- The Christian Gospel and World Religions
- On Universalism
- Can There Be “Anonymous Christians”?
- The Fate of the Unevangelized
- The Salvation of Deceased Infants
- On Annihilationism
According to the Christian Gospel, God is at work through Jesus (and, by extension, His body, the Church) to reconcile all things to Himself. Scripture makes it very clear that salvation for the world, and for each individual, comes through Christ alone (John 14:6, Acts 4:12). Thus, while other world religions may contain some true beliefs, Christians must ultimately reject them as false religions that do not provide a true path to reconciliation with God.
Even if they accept the fact that salvation comes through Christ alone, many modern Christians are uncomfortable with the idea that everyone outside the Church is unsaved and has no relationship with God. It is undeniable that some non-Christians exhibit a high degree of virtue: courage, justice, wisdom, self-control, and so on. This seems to call into question the idea that all non-Christians are dead in sin and in need of salvation. Additionally, adherents of other religions sometimes claim to have deep religious experiences and seem to express deep piety towards God, which seems to call into question the idea that all non-Christians are spiritually lost and have no relationship with God.
Because of this, some modern Christians advocated the idea that a person may be saved through Christ without explicitly having faith in Christ. Twentieth century Catholic theologian Karl Rahner, who advocated this idea, famously referred to such persons as “anonymous Christians.” The idea is that as long as a person is sincere, of goodwill, follows their conscience, and is, in their basic and fundamental orientation towards life, open to unity with the Other, with God, that person is essentially a Christian even though they are not aware of it. They are living in God’s grace, even though they do not have conceptual knowledge of the source of that grace, Jesus.
The Problem with “Anonymous Christians”
Though this is an interesting idea, it has serious theological problems. Scripture is repeatedly clear that salvation comes only through faith, through belief. The idea of anonymous Christians, in contrast, tries to make salvation come through some sort of fundamental attitude or orientation towards reality. This in effect reduces Christianity to some kind of vague, abstract principle. This is impossible to reconcile with the very concrete nature of biblical Christianity, which centers on concrete events such as the calling of a particular nation, Israel; the dwelling of God’s presence in a particular location, the temple; and the resurrection of Jesus.
The idea of anonymous Christians entails that explicit faith in Jesus Christ, the Word of God Incarnate, is not necessary to be saved, and that being open to the grace of the discarnate Word of God is sufficient to make someone a Christian. This is implicitly Nestorian (Nestorius was a fifth century heretic who divided Christ into two persons: the Divine Word and the human Jesus). It is through faith in and union with the Person of Jesus Christ, God and man, that the Christian is saved and reconciled to God. In order to be saved, Christians must physically partake of the body and blood of Christ. The visible church and its sacraments are not just symbols of a vague, abstract grace that is universally available; they are the “means of grace.” Mystical union with Christ, which reconciles us to God, can only happen within the Church.
Though there is a sense in which God is omnipresent, Scripture is clear that true access to the presence of God is restricted to the body of Christ, which is God’s new temple. The idea of anonymous Christians, in contrast, tries to make union with God through Christ universally and individually available. But Scripture is clear that Christ is the savior of the Church, and that individuals are saved insofar as they are members of the Church. Without baptism into the visible Church, individuals cannot have access to the presence of God and union with Him.
Scripture repeatedly teaches that idolatry is a very serious sin, in fact, the worst sin of all. The idea of anonymous Christians, in contrast, implies that, as long as people are sincere and “good,” it does not really matter if they worship false gods; they can still have a relationship with the one true God, even though they may not be aware of it. Where does this extraordinary idea come from? Clearly, it comes, not from any sound biblical or theological insight, but from the secular moral discourse of modern Western societies that have established freedom of religion. Many Christians have uncritically absorbed and internalized this moral discourse, giving them a concept of moral goodness that is not genuinely theocentric. This leads them to the conclusion that maybe idolatry is not so bad after all, that goodness is independent of what god you worship. But this is the exact opposite of what Scripture teaches, and what the Church historically has always believed.
The idea of anonymous Christians is thus deeply problematic. As Pope Benedict XVI commented, “it reduces Christianity itself to a pure conscious presentation of what a human being is in himself and therefore overlooks the drama of change and renewal that is central to Christianity.”[1]https://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-16-2016-emeritus-pope-benedict-grants-an-interview/ Though it is a somewhat understandable attempt to reckon with the apparent goodness and piety of many non-Christians, it must be rejected.
The Goodness of Non-Christians
So, if we believe that all non-Christians are unsaved and do not have a relationship with God, how do we explain the existence of virtue among unsaved non-Christians? Non-Christians may of course possess natural virtues such as courage, justice, prudence, and self-control. The Christian tradition has never denied this. But, apart from faith in Christ, they cannot possess the supernatural theological virtues, of faith, hope, and love. There are certainly times when people outside the Church seem to live in a more “Christian” manner than Christians themselves, sometimes even acting in ways which look remarkably similar to Christian love. But, we should not conclude from this that God’s Kingdom exists outside the Church, and that these non-Christians are participants in it. Rather, we should, as theologian Karl Barth put it, see these as “parables of the Kingdom.” They are instances where non-Christians act in ways that are analogous to God’s Kingdom, from which Christians may even learn how to be better Christians. But they are not themselves God’s Kingdom, which exists only in and through the Church, where Christ is known and believed in.
God’s saving grace can only be encountered in the Church. However, this does not necessarily mean that non-Christians completely lack any influence of God’s grace in their lives. Many Christian theologians have spoken of God’s “common grace” or “prevenient grace” which is at work in the lives of unsaved people, preventing them from being as bad as they would be otherwise. Thus, we can recognize the work of God’s grace in the life of a virtuous non-Christian and admire their moral character without having to conclude from this that they are already saved and reconciled to God through Christ. Apart from faith in Christ, it is still true, even of the most morally upright unbeliever, that they are dead in sin and in need of forgiveness and salvation.
How do we explain, though, the piety and religious experiences of non-Christians? Many of these religious experiences may actually be merely interior, subjective psychological states, rather than actual encounters with the living God. But, for argument’s sake, let us assume that many non-Christians have actual religious experiences of God. It does not follow from this that they must already be saved. A person can have a genuine religious experience without that experience being salvific. God’s prevenient grace may be at work in an unsaved person’s life, preparing them to eventually put faith in Christ, and that person may have some experiences of a Divine encounter. But this does not mean that this person is already saved and is already an “anonymous Christian.” In order to be a Christian, in order to be saved, a person must explicitly put faith in Christ.