Without question, my understanding of “salvation” in the Christian doctrinal sense has progressed beyond the traditional paradigm of “being saved from hell after you die.” In fact I dealt with some of those aspects of Christianity in an article called Hellpoint Christianity[2] which stirred some very interesting feedback from readers here. I also covered the topic of sin and sin-management in February in an article titled Sin Management 101[3]. All those topics are deeply interrelated and are especially linked directly to our question, What is Salvation?

Now I will be the first to admit that the very question “What is Salvation?” while important, it has built-in the assumption or the demand of an over-simplistic answer. But if there is more to the answer, where do we even start, and can a pursuit or even an attempt to explore those issues lead us to a dangerous place of existentialist freedom from God which in turn could become slavery unto ourselves? But before I continue, something important needs to be pointed out, and that is an important etymological observation made by Eliade: “A religious act which has some relation to soteriology is that of healing. Indeed, the etymology of the word salvation suggests “making whole,” and there are indications of the close connections between physical and spiritual health in the New Testament (e.g. the emphasis on Jesus’ healing miracles)…”[4] This is an important observation in that it points out a necessary balance that we should reach when we are discussing salvation. As someone already pointed out, conservatives do tend to focus solely on the post-mortem aspect of salvation from Hell while liberals focus mostly on the contemporary social issues affecting our society. Both sides are causing more damage in the process, ignoring the healing aspect of salvation that Eliade is readily observing. The result is that Christians are often missing the mark on "becoming whole" both in the sense of being socially relevant, and perhaps in the sense of understanding the greater spiritual realities waiting beyond the grave.

Throughout the Scriptures salvation seemingly encompasses everything from deliverance from slavery in Egypt to deliverance from Satan. In the Old Testament we see salvation changing from one degree to another, from personal salvation from immediate danger, to salvation and deliverance of all Israel from immediate national disaster. Noah and his family were saved from a terrible flood; David often appeals to the Lord in a very personal and direct manner to be saved from persecutors and enemies seeking to kill him, “Draw also the spear and the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me; say to my soul, "I am your salvation.” (Psalm 35:3) but also cries out for a clean heart free of “bloodguiltiness” in Psalm 51.

While David is pondering his enemies, Isaiah wants salvation from times of trouble: “O Lord be gracious to us; we have waited for You; Be their strength every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress.” (Isaiah 33:2)

Later in the New Testament salvation (soteria) takes on parallel aspects with the “good news of the Gospel of the Kingdom” with Jesus proclaiming salvation for “the poor in spirit” and “for the blind” in essence equating the arrival of the Kingdom with salvation being brought to those hurting and longing for it. But in Luke 21 we see Jesus prophesying the coming wrath on the city of Jerusalem and giving guidance to believers to be saved from by fleeing to the mountains to be saved from “the days of vengeance.” (Luke 21:22) In the same vein of prophetic writing, in the book of Revelation salvation becomes equal with “not ending up in the Lake of Fire.”

In Luke 19 Jesus visits the house of Zacchaeus, visit which prompts Zachaeus to reassess his priorities and donate half of his assets to the poor. Consequently Jesus proclaims: “This day salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is as son of Abraham.” But Jesus further clarifies the purpose of his coming: “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) This is yet another aspect of salvation, namely to “seek and save” the lost prompting in turn a willing-heart approach to helping those in poverty. Later Church dogma pushes the idea of salvation into new dimensions: salvation is rebirth (born again), resurrection (in baptism) or communion, with various denominations taking various approaches to those actions, such as the Catholic slogan: “Extra ecclesiam nulla salus”[5] and Church of Christ requiring baptism by immersion for salvation and in some cases sharing one cup for communion per the example given by Christ and the disciples.

I could go on for many pages analyzing various passages in which the concept of salvation is described in a unique and different way, but doing so would only further underline the obvious observation that there is much more to salvation than after-death deliverance from Hell. In fact modern fundamentalist Christianity has been doing a great disservice to its audience by focusing mostly on Hell-avoidance and ignoring the more practical aspects of our faith while the more progressive Christians are likewise misguided when seeing salvation only as a matter of social deliverance from poverty, economic inequity and social and gender discrimination. Ultimately the Christian doctrine of salvation (soteriology), with the exception of a few groups of dissenters, is linked to and revolves mostly around the doctrine of Hell and eternal punishment. Accordingly, the answer given by most Christians today to the question of “What is Salvation?” is irrevocably “Not going to Hell after I die.” This has huge implications for the minority of Christians that find themselves in the trenches actively focusing on the social aspects of salvation. While the vast majority is focused on a distant, future, post-death salvation from tormenting fires, a very few try to understand and promote other aspects of salvation of mankind: salvation from poverty, various addictions, destructive lifestyles, disease and social and gender inequities.

So with this in mind, could we perhaps find the motivation within our hearts to start seeing salvation as an ever-changing, dynamic process that encompasses more than the Sunday morning church services or the few coins dropped in the Salvation Army coin box? Is it not evident that the physical aspects of our lives are indicative (both scripturally and inductively) of a learning process, perhaps meant to help us learn as much about ourselves as about our Creator? Salvation seems to be a big part of this learning process.

But there is yet another facet to salvation that we often ignore. We should not always think of salvation as being from something, rather we are often saved unto something. Noah was saved unto life; David unto kingship; the poor in spirit unto riches; the blind unto sight; the sick unto health, etc. And if that was not complex enough, we cannot forget the ultimate issue at the heart of salvation, which is separation from God, as a result of sin. It is evident that after sin entered the world and caused a rift between the Creator and the created human beings, the Creator put forth a promise of salvation from this separation, and if we are going to talk about kinds of salvation, this is by far the most important one, and we can even say that it often encompasses all the other aspects of salvation we discussed above. As John Alan Turner said, “You are also saved from the power of sin in the here and now — saved from a life of futility and frustration — saved from meaninglessness and purposelessness. You are not only saved FROM something, but you are saved TO something — a life of depth and stability — a life of significance and nobility.”[6]

We are starting to see that the concept of salvation, at least within Christianity becoming a dynamic concept that can no longer be easily defined within the constraints of dogmatism or fundamentalist theology. Humanity is no longer in need to be just “saved from Hell” but saved from anything and everything that is becoming a barrier between us and our Creator, be it poverty, sickness, blindness, inequity or lack of education; in many ways salvation is now becoming a very personal experience: my salvation is not your salvation, and the stuff I need to be saved from may not be the stuff you need to be saved from. Likewise things that God sees necessary to save me unto are quite unlikely to be the same things you will be saved unto. We see this personalized salvation at work on a regular basis by just listening to the endless number of testimonies of believers saved from various distressing situations, one quite different from another, but all revolving around the Creator and a relationship with him.

From a Preteristic perspective the issue of salvation loses its institutional dimension even more. Paul and the first century Church were expecting salvation from death to be brought about as a result of the Parousia of Christ. Not for a few, but for all. Bishop Ware recognized this: “He [Paul] does not say, “All may perhaps be made alive,” but “All will be made alive.” At the very least this encourages us to hope for the salvation of all.”[7] Bishop Ware takes this one step further, suggesting exactly what I have been suggesting for a couple of years, a universal reconciliation between the Creator and the Creation: “The same note of expectant confidence is also to be heard, yet more distinctly in 1 Corinthians 15:28 (this was Origen’s key text). Christ will reign, says Paul, until “God has put all thing in subjection under His feet…And when all things are made subject to the Son, then the Son himself will also be made subject to the father, who has subjected all things to Him; and thus God will be all in all,” The phrase “all in all” (panta en pasin) definitely suggests not ultimate dualism but an ultimate reconciliation.”[8]

Bishop Ware is very intuitive in pointing out the obvious and unavoidable inclusive language of the scripture, but to what purpose? He shares my thoughts, questions and the same middle ground with me: “There are two contrasting strands. Some passages present us with a challenge. God invites but does not compel. I possess freedom of choice: am I going to say “yes” or “no” to the divine invitation? The future is uncertain. To which destination am I personally bound? Might I perhaps be shut out from the wedding feast? But there are other passages which insist with equal emphasis upon divine sovereignty. God cannot be ultimately defeated. “All shall be well,” and in the end God will indeed be “all in all.” Challenge and sovereignty: such are the two strands in the New Testament, and neither strand should be disregarded.”[9]

So what is salvation? Are you still convinced that both the question and the answer are too simple? Or perhaps you are now of the persuasion that the issue is more complex than you first thought? And if so, how does Preterist eschatology affect your view and extent of salvation? What are you being saved from today? Are you an active participant in God’s plan and desire to save all mankind? I’ve shared with you some of my own thoughts and questions; I am looking forward to learning from you, so please share yours.

[1] Inscription above the entrance of Dante’s Hell.

[2] http://planetpreterist.com/news-5052.html

[3] http://planetpreterist.com/news-2807.html

[4] Mircea Eliade, Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol. 13, page 419, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York

[5] There is no salvation outside of the Church.

[6] John Alan Turner, http://blog.faith20.org

[7] Bishop Kallistos Ware, The Inner Kingdom, page 197, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press.

[8] Ibid., page 197.

[9] Ibid., page 197.