Implied in the statement of man's essential predicament is the
Bea ee ee
246 THEORY OF THE MISSION
pessimistically is to forsake hope. To view it optimistically as though
all men were to be saved is to embrace the unrealism of a Pollyanna. Somewhere between lies the true Christian concept. Not all men will be lost nor will all be saved. But all have possibilities, and for those who turn to Christ there is fulfillment and realization in part in this life and in full in the life to come.
Regeneration is the real need of man. But man may not be regenerated either because he has never heard the Gospel without
_ which regeneration is impossible or because he has refused to avail himself of the benefits of the Gospel when he has heard it. Whichever it may be the end is the same. He is permanently separated from God. Heaven and hell, then, are the competing options which the unredeemed man faces. The knowledge that the man who has never heard of Christ is separated from God is a prime factor in stimulating conservative missionary zeal. Knowing that his only hope lies within the Gospel, it follows that man must be given the opportunity to make a rational choice.
4. The Inadequacy of the Non-Christian Religions
Implied in the statement of man's essential predicament is the fourth assumption which undergirds this philosophy of missions. All other religions, save Christianity, are inadequate and cannot provide salvation. All of them are under the judgment of God. No man who embraces any other religion and believes and practices what it teaches can entertain hope for a proper relationship to God. Neither ignorance nor effort toward a good life will suffice. No other
_ way or road leads to everlasting life save Christianity. This is a
highly dogmatic pronouncement, but it lies at the heart of all conservative missionary emphasis. Its adherents properly believe and ta claim that it is the teaching of the Scriptures; it is a "given" to ___ which they subscribe without reservation. Eclecticism has no part in this theology and the exclusiveness of Christianity is assumed.
It should not be supposed that this idea of the inadequacy of 4
the non-Christian religions is a view reserved to conservative | ___ theology alone. Hendrik Kraemer expressed a similar conclusion
in different words. Despite individual dissent from this proposi-
tion the findings of the Madras Conference in 1938 reflected the ;
- same idea: a We believe that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life for all, that