who have never heard? The debate swirls and feelings run deep. What is the fate of the unevangelized? The traditional position--that apart from an explicit faith in Jesus no one is saved--seems to have fallen out of favor with many evangelicals. Here is a passionate but irenic response to the arguments of those who believe that the unevangelized can (or might) be saved apart from knowledge of Jesus Christ. Building on the insights...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0830825908
• ISBN13: 9780830825905
• Release Date: February 2008
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Length: 270 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Review

So far I have only read Dr. Peterson's chapter on Inclusivism and found it to be very informative and accurate.

Great Collection of Essays!

This is a great book to understand the exclusivist point of view. People find it hard to believe that not all people will go to heaven. This books presents the biblical truth of man's sinfullness and the work of the Holy Spirit.

The case for exclusivism

Biblically Christianity is clearly exclusivist in its insistence that Christianity is the one true religion, and that Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation. This is not exactly what a multicultural, pluralistic society wants to hear. But it is what biblical Christians are obligated to proclaim. While it is obvious that many non-Christians (whether religious or nonreligious) will find the exclusiveness of Christianity's truth claims to be burdensome and objectionable, there are some Christians who also question the traditional understanding. Some evangelical Christians, for example, have sought to widen the parameters when it comes to who can be saved and how. It is to these sorts of issues that this book is addressed. Eleven meaty chapters written by nine biblical scholars tackle the many complex issues involved. Traditionally there have been three main approaches to these issues. The exclusivist camp argues that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour, and salvation only comes in response to the Gospel of Christ. The inclusivist camp argues that Christ is indeed the only Saviour, but people can be saved apart from hearing the Gospel message. Pluralism teaches that there are many religious roads to God. This volume argues that the consistent Biblical position is that of exclusivism. It mainly interacts with other Christians who seek to argue for the remaining two positions, especially the inclusivists. Many of the leading evangelical inclusivists are those associated with the open theism movement. Thus open theists such as Clark Pinnock and John Sanders receive a great deal of attention in this volume, along with others. Terrance Tiessen, an inclusivist of the Reformed persuasion, also gets a wide hearing. Morgan does a good job in his opening chapter listing the various details and nuances of the main positions involved. Indeed, he admits that the three traditional camps may be insufficient, and breaks things down into nine specific positions. Daniel Strange offers a helpful overview of the claim that general revelation (God's self-disclosure in creation and conscience) is sufficient to condemn sinners, but not sufficient to save them. The special revelation of God (his Word and Jesus Christ) is necessary to make salvation possible to fallen mankind. Key texts such as Psalm 19 and Romans 1-2 are carefully examined, along with inclusivist assessments of them. Walter Kaiser looks at salvation in the Old Testament, and argues that so-called holy pagans or believing Gentiles were saved just as we are, by response to the specific revelation of God. True, the OT saints did not have a clear understanding of Christ and his work, but they did have Yahweh's self-disclosure in general, and his specific revelation of a promised Saviour, going back to Genesis 3:15. Eckhard Schnabel discusses how the Bible understands other religions. He reminds us that both Israel and the early Christians believed that competing religious worldviews were false religio

Thorough answers to the question of inclusivism

Is explicit faith in Christ necessary for eternal salvation? Without a doubt, a question like this is provocative and elicits passion from all religious corners. Depending on the answer given, the church will either go forth in evangelistic endeavors or will jettison both the message and the mission of the gospel. In this brand new book, nine Christian theologians give us an excellent introduction to this topic, arguing against the idea that salvation can take place apart from knowledge of Jesus Christ. One of the editors, Robert Peterson, is a professor of theology here in my hometown of St. Louis at Covenant Theological Seminary. There are a lot of new terms to get a handle on in this discussion, so Peterson opens with an introduction that defines the terms for us: "Pluralism is the view that all religions lead to God. It denies that Jesus Christ is the worlds only Savior. People may be saved, therefore, as adherents of Buddhism, Hinduism, or Islam, to cite the big three non-Christian religions as examples. "Exclusivism, sometimes called restrictivism or particularism, is the view that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world and that one must believe God's special revelation that culminates in the gospel of Christ in order to be saved. "Inclusivism is the view that, although Jesus is the only Savior of the world, one does not have to believe in the gospel to be saved. For a Christian, the primary question is - regarding eternal salvation through Jesus Christ, which of the "isms" is the teaching of the Bible? Each of the individual contributors to this book argue in favor of the exclusivist view of Jesus Christ. However, some Christians wrongly believe it is necessary for them to abandon the exclusivist position. In an excellent online essay, theologian Dr. R. Albert Mohler, writes: "The fact is that many persons are embarrassed by the Gospel as revealed in the Bible and taught by Christ. The central issue of offense is the exclusivity of the Gospel of Christ, And yet, Christ left no doubt about the matter. In John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." The first sentence is not the ground of offense. The second sentence is. The "but by Me" statement leaves no room for confusion." A sampling of the content includes Stephen Wellum's discussion on whether saving faith is implicit or explicit, Walter Kaiser tackles the subject of "Holy pagans", and Andreas Köstenberger takes us through the New Testament teaching that the gospel of Christ is the only means of salvation for all people and hence the church must go forth in witness to the world. The editors of this book conclude their work with a word to Christians: "God is passionately engaged in gathering people to know, love and worship him from every tribe, language, people and nation. And he has called us to join him on this mission."