Famed New Testament scholar N.T. Wright has weighed in on whether or not non-Christian who have never heard of Jesus will be saved, saying that while he’s not a universalist, he believes God will save those who are “following the light that they have been given so far.”
We recently wrote about Wright after he suggested abortion may be a tragic yet best allowable option in cases of rape, incest, or for the mental health of the mother who can’t deal with a child with physical and mental deformities, after he offered that belief in the bodily resurrection of Christ is not necessary to be a Christian, and after he said that “Adam” and “Eve” were simply a primal pair of hominids (a type of primates that first appeared 5-7 million years ago) living among other hominids when “some strange force or power” called to be a part of “the human” project.
In a recent episode of Premier Unbelievable? (watch for full context, starting at 21 minute mark) Wright is asked:
“Did God create a hundred billion people, most of whom never had the opportunity to hear about Jesus, merely because of geography or the accidents of history, and are they damned for all time simply because of where they were born, where they were raised, and they never had the opportunity to hear the gospel?”
He responds:
3 responses to “N.T. Wright Says God Will Save Billions of People Who Have Never Heard of Jesus”
A great resource for understanding this is Wretched’s “Drive By False Teaching” : “What’s Wrong with Wright”.
Very enlightening.
One of the toughest questions we get asked. And the more I learn and study, the more my answer is “I don’t know”. There are scriptures that could substantiate this view, such as Romans chapters 1-3. A couple of things to note from those chapters … None are without excuse. There is no partiality with the Lord. God is and always has been the one and only, God of both Jews and Gentiles. And it is by faith that all are saved. We know from passages such as Galatians 3, that Jesus’ sacrifice was for all time, past, present, and future. The question is can someone be saved through Jesus, in Jesus name, without knowing His name. Is it possible. No one comes to the Father but through Him, and because of Him. But could that mean that He is the fulfillment of their faith. A matter of God holding up His side of the deal. As they had faith that He would do as He said that He would do.
Somewhere in scripture is the answer and explanation to this question. I’m sure of that much. And I’m sure that the Gospel is bigger, and the Lord works in ways, that our little finite minds cannot fathom. But I don’t have the answer. And it should go without saying that I don’t agree with anything and everything N.T. Wright has said or done. I certainly do not.
Should’ve said, “all are without excuse” or “none are with excuse”.