How Many People Are Saved?

Andrew turns to Matt and Derek for help with a theological conundrum: what are the implications of saying either that the saved will be many or few?

A conundrum has been bothering Andrew: If you say that few people are saved, that raises certain theological problems, but if you say that many people are saved, that raises other theological problems. But this is what Mere Fidelity is for: tackling the tough questions that others avoid. Matt doesn’t think this is the right question to be asking, but you’ll be interested to hear where he ends up. And Derek coins a unique word.

Links mentioned:

Hymn: “There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”

Tim Keller on Mere Fidelity

Peter Kreeft

Augustine’s Expositions on the Psalms

David Bentley Hart

The Westminster Confession of Faith

Herman Bavinck

The Book of the Month is Pointing to the Pasturelands, a collection of several decades of J. I. Packer’s contributions to the pages of Christianity Today. This volume includes his editorial columns, longer articles, and brief answers to readers’ theology questions. The book concludes with a profile of Packer from Mark A. Noll. Enjoy timeless insights from a man whose life was devoted to knowing God and making him known. For the months of December 2021 and January 2022, Mere Fidelity listeners will get a 40% discount on their purchase of this volume with the code MEREFIDELITYDEC21 at checkout.

Timestamps

1:01
The Relevance of the Question
11:22
Kreeftily Dodging the Question
15:13
Pulled in Two Directions
19:01
True Confessions
25:12
The Westminster Confession
31:55
The "Reverse Abraham"
35:31
Why is it so difficult to believe?

Follow Derek, Andrew, and Alastair for more tweet-sized brilliance. Thanks to Timothy Crouch for keeping us organized. Special thanks to Tim Motte for sound editing and show notes. And thanks to The Joy Eternal for lending us their music, which everybody should download out of gratitude for their kindness.

Judgment Systematic Theology
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