Scriptural Mormonism: Francis J. Hall (Anglican) on the Question of the Fate of Those Who Did Not Receive the Gospel in this Life

Sunday, March 30, 2025

Francis J. Hall (Anglican) on the Question of the Fate of Those Who Did Not Receive the Gospel in this Life

Book VII, Chapter 5, §9

What of those who do not receive the Gospel in this life? Finally, there is a question suggested by our Lord’s preaching to the spirits in prison, but how far does our Lord’s death avail to make possible the salvation of those who are not in this life provided the knowledge of redemption and grace? Whatever answer is given to this question we must be in harmony with what is clearly revealed—in particular, (a) that no salvation can be had except through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12), and on the basis of His death; and (b) that no hope of salvation remains for those who in this life willfully reject the means of salvation when effectively made known to them (John 12:48; cf. Heb. 6:4-6; 10:26-31). The Scriptures are given for the guidance of those who have received the Gospel message, and both their promises and their warnings are determined in form by this fact. They do not, therefore, provide any direct and specific teaching on this subject. The rebuke with which our Lord met St. Peter’s question about St. John’s manner of death (John 21:20-22) implies this, at least: that our own following of Christ is a task of too-absorbing requirements to leave room for useless curiosity about the future of those whose conditions differ from our own. In view of these fundamental facts and truths of Scripture, we are driven to believe that all men will be provided, either in this life or in the next, an opportunity of benefitting by Christ’s death, and that none will be lost except through willful misuse or rejection of such opportunity. But this conclusion is less determinate as to the nature of opportunities and of the benefits made available than is sometimes supposed, and it does not imply probation after death, in the proper sense of that word—that is, a chance to reverse the effects of probation in this world. Probation involves opportunity to form and reveal one’s attitude towards such light and grace as is enjoyed in this life, and every human agent does enjoy some light and grace as is enjoyed in this life, and every human agent does enjoy some light, and presumably some elementary form of prevenient grace. To many, the opportunities are very small, indeed, but all races have conceptions, however, grotesque, of right and wrong, and therefore all have a real probation—a real test of their disposition to respond to moral and spiritual challenges as they understand them. This teaching seems to show that death ends every man’s opportunity to become salvable, and opportunities after death, whatever they may be, seem to be limited in their scope to fuller enlightenment, correction of mistakes, and the growth in grace of those who have already shown moral susceptibility to its saving benefits. In this connection, we have to remember that the Judge is omniscient and all-wise, and He is far more capable of allowing for things that should be allowed for, and of discerning the real bent of souls under all circumstances, than we can imagine. (Francis J. Hall, Anglican Dogmatics, ed. John A. Porter, 2 vols. [Nashotah, Wis.: Nashotah House Press, 2021], 2:2115-17)