The God Squad: Are we all on the same mountain?
Thank you, dear readers, for your thoughtful comments about my column in which I said that we are all climbing on the same mountain up to God just on different paths. I appreciate those of you who do not believe this to be true. For Christians the proof text for Christian exclusivity is John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me."
R, from Boynton Beach, Florida, put it this way:
As an 88-year-old, (whole) Bible believing Protestant, I wish to take a stand against your acceptance of all religions ultimately seeking and reaching a heavenly end together.
He then quotes John 14:6 and says:
“You, my (hopefully still) friend, are certainly aware of these promises Jesus Christ came to fulfill. It is such a shame that so many are clouded about accepting Him as Lord and Savior. It would be an answer to prayer to learn that you had accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.”
Dear R, you may be right. I do not believe you are right, but I am in sales not management so who knows. This will be resolved when our souls gather in Heaven. I do not blame you or resent you for holding your view that there is only one path up the mountain that leads to the top. You believe that Jesus taught Good News and if that is true sharing that revelation is your joyous duty.
However…
You may be wrong because…
You are adding a second belief to John and that is the belief that in addition to being saved by Jesus one must also acknowledge and affirm that one is saved by Jesus. The theologian Karl Rahner thought that if non-Christians live a life of kindness and charity they will be saved by Jesus, even if they do not acknowledge Jesus as their Lord and savior. He called such people, “anonymous Christians."
Christians like you believe that Jesus who has not fulfilled the various proofs of Messiahship will do so in the second coming. So, until and unless Jesus returns, the promise of John is as yet unfulfilled.
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