More of a question then a post, this is what started me thinking about salvation outside of Jesus.
Think back to the time when Jesus walked the earth. He never traveled a significant distance from where he was born and grew up. Once he started his earthly ministry he touched the lives of hundreds of people, but certainly not the whole world. Once he resurrected and ascended his apostles started to preach the good news, but they certainly didn’t make it out to the whole world.
This means that while Jesus was alive there were people who never met him and never talked to him. When his apostles started preaching there were hundreds of thousands of people who never heard them preach, never had a chance to encounter Jesus as way, truth and life. Through no fault of their own countless millions died before Jesus was born, many more died while he was alive, and many more died in the time after his death. Currently we have the gospel being preached in many corners of the world, but we haven’t reached every single living human being, so there are still some people who have never heard of the holy man from Nazareth.
What about them?
Is heaven / salvation / life in the world to come / entry into the great feast /etc. closed to them forever?
I’d like to hear how this dilemma has been resolved in the lives of individuals who read my blog – this is the crux of where my exploration of salvation began, and it is still the crucible where my thoughts are being refined.
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
KC: I sent you a brief email – I’ll do my best to respond in full by Saturday evening.
Jody: I like that “wider hope” theory – it seems to fit in well with my conception of how things’ll happen @ the end.
Thanks to both for dropping off some thoughts š
Blessings & Peace,
Hugo
i am an adherent of the wider hope theory. i believe that God knows every individual and their situation and will judge perfectly accordingly. someone may have worshipped the most high God to the fullest of their knowledge yet never heard the name of Jesus. i don’t think that just because christians still have yet to go into ALL the world to bring the good news that God will punish those people. i am not under the belief that everyone will be in automatically, but i’m not sure exactly what i think. i definitely lean towards the wider hope theory.
I offered a portion of my speculation in an email because it seemed too lengthy for a comment. Iām willing to share it with anyone and I would also appreciate the understanding of others here if you decide to email in too. š