Narrow Way or Wide Hope
By Michael L. Brown, Ph.D.
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Is there solid Scriptural support for
the view that Jewish people can be
saved outside of explicit faith in Yeshua?
Recently, several leading Messianic Jewish
scholars have said yes, either explicitly or
implicitly, thereby opening the door to what
is commonly called a "wider hope."
In a special JTA report entitled,
"Messianics Rising," Barry Yeoman noted
that Dr. Mark Kinzer, one of the foremost
Messianic scholars, agrees that Messianic
Jews are "summoned" to share their
faith, albeit in a manner sensitive to the
long legacy of Christian anti-Semitism.
"However, unlike many of his peers, Kinzer
does not necessarily believe salvation is
at stake." Indeed, Kinzer states, "I'm less
confident of the negative spiritual status
of the wider Jewish world. I’m willing to
believe there are many Jewish people who
are right with God." So, in quite candid
terms, Dr. Kinzer opens the door of
salvation to "many Jewish people" without
the need for outright faith in Yeshua.
Yeoman notes that because of these views,
other Messianic leaders, like Loren Jacobs,
consider Kinzer a "heretic."
Dr. Stuart Dauermann, another
prominent Messianic scholar, while shying
away from words like "inclusivism," has
toyed with the use of the term "diffusionist"
to describe how Scripture repeatedly
indicates that the benefits of salvation are
not so much restricted and diffused within
circles generally known only to God. In
support of this view, he cites examples, such
as God’s willingness to spare all of Sodom
for the sake of ten, or 1 Corinthians 7:13–14,
where an unbelieving husband and children
are "sanctified" by the faith of the believing
wife/mother." Again, the spiritual benefit
diffuses. . . Or how about Romans 11:16,
where Paul clearly says that what is true of the
first-fruit is accounted as true of the entire
lump/harvest, and what is true of the root is
accounted as true of the branches. (May 22,
2007, on derek4messiah.wordpress.com). To
what extent this benefit diffuses, however, is
not spelled out by Dauermann.
How should we respond to these
concepts, put forward as they are by such
highly-regarded scholars? With due respect
to those in the Messianic movement who
hold to such views, and without in any
way judging their motivation or personal
commitment to the Lord, the concept of the
wider hope must be viewed as theologically
dubious and pragmatically detrimental.
While this is not the place to engage
in a detailed Scriptural rebuttal of this
position, the practical effects of the wider
hope teaching can be spelled out here.
In short, the following consequences are
virtually inevitable: The burden for the
salvation of our people will become less
acute, our willingness to go against the grain
and suffer reproach for Messiah’s sake in our
witness will become less pronounced and
our confidence in the "saving power" of the
gospel will become less simple and sure.
We will relate less and less to Paul’s
experience, this Jewish emissary who was
so burdened by our people’s "rejected" and
"cut off" estate (Romans 11:15–20) that he
had "great sorrow and unceasing anguish" in
his heart; that he could wish himself "cursed
and cut off from [Messiah]" for their sake
(Rom 9:2–3); that he regularly endured
persecution and rejection by our people—
often by the most religious —because of his
faithful and unflinching witness to Yeshua.
To be clear: I am not accusing my wider
hope brothers of compromise or cowardice. I
am simply raising pragmatic concerns about
what appears will be the inexorable resultof
this teaching in Messianic Jewish circles.
When I meditate on the prayers in the
siddur and when I interact with the religious
Jews who pray these prayers every day, the
ones who, presumably, would stand the best
chance of being "right with God"—I am
profoundly saddened, struck by how much
these precious people are "so near and yet so
far" (to borrow a phrase from my book Our
Hands Are Stained with Blood). Today, I fear
that my Messianic friends who have opened
to the door to the wider hope would look at
me and say, "But who are we to judge?"
I would gladly stand corrected by the
very leaders I have quoted, and this could
be done by them stating explicitly that they
assume the lost condition of every Jew who
has not put his or her trust in Yeshua, while
leaving all final judgment to the Lord. To
date, however, such statements have not
been forthcoming, and Dr. Dauermann has
argued that such a position is hardly "good
news" for our people. Yet the good news is
only good if it is received, and it is only fair
to ask why, when the good news is presented
to our people in the most Jewish manner
possible, by Torah-observant Messianic Jews
at that, there is still a deep and fundamental
resistance to this proclamation.
The cross remains a scandal—whether
it is called a cross or a torture-stake or a
tree—and the truth of the Messiah’s divine
nature remains a stumbling block. The
undeniable chasm remains, yet the ambiguity
that naturally flows out of the wider hope
teaching largely mutes the God-ordained way
to bridge that chasm, namely, the clear and
bold declaration of the gospel in the power
of the Spirit, with sensitivity and grace.
This message worked back then; it has
worked through the ages; it has worked in
the salvation and transformation of tens of
thousands of Jews like me—and it still works
today. No improvements are needed; neither
are fundamental modifications helpful.
The good news of Yeshua remains "the
power of God for the salvation of everyone
who believes: first for the Jew, then for the
Gentile." (Romans 1:16)
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Stuart Dauermann, Mark Kinzer and Jason Sobel
were all invited to comment about this subject,
but declined to do so. The invitation is still
extended to them to respond to the remarks of
Michael Brown or others. —the publisher
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