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Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Which is it?

"Who will have all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth." -- I Timothy 2:4

"There is a twofold theological problem in this verse: the first aspect of the problem pertains to the will of God: the second aspect of the problem pertains to the universal term 'all' as it relates to the salvation of men (i.e., the extent of the atonement). Does God desire to save all mankind absolutely; that is, each and every individual? Or does God desire to save all mankind relatively; that is, all men without distinction of race, nationality, or social position, not all men without exception?" From An Exegetical Study of 1 Timothy 2:4 by
Gary D. Long

A comparison of ideas may be made by reading
The Saviour of All Men, by George Zeller and An Exegetical Study of 1Timothy 4:10, by Gary D. Long

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who can probe the mind of God?

Although it is a good and holy thing to consider theology, at the end of the day, we need to approach such topics with the greatest humility.

It particular, it seems dangerous to use language like "extreme Calvinists" (as in Zeller's article).

Long's outline is much more neutral, and provides a better basis for discussion; it, at least, tries to clarify terms.

For example, one could answer each of the objections to the soteriological interpretations easily enough, I think; for example, the 'universalist' one by understanding that 'Savior' can mean differences of degree as well as of kind--in particular, we'd all agree that it's better to be saved now, rather than later (and so Paul urges Timothy to labor as Paul has been laboring). Not that I'd agree with this, but at least, the clear distinctions being made allow us to understand one another.

My point is--let's be charitable to one another. In the end, it (probably?) won't be our correct theology that God will commend, but our actions, as Matthew 25:31-46 clearly teaches.

R. L. Vaughn said...

Good points, Will.

I think there is good reason to step back and look at theological discussions somewhat as entertaining exercises of the mind. I do not mean that flippantly or disrespectfully to the idea of theological discussion -- but given the overall tenor of the New Testament, it seems there is much more to commend Godly behaviour as opposed to getting upset over points of theology that aren't spelled out clearly. Now, I do believe "Salvation is of the Lord" is spelled out, and clearly. But the details of exactly how He did/does it is often our attempt of logically sorting a lot of inferences we make from Scripture.