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 PrintableVersion Who can be saved?Never heard?WHO CAN BE SAVED? Can a non-Christian be saved without making a personal response to the gospel during his lifetime? This question has been vigorously debated among evangelicals. Responses have ranged from a very liberal optimism to a blunt pessimism. But few would categorically rule out the possibility of God, somehow, reaching some of the unevangelised. Terrance Tiessen offers a formidable and detailed theological argument for what he calls ‘accessibilism’. Accessibilism proposes that the possibility of conversion and salvation is available to every person on the planet. Whether they died in total ignorance of the gospel, before Christ came, in infancy or suffered serious learning difficulties, everyone has the opportunity to be saved. Some evangelicals rule this out, arguing that salvation has only been possible where there is missionary preaching (Romans 10.14). As Tiessen notes, much of the evangelical missionary drive in the 19th century had given this impression. Hudson Taylor said; ‘There is a great Niagara of souls passing into the dark in China. Every day, every week, every month they are passing away! A million a month in China they are dying without God’ (p.262). Tiessen argues that though this missionary motivation is right there remain biblical grounds for optimism regarding the fate of the unevangelised. Every soul who has departed this life has had an opportunity to respond to Christ. They may not know his name but the faith relationship of trust in a redeemer is accessible to everyone: ‘God’s saving grace is universally sufficient so that, on at least one occasion in each person’s life, one is enabled to respond to God’s self-revelation with a faith response that is acceptable to God as a means of justification’ (p.25). Unlike some who are drawn to such a wider hope, Tiessen is committed to grounding these conclusions in a Reformed, Calvinist framework. The doctrines of the sovereignty of God, election, limited atonement and original sin are given reflective treatment in his argument. He prefers to write of ‘original guilt’ rather than ‘original sin’ (p.74) but affirms that this is the condition of every person — whether dying in infancy or old age. Therefore, no one is saved because they are innocent. Salvation is only possible because of the atoning work of Christ who died in the place of everyone who truly believes. The two creative elements that Tiessen must argue for in great detail are (1) saving faith does not need a direct knowledge of the historical work of Christ, and (2) God’s revelation of what is needed for salvation is accessible even where the Bible is unavailable. Tiessen argues for both of these possibilities in over 400 pages, including footnotes, appendices and glossary, making this one of the most significant evangelical works in this area. There are many controversial implications of his argument. Does the atonement of Christ cover all people or is it limited only to those who believe? Do the world religions offer true insights into how we may be saved? Does God’s general revelation in creation offer saving knowledge of God? Do these conclusions dilute the urgency of evangelism? Tiessen covers these questions in ways that will not satisfy everyone but demonstrate a commitment to allowing Scripture to determine the answers. In particular, he argues against the idea that non-Christians might be saved through their religions as if these were alternative means of salvation. For all the rigour and detail of Tiessen’s arguments we must conclude that such a ‘wider hope’ remains only a possibility. While we may hope for many surprises on judgement day, Hudson Taylor’s urgent words remain as compelling today as they did a hundred years ago. An optimism in the sovereign mercy of God should not lead to a complacency in evangelism. Chris Sinkinson,
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