The Problem Of Speculation

What about infants?

What about the heathen in remote lands?

What about the American Indians before 1492?

Speculation about the fate of those who we think have no opportunity to hear the gospel of Christ occupies no small place in the Primitive Baptist defense of their anti-means theology.  I should know. I did it for over a decade. The fact that the gospel of our Lord had not made it to certain peoples throughout history automatically precluded the gospel means pattern of salvation from consideration.  There was really no need to bother with exegesis, as a simple scan of history revealed that the reach of the gospel was limited; and that this was enough to tell you that Hardshell anti-means doctrine must be true. Indeed, must be the only truth.

There is no doubt in my mind that my Primitive Baptist friends today are greatly afflicted with this sort of reasoning. I have been in their company too many times and borne witness to such. For instance, on the day I was excluded from my home church, the moderator of the meeting, instead of appealing to scripture, asked me this question:  “What about the people who live in China?” As if all we have to do is just take notice that the gospel has not made it into such-and-such-place, and we may safely conclude at the outset that salvation must therefore be wrought without means.

I used to hear similar questions to this all the time:  What about my next-door neighbor?  What about my sister who is a good person but never goes to church?  What about all those people who....[fill in the blank]?

Yes, let’s not refer to a specific text in God’s Word.  Rather, let’s get our answer by speculating about the fate of people living in a country or situation wherein the gospel is not totally known, and conclude from it that the average Christian’s understanding of salvation must be incorrect, and excluded from the outset! I can then take this view of mine to the scripture and interpret it based on what I have already deduced from my view of the world.

The average reader should be able to easily conclude that this sort of argumentation is not justified. Indeed, what is the main problem with this sort of argumentation, apart from the conclusion flying smack-dab in the face of the Bible?  It is this, and I pray that my Primitive Baptists will give heed to what I now say.

The question of whether or not men must hear and believe the gospel to be saved is going to be settled, like all other matters, by a submission to God’s Word. We do not get truth by first turning to the world, make a deduction based on what we think we see, and then take this perspective to the Bible.  Rather, we get truth by going straight to the Bible, learn from there how our God operates, and then let this determine how we see the world.  When we do that, the express statements of the Bible will be made to trump any deduction made from speculation, observation, reason, or logic. As it ought.