This has always bothered me. Clark Pinnock, who was a founding member of the Evangelical Theological Society, ended up in Open Theism, then one who believed in Annihilationism.

In the book on Open Theism, he said that he could not believe in A God who would condemn people who had never heard the name of Jesus.

I know Jesus said he was the Way. But will there be grace for those who never heard?

This thread is to discuss and track questions that have been asked but not answered regarding the Penal Substitution Theory of Atonement.

The first will be questions posed to @Martin Marprelate on another thread.

I have never taught such a course, but have written a few sets of lecture notes down through the years in preparation for such a course someday. I'll post those notes, and you can feel free to interact, agree, critique, etc. Here is the first set. Please note that this forum does not preserve formatting. The footnote numbers appear as blue, but they don't really link. Look at the bottom for the references.

Lecture 1—Preservation
The General Doctrine of Preservation

INTRODUCTION: Down...

Baptists are split on the specifics of John 3:16. When I was young, and the "Bible" was the KJV, we memorized the verse this way: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

1) The first issue is that some thought the verse was saying how much God loved. Now scholars translate the verse to indicate the idea is how or in what manner God loved.

2) Next, the translation of Kosmos (G2889) as world...

What do you think is the most important the point of disagreement between genuine Christians?

An article by Stephen J Wellum, Professor of Christian Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

How Does Penal Substitutionary Atonement Relate to Other Atonement Theories?

Trying to capture all that our Lord Jesus Christ achieved in his glorious work is not easy given its multi-faceted aspects. John Calvin sought to summarize the comprehensive nature of Christ’s work by the munus triplex—Christ’s threefold office as our new covenant head and mediator—prophet, priest, and king....

Psalm 66:18
If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.

If a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.—Galatians 6:3.

The leaven of Pharisaism, pride, self-righteousness, and self-sufficiency, is interwoven with our very nature. In the beginning that arch-deceiver, Satan, poisoned the minds of our first parents with that corrupt doctrine, "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." This infection hath tainted the whole human race: naturally every man deceiveth himself: he thinks himself to be that which in...

@Revmitchell wrote a rebuttal in the Revelation 12 thread.
This is one of the many problems on this board with regard to these discussions. Sophomoric assertions such as "there is no evidence" is often bandied about by insecure individuals who have no idea how to support their own view. Further, they want to win a debate rather than have a reasonable discussion. It is flat out not true that there is no evidence. Reasonable people can have diffrerent views of the same scripture. Admitting...

The exhaustive determinists think everything that happens is predestined by God, and we should accept it as God's will. This is a destructive heresy because we are to strive to follow Christ, and when we fail, to confess our misses, and redouble our effort to improve our walk with Christ. Our choices to trespass are not predestined. God is not the author of sin.

Romans 8:28 NASB
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called...