Acts 4:12
Bible verses · Also called: Acts 4:12, Neither is there salvation in any other, None other name under heaven given among men, No other name, No other name under heaven, No other name but Jesus
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Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
The text is the New Korean Revised Version (1998), shown under a licence from the Korean Bible Society. Wording may differ slightly from the Korean Revised Version and the Revised New Korean Standard Version. Read in the Korean Revised Version
Acts 4:12 records Peter's declaration before the Jewish supreme council, the Sanhedrin: "Neither is there salvation in any other." It is a leading text for the confession that Jesus Christ alone is the way of salvation and is often cited in discussions of the salvation of adherents of other religions and of those who have never heard the gospel.
Context
Peter and John had healed a man lame from birth at the Beautiful Gate of the temple "in the name of Jesus Christ" (chapter 3). They were arrested for this and brought the next day before the high priest and the rulers. When asked by what power and in whose name they had done this (v. 7), Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered that the man had been healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified. He cited Psalm 118:22, "the stone which the builders refused" (v. 11), and concluded his defense with verse 12.
Interpretation
The Greek word translated "salvation" is sōtēria. A verb from the same root appears in verse 9, where it describes how the sick man was "made whole." For this reason, many interpreters see the verse as moving from bodily healing to the complete salvation of the person. The "name" signifies the whole person and authority of the one named.
- Exclusivism: Most Protestant denominations and evangelicalism read the verse to mean that there is no salvation apart from faith in Christ. Together with John 14:6 and 1 Timothy 2:5, it is a central text for this position.
- Inclusivism: This view holds that salvation comes only through Christ but that its grace may reach even those who have not explicitly known him. The Roman Catholic theologian Karl Rahner's concept of the "anonymous Christian" is a representative example. The view distinguishes the ground of salvation from the conscious knowledge of faith.
- Pluralism: This view treats the verse as the confessional language of the early church and acknowledges the possibility of salvation in other religions. Major denominations regard this view as incompatible with Scripture.
Debates and Issues
Even within exclusivism, views differ on particular cases, such as those who have never heard the gospel or children who die young. In addition, where the verse is used as aggressive language against adherents of other religions, some point out that its context should be remembered: Peter's words were the confession of a persecuted minority standing before those in power. For further discussion, see Religious pluralism.
Related Passages
- John 14:6
- 1 Timothy 2:5-6
- Psalm 118:22
- Romans 10:13-14
See also 6
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