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A Formal Statement Regarding Divine Foreknowledge and the Destiny of the Unevangelized

The Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA

April 23-24, 2002

The Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA, meeting in session as a United States National Board, hereby adopts the following statement with regard to divine foreknowledge and the destiny of the unevangelized:

Divine Foreknowledge

Our Confession of Faith states:

"We believe in the only true God...that this triune God created the heavens and earth and all that in them is, visible as well as invisible, and furthermore sustains, governs, protects, and supports the same."

The Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA affirms that God's knowledge of all past, present and future events is exhaustive and infallible. God's knowledge includes all future decisions and actions of free moral agents. The openness view denies that God's knowledge is this comprehensive. Thus, the "openness" view of God's foreknowledge is contrary to our denomination's historic understanding.

Destiny of the Unevangelized

Our Confession of Faith states:

"We believe in Jesus Christ...that He is the Savior and Mediator of the whole human race, if they with full faith in Him accept the grace proffered in Jesus....We believe that the Holy Bible, Old and New Testaments, is the Word of God; that it contains the only true way to our salvation; that every true Christian is bound to acknowledge and receive it with the influence of the Spirit of God as the only rule and guide; and that without faith in Jesus Christ, true repentance, forgiveness of sins, and following after Christ, no one can be a true Christian."

The heart of the United Brethren movement is evangelism. We believe in a transformed life made possible through an experiential faith in Jesus Christ. The church believes that God wants all people to come to salvation by hearing the gospel proclaimed and responding to it with personal faith. Salvation is possible only through the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

We recognize that many in our church believe that God may, if He so chooses, save some to whom the gospel message has never been specifically proclaimed, namely, those whose deaths occur prior to an age of accountability or the mentally impaired. Even with this understanding, the church has always insisted that salvation is a gift of God, given solely on the basis of the atoning work of Jesus Christ.

We reject a broad application of "inclusivism" that makes possible salvation via a limited understanding of God. All followers of other religions are lost sinners (2 Corinthians 6:16-18) needing to believe and receive the Good News of Christ through faith during their lifetime in order to be saved (Romans 10:14-15; Hebrews 9:27).

Conclusion

Our commission is unanimous in its agreement with the theological perspectives reflected above. We believe they are an accurate representation of the historical and present position of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA. As commission members, we have engaged in strong debate about the issues that have prompted the writing of this statement. Members of the commission view the positions of the "openness of God" and "inclusivism" with differing degrees of concern. Some view them as controversial, either just within the boundaries of evangelicalism or still in the formative stages. Others see them as clearly outside those boundaries. But the Commission on Ministry is in total agreement that our denominational involvement in this conflict has been and will continue to be detrimental to our Christian unity and disruptive to our collective mission of reaching the lost for Jesus Christ.

Implications for Ministers, Churches
and Denominational Agencies

Therefore, given the above, we believe:

  1. That no ministerial candidate holding positions different than those expressed above be approved for licensing or ordination in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.
  2. That no minister holding positions different than those expressed above be approved for conference use (supply or placement) in the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.
  3. That no associate ministry staff holding positions different than those expressed above be employed by congregations of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ, USA.

Respectfully Submitted,

Thomas M. Brodbeck, Chairman
Bishop Paul Hirschy
Todd Fetters
James Kendall
George Kreger
Ron Ramsey
Ray A. Seilhamer

Notes

This was the original report of the Commission on Ministry. The statements adopted by the US National Board contain some amendments to the above report. You can see the amended statements here.