Some of my friends have been trying to get me read Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins." As people have already reviewed that book to death (just look at Amazon) I thought it would be more helpful to discuss/explain one of the questions he tries to answer.
Several months ago, a co-worker asked how I respond to a paradox within Christianity. He explained that there are people who can never hear about Christ due to practical limitations (like time and geography). Given this how can those people be saved? I responded by pointing to some sections in Romans that talk about the gentiles becoming a law unto themselves (2:14). I reason that this says God has adequately revealed himself in the world and other creation so he will judge people who have no access to scripture and knowledge of Christ based on that revelation. This is a very common response to the paradox but he countered with another one. If it is true that God can draw people unto him only by general revelation (creation and such) then by spreading the word of Christ we actually decrease the chances of someone being saved as this can introduce complications and other problems (I won’t list them here for brevity). However this violates the Great Commission (Matthew 28) and other directives of Christ so we have a paradox. Anyone who has seriously interacted with Christianity has encountered some form of this apparent paradox. So what about the people who have not heard and cannot hear?
To put it simply, this is no problem. In order for the question/paradox to be valid, it must in some way be unjust for God to allow people to perish with no chance to receive grace. There are only two possible reason why this would be unjust; either people must in some way be worthy of a chance to receive grace or there must be a moral requirement on God to extend people grace. Neither of these are true (In Christianity, they might be aspects of other religions/worldviews).
It is unjust when people do not get what they deserve. To say that it is unjust for some people to not receive grace due to lack of knowledge is to assume that these people deserve a chance to receive grace. But they don’t deserve it; none of us do. Every person who has ever lived deserves to go to hell, so there is nothing unjust about it if any of us do (no matter the reason). I deserve to burn in hell. The most honest and ethical person you have ever known also deserves to go to hell. As I really am that bad, it in no way makes God unjust if he decides to arrange the world in such a way that I have no practical chance of knowledge of Christ (obviously he did not do that in my case). The natural, logical, and necessary result of sin is death and damnation (James 1:15). We are all sinners (Romans3:23, Psalm 14:2-3) so if God decides he doesn’t want to save some people (or all of us) there is nothing unjust or unfair about it.
1. Christianity teaches that everyone is sinful and unjustified.
2. No sinful or unjustified individual deserves a chance.
3. So under Christian teaching no man deserves a chance, regardless of how good he appears or how unfair this might seem.
Under Christian belief, there are no moral requirements on God; moral requirements come from him. God is the source of all morality as what is moral is intrinsic to his nature (This is why God cannot sin. Nothing can violate its own nature and sin is a violation of God’s nature). The only possible moral requirement on God would be requirements he places on himself. When he makes promises (to Abraham, David, or people in general) he is placing a moral requirement on himself. When God swore a pact with Abraham, he swore by himself because there was no one greater for him to swear by (Hebrews 6:13). A moral requirement is always placed on the individual by a higher authority. There is no higher authority than God, so there is no one above him to place moral requirements on God. This does not mean God is amoral or immoral. As morality is an intrinsic and inherent part of his nature, God is the most moral and ethical thing that exists. When Job says that God is treating him unfairly one of God’s responses is to say Job that he doesn’t know what he is talking about and that Job has no moral authority over him (Job 41).
1. God is the source of all morality and all moral requirements.
2. As the ultimate source of morality, there is nothing and no one else to hold moral requirements on God.
3. So the only moral requirements God has are those that he places on himself.
Additionally asking “what about those who don’t know” ignores the general revelation of God. Christianity teaches that God has adequately revealed himself in creation so to assert that some people might not have a chance is simply false. Everyone who has ever lived experiences creation so if God can be known through creation the question is nonsensical and foolish. Psalm 14:1 calls atheists morally deficient, Psalm 19:1 says that creation proclaims God’s work, and Romans 1:18-20 says that God has made such things plain to people. Either scripture is wrong or everyone really does know on some level.
1. People can only be morally responsible for what they know.
2. God has adequately revealed himself to everyone.
3. So everyone is morally responsible for knowledge of God.
The point is that if Christian teaching is true, I don’t deserve a chance, and God is in no way required to give me one. What makes grace so amazing is that God does give me (and everyone else) a chance anyway. The gap God crosses to offer us forgiveness is greater than the gap that a Jew who was killed in a concentration camp would cross to forgive Hitler. If this seems like an excessive example; it’s not. The example isn’t nearly strong enough, but I have a hard time thinking of a stronger one. All of us have done far more evil to God than Hitler ever did to anyone. None of us deserves a chance, so asking “What about people who haven’t heard?” is at best a misunderstanding of what Christianity espouses.
So why does this question bother so many people and why does it seem so unjust that a man who lived in a jungle in South America in 550 AD and tried to do right by those around him might be hell? We cannot say that is through no fault of his own as everyone who exists is at fault and he has adequate revelation of God. We cannot say it is because God is unjust. Rather I think in most cases this question arises out of the ideals of Western/American culture. Our culture is highly individualistic and believes very strongly that everyone deserves a chance. A central idea of democratic style government is a high value on the individual and a belief that everyone deserves a say. American culture’s primary belief of individual nature is that most people are basically good and reasonable (if this were not so no one would believe democracy is a viable form of government). Because of this belief, we seek to treat everyone fairly and give everyone an equal chance. We think they deserve it. But (as I established above) no one deserves grace and salvation. Many people have (most likely inadvertently) allowed the culture’s belief about the goodness of people to co-opt the Christian teaching about the depravity of man.
The question “What about those who haven’t heard?” may (and most likely does) come from the best of intentions, but it isn’t really a valid question if Christian teachings on God, sin, and human nature are true. As God has a merciful and loving nature (he died for us after all) he hasn’t left those who haven’t heard to rot. Rather he has ensured that everyone does get a chance by revealing himself in the world. But if God had decided to refuse some people a chance there would be nothing morally or logically wrong with that.
This fact is what is so amazing and wonderful about grace. We don’t deserve it, we shouldn’t get, and God doesn’t have to give it to us, but he still literally went through hell to give it to us. Without the fact that we don’t deserve it, grace isn’t really that amazing. If we are just getting a chance that we deserve, why is that all that impressive? Christ said;
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back (Luke 6:32-35)."
What good would it be if God only gave us what we deserve? To believe that people might deserve a chance at best cheapens grace to a moral requirement. If this all grace is, than it is no longer based in love (love should transcend moral requirements according to Christ) and there is nothing that special about Christianity anymore.
So perhaps due to an accident of birth some people never hear about Christ. As none of us deserve it, this is perfectly just. But would the same God who comes up with something like grace just leave people to rot? No, has revealed himself to everyone and he does care for us. So praise God for grace and don’t inadvertently cheapen it by assuming we deserve it. We don’t and that is why it is one of the most incredible things that exists.
Several months ago, a co-worker asked how I respond to a paradox within Christianity. He explained that there are people who can never hear about Christ due to practical limitations (like time and geography). Given this how can those people be saved? I responded by pointing to some sections in Romans that talk about the gentiles becoming a law unto themselves (2:14). I reason that this says God has adequately revealed himself in the world and other creation so he will judge people who have no access to scripture and knowledge of Christ based on that revelation. This is a very common response to the paradox but he countered with another one. If it is true that God can draw people unto him only by general revelation (creation and such) then by spreading the word of Christ we actually decrease the chances of someone being saved as this can introduce complications and other problems (I won’t list them here for brevity). However this violates the Great Commission (Matthew 28) and other directives of Christ so we have a paradox. Anyone who has seriously interacted with Christianity has encountered some form of this apparent paradox. So what about the people who have not heard and cannot hear?
To put it simply, this is no problem. In order for the question/paradox to be valid, it must in some way be unjust for God to allow people to perish with no chance to receive grace. There are only two possible reason why this would be unjust; either people must in some way be worthy of a chance to receive grace or there must be a moral requirement on God to extend people grace. Neither of these are true (In Christianity, they might be aspects of other religions/worldviews).
It is unjust when people do not get what they deserve. To say that it is unjust for some people to not receive grace due to lack of knowledge is to assume that these people deserve a chance to receive grace. But they don’t deserve it; none of us do. Every person who has ever lived deserves to go to hell, so there is nothing unjust about it if any of us do (no matter the reason). I deserve to burn in hell. The most honest and ethical person you have ever known also deserves to go to hell. As I really am that bad, it in no way makes God unjust if he decides to arrange the world in such a way that I have no practical chance of knowledge of Christ (obviously he did not do that in my case). The natural, logical, and necessary result of sin is death and damnation (James 1:15). We are all sinners (Romans3:23, Psalm 14:2-3) so if God decides he doesn’t want to save some people (or all of us) there is nothing unjust or unfair about it.
1. Christianity teaches that everyone is sinful and unjustified.
2. No sinful or unjustified individual deserves a chance.
3. So under Christian teaching no man deserves a chance, regardless of how good he appears or how unfair this might seem.
Under Christian belief, there are no moral requirements on God; moral requirements come from him. God is the source of all morality as what is moral is intrinsic to his nature (This is why God cannot sin. Nothing can violate its own nature and sin is a violation of God’s nature). The only possible moral requirement on God would be requirements he places on himself. When he makes promises (to Abraham, David, or people in general) he is placing a moral requirement on himself. When God swore a pact with Abraham, he swore by himself because there was no one greater for him to swear by (Hebrews 6:13). A moral requirement is always placed on the individual by a higher authority. There is no higher authority than God, so there is no one above him to place moral requirements on God. This does not mean God is amoral or immoral. As morality is an intrinsic and inherent part of his nature, God is the most moral and ethical thing that exists. When Job says that God is treating him unfairly one of God’s responses is to say Job that he doesn’t know what he is talking about and that Job has no moral authority over him (Job 41).
1. God is the source of all morality and all moral requirements.
2. As the ultimate source of morality, there is nothing and no one else to hold moral requirements on God.
3. So the only moral requirements God has are those that he places on himself.
Additionally asking “what about those who don’t know” ignores the general revelation of God. Christianity teaches that God has adequately revealed himself in creation so to assert that some people might not have a chance is simply false. Everyone who has ever lived experiences creation so if God can be known through creation the question is nonsensical and foolish. Psalm 14:1 calls atheists morally deficient, Psalm 19:1 says that creation proclaims God’s work, and Romans 1:18-20 says that God has made such things plain to people. Either scripture is wrong or everyone really does know on some level.
1. People can only be morally responsible for what they know.
2. God has adequately revealed himself to everyone.
3. So everyone is morally responsible for knowledge of God.
The point is that if Christian teaching is true, I don’t deserve a chance, and God is in no way required to give me one. What makes grace so amazing is that God does give me (and everyone else) a chance anyway. The gap God crosses to offer us forgiveness is greater than the gap that a Jew who was killed in a concentration camp would cross to forgive Hitler. If this seems like an excessive example; it’s not. The example isn’t nearly strong enough, but I have a hard time thinking of a stronger one. All of us have done far more evil to God than Hitler ever did to anyone. None of us deserves a chance, so asking “What about people who haven’t heard?” is at best a misunderstanding of what Christianity espouses.
So why does this question bother so many people and why does it seem so unjust that a man who lived in a jungle in South America in 550 AD and tried to do right by those around him might be hell? We cannot say that is through no fault of his own as everyone who exists is at fault and he has adequate revelation of God. We cannot say it is because God is unjust. Rather I think in most cases this question arises out of the ideals of Western/American culture. Our culture is highly individualistic and believes very strongly that everyone deserves a chance. A central idea of democratic style government is a high value on the individual and a belief that everyone deserves a say. American culture’s primary belief of individual nature is that most people are basically good and reasonable (if this were not so no one would believe democracy is a viable form of government). Because of this belief, we seek to treat everyone fairly and give everyone an equal chance. We think they deserve it. But (as I established above) no one deserves grace and salvation. Many people have (most likely inadvertently) allowed the culture’s belief about the goodness of people to co-opt the Christian teaching about the depravity of man.
The question “What about those who haven’t heard?” may (and most likely does) come from the best of intentions, but it isn’t really a valid question if Christian teachings on God, sin, and human nature are true. As God has a merciful and loving nature (he died for us after all) he hasn’t left those who haven’t heard to rot. Rather he has ensured that everyone does get a chance by revealing himself in the world. But if God had decided to refuse some people a chance there would be nothing morally or logically wrong with that.
This fact is what is so amazing and wonderful about grace. We don’t deserve it, we shouldn’t get, and God doesn’t have to give it to us, but he still literally went through hell to give it to us. Without the fact that we don’t deserve it, grace isn’t really that amazing. If we are just getting a chance that we deserve, why is that all that impressive? Christ said;
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back (Luke 6:32-35)."
What good would it be if God only gave us what we deserve? To believe that people might deserve a chance at best cheapens grace to a moral requirement. If this all grace is, than it is no longer based in love (love should transcend moral requirements according to Christ) and there is nothing that special about Christianity anymore.
So perhaps due to an accident of birth some people never hear about Christ. As none of us deserve it, this is perfectly just. But would the same God who comes up with something like grace just leave people to rot? No, has revealed himself to everyone and he does care for us. So praise God for grace and don’t inadvertently cheapen it by assuming we deserve it. We don’t and that is why it is one of the most incredible things that exists.
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