God and other gods
In my previous post I began addressing the question(s) posted by Brian from Kentucky. I wrote about intelligent people and their belief or lack of belief in God. In this post I will address the second part of Brian’s question which regards people believing in a god other than the one presented in the scriptures – the God of Christians and Jews.
The question asked, “if we were born in another culture that believed in something else, do you think it would make just as much sense? Did we just get lucky to be born in the right culture with the right beliefs around us?”
Listen to these words from Dr. William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology. “(In) Romans chapters 1 and 2 in the New Testament Paul says that salvation is available to any person who responds to the light of nature and conscience, if he hasn’t heard the Good News about Jesus Christ, say, a person living in North America during the Middle Ages, before missionaries came. If this person will respond to the witness of God in nature—he can see there’s a Creator God, say—and he senses the moral law of God written on his heart, and he responds, Paul says in Romans chapter 2 in verse 7, God will give that person eternal life. Now that doesn’t mean he’s saved apart from Christ, but it would mean that he may not have a conscious knowledge of Christ, which is the basis of his salvation. He would be like a person in the Old Testament who was saved through Christ, even though he hadn’t yet heard of Christ; he responded to the light that he had. So I think God gives sufficient grace or salvation to every person. God is fair and He’s loving and He wants everyone to come to know Him and be saved.”
Paul here shows us that God’s power and deity and His character are made known by the creation around us. In Romans 2:15 Paul tells us that the requirements of the law are written on the hearts of the Gentiles who do not have the written testimony. He continues by saying,”their consciences also bearing witness.” God has written His moral law on the hearts of all men. Therefore they are morally responsible before God.
From this witness of both creation and conscience man is compelled to believe in a creator God. It is more reasonable to believe in the existence of God than it is to not. Man must truly deny the nature imprinted on him in order to not believe in the existence of God.
One of the most common arguments against Christian singularism or particularism (ref: we believe in one God and one God only and believe He is the God revealed and identified in the scriptures and through His Son Jesus the Christ), is based on the tenet that religious beliefs are culturally relative. In other words, someone born and raised in a culture that does not teach Christ cannot be expected to be saved by Christ. Where this argument fails is that it attempts to invalidate the position of Christian singularism by criticizing the way a person came to hold that position. The fact of where and when a person was born holds no relevance to the validity of one’s beliefs. To give a non-religious example; if you had been born in ancient Greece you would have believed the sun orbits the earth. Does that somehow imply that our belief that the earth orbits the sun is therefore false or even unjustified?
Part of the blame for Christian singularism being unpalatable to so many lies on the shoulders of those who hold that very belief. The issue is, what shall be the fate of unbelievers outside of our particular religious tradition? The Christian singularist too often consigns them to hell. This is unacceptable to the conscience and reason of those both inside and outside of the Christian tradition. It is always followed by the question of, “how can a loving God send them to hell?”  This goes against the very nature of God that we love to preach. Stated simply, it doesn’t make sense and as we all know ‘God Makes Sense’.
Look in 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 2:4, and Ezekiel chapter 18. In all of these passages of scripture we see where God wants all people to be saved; “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”  In Ezekiel we read that God finds no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked. He would rather that all would turn from their wickedness and live.
So how does God accomplish this apart from Christ? He doesn’t. The atoning sacrifice of Christ is the only means of salvation for all. It is a universal atonement, even for those who have never heard of Him. His sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection are means of forgiveness and atonement for all people of all time. Another way to help think about this is to consider those of the Old Testament. The provision for their salvation is through Christ, even though they had never heard of Him.
God does not judge people who have never heard of Christ based on whether or not they have placed their faith in Christ. Look at Romans 2:7, “to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, He will give eternal life.” This is a sincere offer of salvation. This is not saying that people can be saved apart from Christ, rather it is saying that the benefits of Christ’s atoning death can be applied to people without their having a conscious knowledge of Him. God judges people based on the light of revelation given to them. As has been illustrated above this general revelation is available to all through nature and that which God has written on their hearts or conscience (Romans 2:15).
If any such person will respond to the witness of God in nature (for he can see there is a creator God, remember it far more reasonable to believe this) and as he senses the moral law of God written on his heart and responds, this person will be given the gift of eternal life (Romans 2:7). The possibility of this is provided through the atoning sacrifice of Christ.
So, ‘God Makes Sense’ to people of all cultures.