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A Fresh Inquiry Into the Fate of the Un-Evangelized: a Traditional Dispensational Perspective

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A Fresh Inquiry Into the Fate of the Un-Evangelized: a Traditional Dispensational Perspective i LIBERTY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF DIVINITY A Fresh Inquiry into the Fate of the Un-evangelized: A Traditional Dispensational Perspective Submitted to Dr. Keith Eitel and Dr. Steve Lowe in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of THES 690 – A01 Thesis Defense by Mark L Carlton March 10, 2017 ii Contents Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1 Section 1: Methodology ................................................................................................................2 The Inductive Method .........................................................................................................2 A Biblical Inquiry ...............................................................................................................3 The Hermeneutical Approach .............................................................................................3 The Philosophical Methodology .........................................................................................4 Scientific Paradigms, Normal Science, and Scientific Revolutions .......................5 Interpretive Paradigms, Normal Theology, and Theological Revolutions .............6 The Insights of Karl Popper: Falsifiability .............................................................8 The Insights of Mortimer Adler: The Unity of Truth .............................................9 Summary of the Philosophical Methodology .......................................................10 Section 2: Review and Critique of the Literature ....................................................................10 The Apostolic Paradigm ...................................................................................................10 The Evidence of an Apostolic Paradigm in Scripture ...........................................10 The Apostolic Response to Religious Pluralism ...................................................12 The Second Generation (A.D. 70 – 100 A.D.) ...................................................................13 Johannine Corpus ..................................................................................................14 Jude .......................................................................................................................15 I Clement ...............................................................................................................15 A Critical Evaluation of the Second Generation: .................................................17 The Fathers (A.D. 70 – 100 A.D.) ...................................................................................17 iii Ignatius ...................................................................................................................17 II Clement ..............................................................................................................19 Marcianus Aristides ...............................................................................................19 Justin Martyr ..........................................................................................................21 Irenaeus ..................................................................................................................22 Clement of Alexandria ...........................................................................................24 Origen ....................................................................................................................25 A Critical Evaluation of the Fathers ......................................................................27 Augustine of Hippo ...........................................................................................................30 A Short Review of the Life and Certain Key Teachings of Augustine ................30 A Critical Evaluation of Augustine........................................................................36 Medieval Voices – Summary and Critical Analysis .........................................................40 Anselm ..................................................................................................................40 Thomas Aquinas ...................................................................................................43 Peter Abelard .........................................................................................................46 Selected Reformers ...........................................................................................................48 Martin Luther .........................................................................................................48 John Calvin ............................................................................................................50 Huldrych Zwingli ..................................................................................................53 A Critical Evaluation of the Reformers .................................................................54 A Sampling of Liberal Positions ...........................................................................................56 The Romance with Rationalism ............................................................................56 iv The Lurch toward Subjectivity .............................................................................59 Albrecht Ritschl ....................................................................................................62 Karl Barth...............................................................................................................64 Emil Brunner ..........................................................................................................66 A Critical Analysis of Liberal Positions ...............................................................69 The Modern Evangelical Landscape ..................................................................................71 The Presentation of the Pluralistic Paradigm .........................................................71 A Critical Evaluation of the Pluralist Paradigm ....................................................75 The Presentation of the Inclusivist Paradigm ........................................................82 A Critical Evaluation of the Inclusivist Paradigm .................................................85 The Presentation of the Particularist Paradigm ......................................................95 A Critical Evaluation of the Particularist Paradigm ..............................................99 An Unheard Voice – The Orthodox Jewish Paradigm.....................................................105 Section 2: A Traditional Dispensational Alternative .............................................................112 Points of Agreement and Disagreement with the Other Paradigms …….......................112 Salvation through Christ Alone ..........................................................................112 Natural and Special Revelation ...........................................................................113 Light in Other Religious Traditions? ..................................................................117 Suppressing the Truth in Unrighteousness .........................................................123 The Necessity of the Holy Spirit .........................................................................124 The Dispensational Alternative .......................................................................................125 The Advantage of a Dispensational Alternative ..................................................125 God’s Salvific Activity in the Gentile World before Christ ………………...…126 v Conversion in the Age of Grace ..........................................................................123 The Eternal Gospel .............................................................................................137 The Implications for Apologetics ...................................................................................139 The Implications for Theology .......................................................................................145 The Implications for Reformed Theology ...........................................................145 The Implications for Arminian Theology ............................................................147 The Implication for those hold to a Mediate Theology .......................................148 The Implications for Missions ........................................................................................151 Motivation for Missions .......................................................................................152 A Mission Apologetic ..........................................................................................154 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................................159 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………164 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).1 Several months later the Apostle Peter expanded on this thought by insisting “there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). For many, the implications of these and similar texts are not open to serious dispute. Their meaning seems obvious; those who have
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