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Question 4
Paul responds that the gospel’s “sound went throughout all the earth,” and Bercot cites Ambrosiaster/Colossians 1:23 to argue “none of them is excused from the charge of unbelief”; what makes that claim feel uncomfortable today, and how do you reconcile it with common evangelical instincts to soften responsibility because of “lack of information” or “not enough clarity”?
Another way to ask: Why does it feel hard today to say that people are not excused from unbelief because the gospel has gone out widely? How do you fit that with the common idea that people aren’t really responsible if they didn’t get enough information or clarity?

Direct Answer The claim feels uncomfortable because it removes a common refuge—“they didn’t really hear”—and treats unbelief as blameworthy when the proclamation has been widely made. The transcript’s reconciliation is simply Paul’s: Israel, in particular, had abundant access (even first access), so the “lack of information” plea doesn’t fit the situation Paul is addressing.

Support from Transcript:

  • Paul: “their sound went throughout all the earth and their words to the ends of the world.”
  • Chrysostom presses the point: if “the whole world…have heard,” then “how much more so have you [Jews]?”
  • Ambrosiaster: the preaching was “so widely heard by the Jews” that Paul can say “the whole world is filled with the divine proclamation.”
  • Colossians 1:23 is cited to support the idea that apostolic preaching “reached every place.”
  • Conclusion drawn: “So none of them is excused from the charge of unbelief.”
  • Paul’s method: he quotes Psalm 19 to show this worldwide proclamation was “prophesied.”
Discussion Follow-ups How do we distinguish between Paul’s argument about Israel’s responsibility and broader questions about those who never encountered apostolic preaching? What does “hearing” require according to the transcript—mere exposure, or attentive receiving?

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