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Natural Law and the Nature of Grace: A Reformation Approach to the Question of the Unevangelized
Author(s) -
Faircloth Kyle
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
international journal of systematic theology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.149
H-Index - 13
eISSN - 1468-2400
pISSN - 1463-1652
DOI - 10.1111/ijst.12335
Subject(s) - gospel , faith , philosophy , fides , argument (complex analysis) , natural (archaeology) , natural law , theology , action (physics) , epistemology , law , political science , history , biochemistry , chemistry , physics , archaeology , quantum mechanics
The Lutheran theologian George Lindbeck claims that a Reformation approach to the question regarding the fate of the unevangelized is related to the scriptural principle of salvation by faith alone and faith by hearing (Rom. 10:17). He therefore recommends a prospective fides ex auditu option whereby every person is confronted by the gospel at the moment of death. Yet his alternative solution fails to account for how the cultural‐linguistic self‐identity of a non‐Christian prepares them for a future encounter with the gospel of Christ. This article seeks to contribute towards filling this theological gap in Lindbeck’s theory through a systematic argument for understanding ‘preparation for the gospel’ as a gracious action by the Holy Spirit through the natural law rather than as elements of truth and goodness in other religions.