God Has Prepared All Peoples for the Gospel

Richardson talks a lot about the relationship between what he calls general revelation, and special revelation. He believes that God has revealed himself to members of all groups of people. This general revelation could be compared to a common idea of right and wrong, but Richardson refers more specifically to actual examples of surprising similarities of certain primitive cultures to Christianity. This leads Richardson to conclude that, "In other words, has the God who prepared that gospel for all peoples also prepared all peoples for the gospel?" (Part I, A World Prepared for the Gospel, The Melchizedek Factor, Chapter 1, Peoples of the Vague God, Section 2, p. 30). This preparation of their hearts is what he means when he talks about general revelation.

Special revelation refers to an actual vision, dream, or other face-to-face encounter with God. For example, when Moses encounters the...