What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie) [Paperback]

Gabriel Fackre (Editor), Ronald H. Nash (Editor), John Sanders (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie | Publication Date: June 7, 1995

Voted one of Christianity Today's 1996 Books of the Year! What is the fate of those who die never hearing the gospel? Do Hindus, Jews, agnostics and others who do not profess faith in Christ really suffer damnation after death? These and similar questions have long been contemplated by people from every religious persuasion and every walk of life. But in a culture of increasing diversity and growing doubt in the existence of "objective truth," it seems ever more pressing. In this book three scholars present the span of evangelical conviction on the destiny of the unevangelized. Ronald Nash argues the restrictivist position, that receptive knowledge of Jesus Christ in this life is necessary to salvation. Gabriel Fackre advocates divine perseverance, with the expectation that those who die unevangelized receive an opportunity for salvation after death. And John Sanders sets forth the inclusivist case--asserting that though God saves people only through the work of Jesus Christ, some may be saved even if they do not know about Christ. As each scholar presents his own case and responds to strengths and weaknesses of differing positions, readers are treated to a lively and informative debate. What About Those Who Have Never Heard? is a truly helpful book on one of today's--and every day's--most crucial questions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (June 7, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830816062
• ISBN-13: 978-0830816064
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An incomplete yet very thought provoking presentation, September 27, 2005

By 

Antoine Maalouf (Beirut, Lebanon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie) (Paperback)

Most christians have developped the traditional theological concept that salvation is only possible if you have faith in Jesus, for after all, the exclusivity of Christ is much insisted upon in the bible and it is the teaching of most church circles. But is this the only conclusion that we can get from scriptures? Some respected authors argue otherwise.

"What about those who have never heard" was written by three authors (Fackre, Nash, Sanders) who each holds to a different scheme for grasping salvation. But what is important, is that all three agree on the authority of the scripture and on the fact that anyone who is saved is so because of Jesus's ultimate sacrifice; without Jesus's sacrifice on the cross, all humanity is doomed. What they disagree upon, is the degree of knowledge one should have about this great atonement event and the timing of this awareness.

John Sanders argues for Inclusivism meaning that God saves people only through the work of Jesus, but some may be saved even if they have never heard about Christ. The importance is not the degree of "knowledge" about Christ, but the "faith in God" as it was revealed to the person. So, according to this view, responding positively to the light and the law written in their heart will be viewed as righteous and thus, the work of christ will be counted on their behalf. Romans 2 is given as a basis.

Gabriel Fackre argues that receptive knowledge of Christ is necessary for salvation, but that this knowledge is not restricted to this lifetime. Non-christian believers will get the chance to hear the gospel post-mortem and decide whether they accept it or not. Fackre calls it "divine perseverance", meaning that death will not stop God from allowing us to know the true gospel. Fackre relies mainly on Peter 3:19 and 4:6.

As for Nash, he strongly attacks the other views and argues for Restrictivism: receptive knowledge of Christ in this lifetime is a must for salvation. He builds his case by showing the multitude of loopholes and mistakes in the previous two views, and cites many bible passage to support his stand(1Jn 5:12, Jn 1:12, Jn 20:30, ...)

Each author presents his idea in a chapter, then the others are given each a space to respond; so a total of 3 presentations and 6 refutations. This make the book a very thought provoking and not one sided discussion. I loved this approach!

As much as i deeply want to believe in a wider hope, restrictivism sounded the most biblicaly based. The other two concepts have serious mistakes that Nash quickly points out. One frustrating thing, is that Nash doesn't build a structured positive case for restrictivism, but concentrates on "bringing down" the other views.

Reading this book will NOT convince you of any of them, since each has a scriptural case, but when you take the whole scripture in perspective, i think you will tend to lean more towards the restrictivist (although, inclusivism sounds the most "logical": for example, a few days after jesus death and resurrection, only a handful of people are believers in the atonement. Does this mean, that the rest of the planet in billions was doomed? The message didnt have time to reach them yet..hmmm)

Although the book quickly mentions it in the introduction, i had wished the ''universal opportunity'' concept was developped in its own chapter, since i believe it is also quite biblical: receptive knowledge of Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation, but any sincere lover of God (as he knows him) is given a chance to hear the gospel. Look at the story of Cornelius (Acts 10): he is a believer in the God he knows, so GOD sent him an angel to direct him to Peter so he hears the gospel!

To conclude, the book is an excellent introduction to the subject, which give you different angles to look at. Although it is incomplete and although restrictivism isnt presented in a positive case (after lashing out at the other views, which leave you a bit in the unknown), the book will make every single neuron of yours fire up. At the end, neither of the three concepts 100% convinced me, but i sure learned a lot. Recommended!

6 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting debate, December 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie) (Paperback)

This book contains no-holds barred debate among advocates of 3 answers to the question, "Is Jesus the Only Savior?" John Sanders defends the inclusivist belief that conscious belief in Jesus is not necessary for salvation while another author claims that salvation is possible after physical death. Ronald Nash defends the belief that Jesus is the only Savior, a position he defends in greater detail in his book titled "Is Jesus the Only Savior?" also available from amazon.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Further discussion and research needed!, November 26, 2007

By 

Crazy Horse - See all my reviews

This review is from: What About Those Who Have Never Heard?: Three Views on the Destiny of the Unevangelized (Spectrum Multiview Book Series Spectrum Multiview Book Serie) (Paperback)

The text, as a whole, was interesting reading but I felt the authors left out some much needed historical items for discussion. Throughout the entire book there is no mention of the early practices of the Christian Church with regard to Baptism for the Dead (1 Cor. 15:29) which was a common practice to recitfy this problem. Why the authors chose to exclude the ancient church Fathers and their teachings on this "lost" practice was baffling to me and would have saved a lot of ink and paper.

Paul taught the doctrine, the early Christian Church practiced it, and those who did not hear the Word were given a chance to accept Christ vicarously through it. These baptismal fonts are still visable in the city of Rome, today. San Clemente Church is one of the best excavated examples dating back to the first century. While the authors discussions are not without their own merits, further reading and research is needed if the reader wants to enhance their learning on this exciting doctrine.