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245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 170 170 New Contexts for Mission on contextual witness among Hindus and endeavors to promote “the birthing of Christ-centered movements within Hindu cultures and communities.” 9 Sadly, sectors of some religions are extremely fundamentalist in the sense of rigidly emphasizing what are considered their defining or founding principles. Such religious fundamentalists see themselves as aliens in the midst of depraved cultures. Their resulting combativeness produces considerable social instability. The appeal of religious fundamentalism, says Phill Butler, “fuels Islamic, Hindu, and right-wing nationalists in such diverse places as France, Italy, Russia, Afghanistan, Algeria, North India, and Indonesia.” 10 Finding ways to evangelize these ardent fundamentalists poses a tremendous challenge. Lostness of “Heathen” One question that often comes up is: What happens to those who die without ever having heard of Jesus? Sometimes that question does not get serious consideration. For example, recently one Internet blog site seemed to scorn the question with these words, “Are the heathen lost? This is the question of the college campuses, the skeptic and the agnostic. This is the question of those who wish to deflect making a personal commitment to Christ. This is the question of those who like to play mental gymnastics with God.” If the author of that paragraph was saying one should not even reflect on the fate of the unevangelized, he was wrong. The question of people’s eternal fate deserves a thoughtful answer. Since what one believes about people’s eternal destiny will shape a philosophy and strategy of mission, it does matter which of the following positions Christians take on the salvation of people of other religious ideologies: 1. Restrictivism (also called particularism or ecclesiocentrism) Restrictivism says that all the unevangelized are tragically damned because they are part of the sinful human race (1 John 5:11-12; John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 1:20-21; 1 Corinthians 3:11; Zechariah 10:2; and Psalm 16:4). This position resonates with the biblical worldview that sees one ramification of the solidarity of the human race as being that all humans are sinners because of the sin of Adam and Eve. 2. Universalism Many liberal Christians are universalists who believe that everyone, including the unevangelized, will be saved. They do not see how God, who is ultimate goodness, could allow anyone to be eternally separated from Him (Luke 3:6; Isaiah 40:5; John 12:32; Romans 5:18; 1 Corinthians 15:22-28; Philippians 2:9-11). 3. Religious Instrumentalism Religious instrumentalism holds that non-Christian religions can have a
245187 Disc Missions ins 9/6/07 1:04 PM Page 171 saving potential paralleling that of Old Testament Judaism (Matthew 5:17). This viewpoint says that sincere believers of other religions can be saved without ever hearing the story of Jesus of Nazareth because their religious faith has validity as a valid form of worship of the true God. Hindus and Buddhists would applaud the all-encompassing nature of this position. 4. Universal Evangelization Some hold the belief that God will ensure that the gospel will somehow get to all those who are truly searching for Him (John 4:23; Acts 8:26-40). One criticism of this position is that it seems to imply that human beings have already begun searching before God takes His first step. 5. The “If” Theory The “if” position says that God will save those who would have accepted Christ if they had heard about Him (Matthew 11:21-23). This viewpoint has a tint of Calvinism about it in that it has God deciding people’s fates somewhat apart from their actual choices. 6. Postmortem Evangelization The postmortem position says that people will have the possibility to hear about Christ and accept Him at the time of death or some point thereafter (Matthew 12:40; Mark 16:15-16; John 15:22; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Timothy 1:16-18; 1 Peter 3:19-20). This is the position with which Mormons, who baptize on behalf of the dead, would agree. 7. Wider Hope (called inclusivism by some writers) This position says that salvation is possible apart from the actual hearing of the Good News from the Bible. Those who hold this position say that the unevangelized will be saved or lost on the basis of how they follow what light of the triune God they have seen through His prevenient grace (John 1:9; 3:16- 17; 12:32; 1 Timothy 1:15; 4:10). One variation of this position, accessibilism, says that God enables everyone to respond to His self-revelation on at least one occasion in his or her life in a way that leaves him or her accountable for his or her response. Of these seven positions, the two most often embraced by evangelical Protestants are (1) the one labeled restrictivism or particularism, and (2) some variance of wider hope or inclusivism, which sees the possibility of what have been labeled “implicit” Christians. Animism and Spiritual Warfare New Contexts for Mission 171 171 As they approach people of other religious faiths, Christians must be careful not to think that their central strategy should be that of coming up with
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