Postmortem Opportunity: A Biblical and Theological Assessment of Salvation After Death, JamesBeilby, IVP, 2021 (ISBN 978‐0‐8308‐5376‐2), xviii + 350 pp., pb $40

There are certain questions in Christian theology that simply will not go away. Some may ignore them, some may become excessively enamoured of them, and some will engage them in the attempt to provide a coherent, cogent and hopefully satisfying answer to the question. In this volume, theologian James Beilby opts to answer the question of the destiny of those who never heard the gospel of Christ during their lifetimes (i.e. the unevangelised) and those who heard a distorted version of the gospel in their lives (i.e. the pseudo-evangelised). Although these questions have been answered by many across the theological spectrum with wildly divergent solutions, these issues have become more acute lately with the rise of minority opinions on the doctrine of hell, the universality of the gospel, and the destiny of those who adhere to different faiths than Christianity. Thus, Beilby offers his arguments for his own version of a postmortem opportunity theory in which anyone who either never heard the gospel in their life, or heard a severely distorted version of it, will be given a postmortem opportunity to repent and believe in Christ before the final judgement of all humanity. The main theological hurdle Beilby believes he must overcome and correct is the belief that physical death is not the end of salvific opportunity for the individual person; rather, his contention is that some may receive their one, only, and final opportunity to embrace Christ in the afterlife. Beilby has two main goals in this work: first, to provide an apologetic for the destiny of the unevangelised/pseudo-evangelised and, second, to defend the theological commitments that underly his version of a postmortem opportunity. Beilby fulfils these two goals by primarily engaging not only in traditional systematic theology, but also by delving into philosophy, biblical studies and church history to provide an interdisciplinary answer to one of the church's most vexing theological and pastoral issues. This work contains ten chapters and in Chapter One, Beilby sets forth the problem of the destiny of the unevangelised and provides examples of types of people who would fit into that category. Moreover, Beilby then discusses another subgroup of the unevangelised defined as the pseudo-evangelised. These are those who have heard the gospel in this life, but the gospel presented to them was so contorted and distorted that one can say that they have not really had a genuine opportunity to respond to the gospel because they have not heard the gospel in any authentic sense. In Chapter Two, Beilby provides his version of postmortem opportunity and its unique claims and then applies it to the case studies of the unevangelised and pseudo-evangelised he constructed in chapter one. Chapter Three, then, sees Beilby reveal the theological principles that undergird his version of postmortem opportunity and how his argument employs the method of abductive reasoning, that is, logical inference to the best explanation. Having established his version of postmortem opportunity, Beilby then turns in Chapter Four to respond to the two categories of scriptural objections to postmortem opportunity. The first objection is the response that physical death is the end of any and all salvific opportunities for humans. The second is that scripture itself teaches against the possibility of a postmortem opportunity. Further, in Chapter Five, Beilby interacts with certain passages in scripture that teach the ‘descent into Hades’ of Christ between Good Friday and Easter Sunday (i.e. Holy Saturday) and claims that, although they could suggest a postmortem opportunity for the unevangelised/pseudo-evangelised, the scriptural evidence is not utterly conclusive; rather, Beilby contends that scripture is more suggestive and implies the possibility of a postmortem opportunity rather than making it explicit. Chapter Six sees Beilby delve into the historical arguments for postmortem opportunity and its eventual waning in the patristic period. Beilby shows from various pre-Nicene and post-Nicene theologians that postmortem opportunity was a live but not universal option until Augustine of Hippo rendered it null and void with most of the medieval church eventually following his lead. In Chapter Seven, Beilby interacts with and responds to the primary theological objections to postmortem opportunity such as we should remain agnostic regarding the afterlife/intermediate state and what exactly transpires there and then; that there are problematic implications in affirming postmortem opportunity for this life and discipleship to Christ; and finally, the difficulty in defining the category of the pseudo-evangelised well. Chapter Eight is Beilby's attempt to wed the best of inclusivism and his version of postmortem opportunity. Beilby believes that by combining his version of postmortem opportunity with inclusivism, he will complement, correct, and make his version of postmortem opportunity more conclusive. In Chapter Nine Beilby tackles the seductive doctrine of universalism and, after considering the biblical and philosophical reasons for it, concludes that universalism is ultimately untenable. In Chapter Ten, Beilby responds to the claim that holding to a postmortem opportunity necessitates that one be a universalist. According to Beilby, this is not the case because a postmortem opportunity is no more and no less than an opportunity, but not a guarantee that any individual will embrace Christ in the afterlife. Beilby concludes the book by stating how he defines hell for those who reject Christ in this life or the next. Whenever a theologian ventures into the realm of the doctrine of the intermediate state, the risk of being misunderstood is amplified greatly due to the fact that so much of that state is unknown and the scriptural testimony to it is quite meagre. Therefore, anyone who attempts to make a strong case for any aspect of the afterlife and what may or may not transpire there is likely to be read as tendentious at best and speculative at worst. However, James Beilby's volume on the doctrine of the possibility of God offering a postmortem opportunity to those who need to hear the gospel of Christ at least once is a rare treat. Beilby writes with clarity and concision all the while being judicious in his use of primary and secondary sources, interacting respectfully, charitably, and yet no less critically with major and minor voices in the Christian faith to argue quite persuasively that it is not impossible for the God of Jesus Christ to offer every human an authentic opportunity to respond positively to Jesus Christ in this life or the next. Beilby knows the limits within which he can argue, how far he can push his claims, and the extent to which he can be sure God does and will offer a postmortem opportunity of salvation to those who need it. We applaud Beilby for taking an interdisciplinary approach in this volume, even though his preferred mode of arguing is analytic philosophy, and we appreciate his interaction with key scriptural texts and current theological trends that may cause some readers to wonder how his version of postmortem opportunity could be considered ‘biblical’ and not to confuse it with other innovative theological positions. The greatest strength of this work is that it forces thoughtful Christians to (re-)consider long and tightly held beliefs regarding the assumed finality of death, the afterlife, the final judgement, the scope of God's grace, and the agential responsibility of humans. Even if the reader does not finally agree with Beilby's thesis, they will have to think through quite thoroughly why they do not if they want to consider themselves intellectually honest and give Beilby's work the respect it deserves. The one perceived weakness of the book is that Beilby argues from within the Arminian tradition and is quite open and unapologetic about that. Although we are grateful for Beilby's self-revelation of his theological commitments, he does not show thoroughly enough how someone in the Calvinist tradition could uphold a postmortem opportunity. This is not a devastating critique of Beilby's overall thesis, but it causes one to pause and ask whether his version of postmortem opportunity can only reside within Arminianism and not also other theological traditions. Ultimately, Beilby's version of postmortem opportunity is as challenging as it is edifying and cannot be easily dismissed as mere speculation, but as providing a coherent answer to the problem of the destiny of the unevangelised and pseudo-evangelised. Because of the book's demanding, dense and no less rewarding prose, we recommend this text for advanced courses in Christian soteriology, eschatology, philosophical theology and for educated ecclesial leaders and laity.

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