Introduction
Ronald Nash’s book Is Jesus the Only Savior? seeks to explain or shed light on this question that has puzzled many in previous generations as well as ours. The resounding answer that comes forth from his arguments is “yes,” Jesus is the only savior of humankind. He starts by taking into account the three schools of thought associated with this controversial question. These are Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism. The first six chapters of the book deals with Pluralism, which can be said to be the belief that all major world religions are equal and there is no religion that is superior to the other. Pluralism also emphasizes that all these religions lead to salvation and to God. In the last five chapters of the book, Nash
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These relationships exhibited an intimacy with God that is not seen in the New Testament. One example was Enoch; he was said to have walked with God until he was no more. Because of this, Inclusivists argue that salvation must have been available for the Old Testament saints as well, even if Christ came after them. They go against the Excluvisist belief that only those that received Christ in their hearts through a prayer of faith would receive eternal life.
2) The Unevangelised
Nash expresses the Inclusivist argument that even after the coming of Christ, there were people living in faraway lands like Africa and America who were not able to be reached by the gospel before they died. The gospel took many years to spread to the whole world, and even today, there are people who have not heard it yet. These people have their own understanding of who God is, and they worship him in their own way. Thus, inclusivists argue that it is not the fault of such people not to hear the word of God. Therefore, with God being a just God, they will be preserved a place in heaven, even if they did not accept Christ.
Weaknesses
1) One of the weaknesses that Nash had was that he failed to recognize an opportunity to state or mention that there is a fair precedent for Covenant children who perish in infancy to be indeed, saved believers.
2) The Arminian and Inclusivist position of
This group either deconvert or change faiths due to negative experiences. Their characteristics include: varying levels of resentment, disavowed returning to church, moved on from Christianity, regrets usually center on parents and they are broken out of constraints. The last of the three groups is the exiles. Kinnaman discusses these in chapter four. He uses the example of Ryan. Through this we see exiles are pushed out and pushed away from something familiar, which in this case is the Church. According to Kinnaman, in the modern day we see those who grew up in the church are now physically or emotionally disconnected in some way, but also remain. These mosaics are energized to pursue God-honoring lives. Their profile includes: they are not inclined to being separate from the world, skeptical of institutions but not wholly disengaged. Young exiles sense God moving outside the walls of the church and are not disillusioned with tradition. They are frustrated with slick or shallow expressions of religion. They also express a mix of concern and optimism for their peers. They found faith to not be instructive to their calling or gifts and struggle when other Christians question their motives. Finally, most exiles feel tension between work and their
When you think “Christian Worldview,” what comes to mind? I know I automatically think; God, Jesus, Christians, and Prayer. As I have learned through my Christian Worldview class, I have learned that there is a lot more to it and this paper will provide you with what I have learned. Throughout this assignment, I will explain about God, Humanity, Jesus, restoration, my analysis of the Christian Faith, and my reflection.
the belief that "salvation came only as a free gift from God" and those who
belief in the lord and the bible never favored. Another new experience was presented to Nat when
A worldview is one’s views and beliefs about the world and reality that impact how we think, live our lives, and perceive the world. “People have their own private worldviews with values and beliefs that have been shaped by culture, education, experiences, and relationships” (“Lecture 1,” 2015). There are many worldviews and outlooks in the world, but we are mainly focusing on the Christian worldview. In this paper, I will summarize and analyze the Christian worldview and describe their beliefs with regard to God, Humanity, Jesus, and the Restoration while reflecting on my own beliefs.
There are many different opinions as to what is true when it comes to religion. All over the globe, many diverse cultures look up and pray to a variety of gods or perhaps none whatsoever. Yet, how does one define what is existent? What is truly divine and worthy of the utmost worship and praise? As humans, we are limited to fully comprehending and understanding exactly who God is and what the afterlife looks like. This paper will discuss the aspects of the Christian faith viewing God, humanity, Jesus, Restoration and the Christian Worldview, as well as, a reflection of what I believe in my own personal life.
However, they are singled out, and separated from the rest, according to the sovereign will of God, by powerful grace; and are broken by the Spirit of God, under the ministry of the Word. They are by Him, made living stones; and being holy and spiritual persons build up a spiritual house: and these are the only persons which make up the true and the invisible church of Christ. The only fit ROCKs to be members of the visible church and to be sent out to “reach-out” to the community. Because they will perhaps meet people that are by nature of different quarry with others, they will have to be able to stand firm to the Word of
One clue that salvation can only be found in newer generations lies in the story “Wall of Fire Rising.” When the main protagonist, Guy, whose son Little
Robert Nash writes “Is Jesus the Savior”, copyrighted July 12, 1994 and he writes this great publication solely three reasons and they are: (1) To see whether pluralism succeeds in developing a strong enough case against exclusivism to lead thoughtful people to abandon the Christian church’s historic teaching that Jesus is the only Savior (part 1); (2) to see whether inclusivism succeeds in developing a strong enough case against exclusivism to lead thoughtful Christians to embrace inclusivism (part 2); and (3) to present at least some of the reasons why many thoughtful and conscientious Christians continue to espouse Christian exclusivism .
Ronald H. Nash begins his book responding the position of pluralism in regards to the exclusivity of Jesus Christ, mainly directed at John Hick, who was a leading proponent of pluralism until his death earlier this year. Nash was an evangelical Baptist theologian and apologist, who subscribed to the Calvinist tradition. Within his book, Nash tackles several of Hick’s arguments relating to the pluralism and universality of Christianity. Nash reveals in chapters 1-6, the evolution of Hick’s philosophy of pluralism and understanding of pluralism, which conflicts with the Christian’s view of the
This paper on Salvation is defining both objectively and subjectively from the two required reading text. The first text is written by Alistair McGrath’s “Theology: The Basics and the second is written by Dr. Yung Chul Han’s “Transforming Power: Dimension of the Gospel. I will describe how the both texts are in association as well as seeking observations, and other conclusions to gain a better understanding of salvation from both perspectives. According to (Mc.Grath, p.78), the word salvation is referred to as something that has already happened in the past, to something that will happen in the future. Spiritual transformation requires of us what is called dependent responsibility. All the moral commands and exhortations of scripture assume our responsibility. Salvation is deliverance from danger or suffering. The word salvation carries the idea of victory, health, or preservation (www.biblia.com). Salvation can be viewed as a spiritual transformation which the dependency of the Holy Spirit assist in the change of a believers past, self to a vessel of God in the present lives which exemplifies life, deliverance, peace, and a victory won through personal conviction. The victory is one that only Jesus Christ has authority save us which gives believers complete approval to have possession to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Ronald Nash wrote a book called Is Jesus the Only Savior. It discusses his gathered findings and distinctions between Pluralism and Inclusiveness. This paper will explore some of Ronald Nash’s observations and the arguments, logics and Scripture used to support his writings. This paper will discuss several Religious leaders some pluralist others inclusivists, non-Christians, Christians and their beliefs, philosophies or opinions. In this paper the details of inclusiveness is discussed.
We need Jesus because there is no hope of salvation without him. This is a concept that holds the basis of Christianity. In this paper I want to go over what I think are the most important pieces of evidence to this thesis: Jesus as the prophesied seed of the women, Jesus as our mediator, prophet, and priest, and lastly Jesus as our king.
Many in this category are walking among us today. We might call them the “unsaved,” or giving them the benefit of the doubt, might consider them “searching.” However, if they die without embracing the true way, if their hearts have never turned to God, they are lost. And for that reason, they have been condemned to an eternal life that is deserving and seen as fit by the Lord on high. These people might be our next-door neighbors.
Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many great men who have left an impact on today’s world. Some of these men may have changed a certain system was run or established a better community for other people. While doing these things is certainly commendable, there is one man who stands above the rest. This man is unique in every way from His conception to His death. In addition, this man made astonishing claims and performed many great miracles. While there were many that embraced this man, there were many that called him foolish and a sinner. This man was Jesus Christ. Through the use of Old Testament prophets, various New Testament testimonies, and certain divine attributes, it is proven that Jesus Christ is unique in that He and God are one.