A World Converted

How many will be saved. Is it a tiny remnant or a great multitude?

In the last edition of Sword I commented on the confusion within the church with regard to the fulfilment of end time prophecy. To clear that confusion I asked if the ‘The Prophetical Creed’ of Bishop J C Ryle might be used as a basis to build a consensus with regard to the revelation of things to come. A consensus which sets out what we are agreed upon and identifies those things on which we can hold different views.

To take this a step further this article looks at the first statement in that creed. Ryle wrote as follows:

“I BELIEVE that the world will never be completely converted to Christianity by any existing agency before the end comes. In spite of all that can be done by ministers, churches, schools, and missions, the wheat and tares will grow together until the harvest. And when the end comes, it will find the earth in much the same state that it was when the flood came in the days of Noah” (Matthew 13:24-30; 24: 37-39).