A Dose of Theology…
William H. Willimon’s newest book, Who Will Be Saved?, is an extended sermon in praise of the height, width, and depth of God’s love for the cosmos. As such, it is a staunch reaction to any concept of Christian salvation that would limit God’s loving reach for all by dictating “who’s in and who’s out.” As a recovering Southern Baptist accustomed to extended altar calls and evangelism training that stressed a personal relationship with Christ based on human faith, belief, or response, Willimon’s thoughts on Christian salvation, steeped ever so deeply in Scripture, are a joyous celebration of God’s work for us in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
Throughout his book, Willimon tackles questions like “Who will be saved” or the hypothetical Evangelism Explosion question, “If you died today and Jesus asked why he should allow you into heaven, what would you say,” and explodes them for their misguided soteriology and anthropocentrism. Willimon consistently argues that “Who will be saved” is not nearly as interesting of a question as “Who saves?” By focusing on God, fully revealed in Jesus, implications of damnation or the unsaved begin to whither away.
There are three significant tensions throughout Willimon’s book: 1) the tension between God’s eternal “Yes” to us and the “necessity” of our responsive “yes” to God; 2) the tension between universal salvation and, well, non-universal salvation; and 3) the tension between different faiths and their various soteriological claims.
Throughout scripture, we read about a God that continually says “yes” to Israel and eventually opens up that “yes” to include the Gentiles (everyone else). This opening up is made particular and unique in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In Jesus, God has reached out to us and said “yes” to all of us. In Jesus, God has made both a way to us and a way for us to God. God desires that we say yes to this way so that we may experience, ever more fully, salvation and that we may share it with others.
Willimon, like many other theologians and ministers who seek to swing wide the gates of heaven, is often accused of being a universalist. He rejects this label not because he believes some people will be eternally damned in hell, but claims that universal salvation doubly denies the free will of both God and humanity. On the other hand, arguing that God will or has to eternally punish “evil-doers” places limits on God as well. Therefore, like Barth, who he consistently references, Willimon conceives of hell as an “impossible possibility.” It is possible because one might continually reject God’s salvation. However, in the end, the “hound of heaven” (as C. S. Lewis puts it) will hopefully, eventually overtake him. Here, Willimon introduces a purgatory for Protestants…or at least the possibility of one. He questions whether we should look at hell, as traditionally conceived, as punitive or formative. What if the “fires of hell” are for refining rather than punishing and are not really fires at all but the recognition of how we have wronged God and one another throughout our lives.
Finally, and perhaps Willimon’s greatest challenge, at least for me, is his discussion of Christianity’s unique claim to salvation in Jesus Christ vis-à-vis other faiths or nonbelievers. In this section, Willimon strongly critiques modern religious pluralism, claiming that it is an invention of politicians and intellectuals to downplay religious (not just Christian) truth claims and, particularly, Christianity’s emphasis on the Kingdom of God. He rejects pluralistic metaphors that see people of different faiths climbing up different paths on the same mountain to ultimately reach the same destination (Marcus Borg). Willimon argues that for all he knows of Christianity and other faiths, we are climbing up completely different mountains. He asserts, for example, that Buddhists and Christians mean completely different things when speaking about salvation. To level the soteriological playing field, so to speak, is both unfaithful to Christianity and an insult to other faiths. In the end, Willimon claims, “The internal logic of Christian theology gives us our best hope for fruitful relationships with other faiths” (105).
Willimon’s latest book does a great service to Christians everywhere. It is deep and thoughtful without getting bogged down in academic, theological language. It is inspired by Scripture to the hilt. Willimon takes exclusivist proof texting and turns it on its head by taking conservatives’ favorite verses and reading one verse more to uncover “inclusive bombs” like Jesus’ saying, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold” (John 10:16). Frustratingly, I still find myself pushing against those old questions that just won’t die: but what about those sheep? Thankfully, Willimon’s thoughts are inspiring me to ask a much more important, and joyous, question: what does God desire?
If you want to contribute tutorials, news or other stuff please contact us. We pay 150 for each approved article.
Consectetur adipisicing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.
This site uses valid HTML and CSS. All content Copyright © 2010 Newscast, Inc
If you like what we do, please don't hestitate and subscribe to our
Nice to see you branch out of pop culture for a moment. This is very fine post. I was looking at Willimon’s book just a couple days ago. Thanks for this review and your helpful comments.
[...] and power, other issues inevitably emerge, especially in light of having read Will Willimon’s Who Will Be Saved? which I reviewed [...]
Man’s “free will” is not stronger than God’s will.
Jer 10:23 I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Pro 19:21 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.
Isa 64:8 Yet, O LORD, thou art our Father; we are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand.
Rom 9:21a Has the potter no right over the clay,
So much for the “free will” of man. God made us, draws us to Jesus when He is ready, gives us belief when He is ready, and brings us into His salvation when He is ready.
Phi 1:29 For it has been granted to you not only to believe in Christ but also to suffer for him
Phi 2:13 for God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
All of mankind will be in willful subjection to Him once God is all in all.
Please consider the following.
GRAND ASSERTION
ALL OF MANKIND WAS DECLARED RIGHTEOUS BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST AND ALL OF MANKIND WILL COME TO BELIEVE IN JESUS AS LORD AND GOD AS SAVIOR FOLLOWING THE NECESSARY DISCIPLINE OF THE CONSUMING PURIFYING FIRE OF GOD.
Mal 3:2b “For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap;”
SUB-ASSERTION #1
MANKIND WAS DECLARED RIGHTEOUS BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST HAVING BEEN RECONCILED TO GOD BY HIS DEATH
Rom 5:6-10 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?
Note that a summary of these verses could be the following:
While we were helpless ungodly sinners who were His enemies, Christ died for us, declared us righteous by his blood, will save us from God’s wrath, and reconciled us to God through His death.
Helpless ungodly sinners who were enemies of God and Christ may be words written to those of Rome who were currently believers, but here Paul is obviously referencing their status with God prior to their becoming believers. Therefore the being reconciled to God and declared righteous occurred prior to belief since these descriptions are hardly of believers.
At the foot of the cross were many helpless ungodly sinners who were the enemies of Jesus, yet He said, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing”. I believe the Father was in agreement with this prayer of Jesus and so their sins were or will be forgiven on the merits of Jesus alone. Mankind was declared righteous, or justified on that day. Paul reinforces the fact of being declared righteous was for all mankind a few verses later in Rom 5:18, “Consequently, just as one offense resulted in condemnation for everyone, so one act of righteousness results in justification and life for everyone.”
SUB-ASSERTION #2
NO “PUNISHMENT”, “DESTRUCTION”, “PERISHING”, “LOSTNESS” IS ETERNAL; RATHER GOD’S “PUNISHMENTS” OR “DESTRUCTION” ARE CORRECTIVE IN NATURE
Now, we do need His discipline to make us fit for His kingdom. This discipline will not be “eternal”, but it will be “aeonian or eonian”, the English equivalents of the Greek “aionios”. “Aeonian” punishment as referred to in Mt. 25:46, one of the proof texts for those who hold to the heresy of the eternal torment of non-believers, is the type of correction that God will administer to the unbeliever. The noun being modified by aeonian is the word punishment, which is the Greek “kolasis” which has been used in reference to “pruning” a plant for the purpose of better production. “Kolasis” punishment is the corrective type, whereas, “timoria” punishment is the retributive type. The “aeonian” life in Mt. 25:46 is the life given to the believer by God beginning at the point of belief. This is that life we enjoy as believers which blesses us now as we deal with this physical life and also blesses us with the promise of immortality and therefore everlasting communion with our Father.
Aeonian destruction as referenced in 2 Thess. 1:7-9, “…who will be punished with aeonian destruction from the presence of the Lord,…”, is the kind of destruction necessary for God to administer for the fulfillment of His purposes. Destruction is equivalent to death in that it is “from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power”. Jesus was “destroyed” at the cross, but as in His case, so with all cases of destruction or death, there is no sense of “eternal” associated with them as Jesus rose to life and “the last enemy to be eliminated will be death”.
The “lost” sheep, coin, and son of Luke 15 referred to a condition that did not last forever. The word “lost” is the translation of the Greek “apollumi”, from which we have the translations lose, lost, perish, destroy, etc. As we can see in Luke 15, the sheep, coin, and son were only “lost” until they were found. This harmonizes with the fact that Jesus said He came to “seek and save the lost”.
Note that the following verse tells us that there is a special benefit for becoming a believer now, but that God will save all of the “lost” unbelievers also. 1Tim 4:10 “For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” The Greek word that got translated “especially” here is “malista”. Checking its usage in other verses makes it clear that especially is a good choice for English since it does refer to extra special attention to something, but not to the exclusion of other items mentioned in the context.
The Hebrew word “olam” has as its Greek equivalents “aion” and “aionios” in the Septuagint. An analysis of the approximately 440 occurrences of olam in the Old Testament suggests that it means a period of time without the end in sight but not necessarily “eternal”, or “everlasting” or “forever”, if it should ever be. Olam was only 3 days in the case of Jonah’s duration in the fish, even though the “traditional” translation has been “forever”. Also, the length of time a person would be the slave has been referred to as “forever”, which we know is literally only for their physical lifetime. Some versions never use eternal, everlasting, or forever for olam. Have you noticed some versions use the phrase “forever and ever”. Have you ever given thought to the absurdity of adding the words “and ever” after you have already said forever? What’s more than forever? That’s like saying something lasts for an eternity and then for another eternity. The absurdity of this should add to our awareness of the bias of those translators who consistently translate olam, aion, and aionios as eternal, everlasting, forever, or the absurd “forever and ever” phrase.
An analysis of the word “hell” is quite revealing. Jesus used the word “geena” or “hades” and tradition (KJV, Catholic church, etc.) has had the ignorant audacity to use this Anglo-Saxon word “hell”, which means “unseen” (a-des), corresponding to the Hebrew “sheol” and attach to it a meaning out of pagan mythology of a place of eternal torment. Dr. Thomas Thayer in his book “The Origin and History of the Doctrine of Endless Punishment” traces this myth of eternal torment that became associated with the word hell to ancient Egypt. Geena (sometimes Gehenna) was the Valley of Hinnom which became a garbage dump on the outskirts of Jerusalem where carcasses of criminals were burned which Jesus metaphorically referenced as a future potential punishment with no sense of “eternal” punishment inherent in its meaning. This refers to aeonian punishment which again is God’s corrective punishment. Gehenna should have been left untranslated because it is a geographical location that the Jews of Jesus’ audience knew exactly what he was referring to. Hades should have also been left untranslated or translated as “unseen” or “the grave” as some versions do, as Hades definitely has no inherent punishment connotation. There are a number of versions that don’t use the word “hell” even once, realizing the bad rap the word has gotten with the erroneous connotation.
SUB-ASSERTION #3
ALL HUMANITY WILL COME TO BELIEVE IN GOD AND WILL WORSHIP HIM SOONER OR LATER
The following are 5 witnesses (scriptures) from 4 of God’s servants: DAVID, ISAIAH, PAUL, and JOHN.
NOTE: Nowhere in the Word do we have any evidence that one must come to belief in this lifetime, which is another myth of man; contrariwise, we have much evidence in the following verses and many others that some will only come to belief after their physical death. At this point some might think of the Rich Man and Lazarus parable. Parables must be discerned spiritually as they are not to be taken literally since they are fictional stories to convey a spiritual message. Consider this, Rich Man = Jews and Lazarus = Gentiles and the spiritual message is that the Jews will be disciplined for their attitude toward and treatment of the Gentiles.
Keep in mind that belief is granted by God in His time not in man’s. God grants belief to some in this lifetime and others after their physical death. The myth that one must come to belief in this lifetime is something man dreamed up or more than likely got from the pagans and added to his traditions, but God’s word does not speak of it.
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Phi 1:29 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake,”
THE MASTER PLAN OF THE MASTER COULD BE SUMMED UP IN A COMPREHENSIVE SUMMARY OF HIS WORD AS FOLLOWS AS ATTESTED BY MANY WITNESSES.
“ALL IS OUT OF ME AND ALL WILL COME BACK TO ME.” — GOD
Rom 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
1Co 15:28 When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
GOD WILL BE ALL IN ALL = GOD WILL BE EVERYTHING TO EVERYONE
OUR SPIRIT CAME OUT OF GOD AND WILL RETURN TO GOD
DAVID was inspired to write:
Psalms 22:27-28 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations
ISAIAH was inspired to write:
Isa 45:23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
Isa 45:24 “Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
PAUL was inspired to write:
Phi 2:10-11 “…so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow
— in heaven and on earth and under the earth — and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”
Rom 14:11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to God.”
JOHN was inspired to record:
Rev 5:13 “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
SINCE AFTER A CERTAIN TIME DEATH WILL CEASE TO BE, LEAVING ONLY LIFE AND HENCE NO MORE SEPARATION BETWEEN GOD AND MAN, ALL OF THESE WITNESSES CAN TESTIFY TO THE SAME THING:
NOTE: The feeble attempt to downplay this worshipping, bowing, and confessing as somehow “forced”, is born out of bias for eternal torment. Note particularly in Phil. 2:11 the phrase “to the glory of God the Father”. It is obviously not giving God glory to say Jesus is Lord without meaning it and you might also recall what Paul said about saying that Jesus is Lord, that “…no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit.” (1 Cor. 12:3b)
EVERY CREATED BEING WILL SOME DAY PRAISE AND GLORIFY GOD!!!
I tend to drop off the “and ever” from the Lord’s Prayer. Don’t see the need for it really.
Thanks for your comments.
I appreciated both the review of WHO WILL BE SAVED and Hicks’ response. They touch on deep hangups I’ve never resolved both with my own conservative Southern Baptist upbringing and also with the exposure I’ve had to Reformed theology. The “TULIP” theology of salvation has always left a bitter taste in my mouth, but, frankly, I’ve for a long time been afraid that it is true. This was perhaps the first compelling case I’ve read against limited atonement. In any case, it was encouraging to read, and also challenging. I’m not sure where I stand on these issues, but at least there seems to be a feasible alternative to the dark vision of God that often lurks in my mind.
Another worthy read for you, Collin, is “Jesus and the Undoing of Adam” by C. Baxter Kruger, PhD. You can get to it at http://www.perichoresis.org. I am a recovering Southern Baptist and went down the path of reformed theology only to find both devastating paths that have the effect of throwing us back on ourselves to wonder if we did it right or was I chosen.
Great review Ryan.
What sticks out to me is the personal nature of theology–that it’s not just another discipline. And what an exhausting undertaking the “working out of salvation with fear and trembling” is for thoughtful people.
I agree with Willimon that it makes no sense for Christians to speak of “salvation” in terms of other religions. The concept is a Christian invention with a Christian solution. And also highly cultural. I don’t think most life-long Buddhists in East Asia have ever lost a wink of sleep wondering if they will achieve Christian salvation.
Where I find Willimon and most neo-orthodox theologians unsatisfying is in their assertion that we should simply be rabidly dogmatically Christian and dialogue with but never integrate or change our theology based on our experiences with the “other sheep.” (Because God will sort that out in the end–presumably by kindly showing the “other sheep” that reformed Protestantism was the right religion all along.) A God like that is not big enough to embrace the whole diversity of humankind, let alone creation. To borrow from Tillich, if we are all “climbing a different mountain,” as Willimon suggests, our tendency will be to look for a bigger God that embraces the whole mountain range.
Personally, I have been chewing on process theology recently, and the idea that just as we and God may be co-creators of the world, we may also contribute to the “becoming” of God.
Now if I could only ditch that nagging Presbyterian fear that we don’t really have any free will.