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God's Work of Grace in the Context of the Religions: A Reformed Proposal
by Terrance Tiessen
A Paper Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Toronto,
Ontario, November 20, 2002.
I. Introduction
In spite of the secularization that continues in western societies, an interest in spirituality
is on the increase and the religions of the world become more rather than less prominent in our
awareness. Agencies of the Christian Church carry on vigorous missionary activity, yet large
segments of the world remain dominantly non-Christian. Christian attitudes toward mission and
opinions about the status of the adherents of other religions are far from unified. We are all
familiar with the range of attitudes, which is now commonly categorized under the headings of
exclusivist, inclusivist or pluralist. Those divisions are frequently protested, particularly by those
of us who are dubbed exclusivist, but the language is hard to escape and is still widely
understandable.
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In recent decades, evangelicals have paid much attention to the question of the salvation
of the unevangelized. Less attention has been given to the religions of the world and to those
who worship within those religions. I have written on the former subject
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and now want to
1
See, for instance, Tim S. Perry`s excellent discussion of nomenclature in chapter 2, Typological Issues,of Radical
Difference: A Defence of Hendrik Kraemer's Theology of Religions. Editions SR, no. 27. Edited by H. Martin
Rumscheidt and Theodore S de Bruyn (Waterloo, Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2001), 9-28; and also
Harold Netland, Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Faith and Mission (Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 2001), 46.
2
Irenaeus on the Salvation of the Unevangelized, ATLA Monograph Series, No. 31 (Metuchen, N. J: Scarecrow
Press, 1993); "Divine Justice and Universal Grace: A Calvinistic Proposal," Evangelical Review of Theology 21/1
(Jan 1997): 63-83; Can the Unevangelized Be Saved?: A Review Article, Didaskalia 4/2 (Fall 1993): 77-91; "The
Universal Salvific Work of the Holy Spirit: Reducing the Scandal of Calvinism," a paper read at the Evangelical
Theological Society, Jackson, Mississippi, Nov. 22, 1996;"The Salvation of the Unevangelized: A Position Paper,"
distributed to members of the International Council of SEND International, January, 1996; Irenaeus on the
Salvation of the Unevangelized, a paper read at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society,
Washington, D.C., November 19, 1993.