Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

Today, the Doctrine of Christ, Part 49.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

Last time I argued that salvation is universally accessible through God's general revelation in nature and conscience,

even if it is rarely, if ever, actually accessed in that way.

And therefore, the problem posed by mankind's religious diversity cannot be simply reduced to the fact that many lost

people are uninformed or misinformed about Jesus Christ. Rather, I think that the real problem

is that if God is all-knowing, then he knew, even before he created the world,

who would receive the gospel and be saved and who would not. But then certain very difficult

questions arise. For example, number one, why didn't God bring the gospel to people

who he knew would accept it if they heard it, but who reject the light of general revelation that they

do have? To illustrate this problem, imagine a North American

Indian living on the Great Plains during the Middle Ages prior to the arrival of Christian

missionaries. Let's call him Walking Bear. And let's suppose that as Walking bear looks up at the heavens at night and sees the

beauty of nature around him, that he thinks that all of this must surely have been made by the

great spirit. Moreover, as walking bear looks into his own heart, He senses there the moral law written on his heart

telling him that all men are brothers created by the Great Spirit and that therefore we ought to

live in love and harmony with one another. But suppose that instead of worshipping the great spirit and living in love for his

fellow man, Walking Bear ignores the great spirit and instead creates totems of other spirits. And rather

than living in love with his fellow man, he lives in selfishness and cruelty toward others.

Now, in such a case, walking bear would be justly condemned before God,

even when judged on the standards of God's revelation in nature and conscience.

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