Osler's Razor

I've rarely ever been right when I am very, very sure that I am.

That said, exclusivist religious sects are not typically mainstream. Many (most?) Christians would certainly agree that virtuous unbelievers are not hellbound, even if they cannot receive the full measure of grace.

Still, some religions are actively inclusivist. This poor apostate heathen feels that as long as one approaches the questions of religion and philosophy with the attitude of a seeker, and looks for more interesting questions rather than answers, then one has the right approach.
 

Ah, the old sky cake dodge. Works every time.

On a more serious note, I have always been bothered by the way that the first commandment is presented, "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

To me the commandment seems to imply the existence of other god or gods.
 

I am a Christian, but I find it immensely hard to believe that God, who is shown throughout the New Testament displaying love and mercy to humankind, could punish, say, an atheist who has essentially followed Jesus' ideals (love your neighbor as yourself, give to charity often, etc.) just for not believing in God. There would be, I think, a difference if the person spent his time insulting Christians and other people of faith because of their faith, but the same is true the other way around as well.

This fits in with my belief that, even if you aren't a Christian, Jesus's teachings can be a moral code instead of a code of faith.

This does get into the issue of how faith plays into God's love, but this is the solution that seems most true to me.
 

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Since all faiths are based on myths, any and all of them have the same validity. If you feel a need to have an exterior moral code enforced by some big daddy in the sky, pick one that suits your psychological need for a father (or Mother) figure.

If you are not in need of exterior reinforcement, and are a thoughtful, rational person who has evolved a code that provides a guide for you to behave, then these myths merely provide a source of bemusement.

All religions have been used (and abused) by those who would be intolerant, evil, and cruel regardless of the myth structure they embrace. Most religions rely on fear of the afterlife to enforce their strictures. This fear, or promise of reward, doesn't seem to have much effect on their behavior, and those that are influenced by such would most likely be good people (and doesn't that definition open a can of worms!) anyway.
 

I am a Christian and to the best of my ability attempt to follow the teachings of Christ. Jesus could in almost the same breath warn that the road to God was a narrow path and then warn against assuming we know who's on that path and who isn't. In fact, when Jesus got around to pointing out who was in the kingdom and who was out (he really didn't talk much about who gets to go to heaven), his illustrations almost always surprised everyone involved. The people who thought they were in were often out and the people who thought they had no shot were often in. While this doesn't answer your question directly, Mark, it reminds me that every discussion of the topic must be done with great humility.

As to the narrow path part, well, Jesus seems to be saying that if we're going to seek God, we should do it with all our heart. Don't believe in God? Fine, then this discussion doesn't really apply to you. But if you do, don't just give God lip service, he's worthy of more than that.
 

Something I heard yesterday on Prairie Home Companion...

A man visiting the Grand Canyon steps a little too close to the edge and topples over. Before falling too far he manages to grab onto the branch of a small tree hanging out the side of the canyon wall. Dangling there by one hand he utters a final plea. "Please.. God, if your up there... please help me."
The voice of God fills the air, "I am here my son, let go of the tree, and I will catch you."
The man looks down to the canyon floor far below him and thinks a bit.
"Um... is there anyone else up there?"
 

It's interesting that Christians often point to God's love and Christ's love when these questions arise...

But they overlook things like Christ saying that he is "the" way and that no one comes to the Father except through him...for every situation where Christ shows love, he points to exclusivity...
This same God of love also order the destruction of every man, woman, child, and infant of the Amalekites...He said that He loved Jacob but hated Esau...He calls Himself a jealous God

Given this, why is it so hard for us to believe in the exclusivity of the Christian gospel?
 

And, unfortunately, Lane, virtuous unbelievers ARE hellbound--unless they seek Christ before they die, in which case they WILL find Christ and will receive His kingdom. My hope and prayer is that everyone will seek Him and thus will find Him.... Although, I know that's not realistic.
 

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon. I've addressed this topic before when I was writing my blog. If you would like to read my response, please go to http://craiglpankratz.blogspot.com/2008/08/why-do-mormons-say-they-have-only-true.html .

Also, Mormons do not believe that only we will go to Heaven. Rather, we accept Paul's teaching that there are three Heavens. If you'd like to learn more about this belief, go to http://craiglpankratz.blogspot.com/2008/11/purpose-of-life.html . This post outlines what we believe God's plan for his children is. The discussion on Heaven comes at the end of the post.
 

I have a lot of sympathy for the "universalist" position, which, at least in my mind, can be boiled down to "if God is a guy like me, he will...."

I think most of us want to see God as Thomas Jefferson--or, for those among us who do not like TJ, maybe MLK. Susan Sarandon?

On the other hand, I think Erik offers an inconvenient bump in the road. What if God really is the God of the Bible? What if the OT really is inspired? What if the "hard sayings" of the NT are also part of God's revelation?

Tillich said that God was "acceptance." What you need to know: "you are accepted." The answer 100 percent of the time, according to Tillich, "you are accepted." My question for Tillich: are you accepted, even if you refuse to accept your acceptance?

Inquiring minds want to know.
 

The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New can be the same God, if the Jesus of the Synoptic Gospels is the same Jesus as the Jesus of John.

The point of having multiple Gospels and books is to offer a viewpoint on God, not necessarily that a single, unified view of God runs through the entirety of the religious tradition, and there are bound to be inconsistencies in the treatment of God throughout the text.
 

Anonymously speaking, I don't think we have a clue, to be honest. Martin Luther knew way back when that men pontificated the truth about God, claiming select few had better access than others to salvation. To say this situation does not still exist would be ignorant. Our "true Christians" in this day and age are so antithetical to Christ's actions in their insular behavior, it's tough for me to bear. I'm muted in my approach to witnessing, because I believe there are many out there who just might be more accepting of Christ without the bullshit said good Christians typically employ.
 

Uhm... the Bible is the unique link to God for Christians? I thought the unique link to God for Christians was supposed to be Christ. But I will concede your expression does more accurately reflect the actual practice.
 

It's hard for me to accept any exclusivity of the Christian Gospel (as Erik points out.) This is what makes me uneasy about Christianity. I admit i have not read any "gospels" from other religions (Islam, Hinduism), so I don't know if they also claim their god is the only god. Probably they do. After all, isn't that what makes a religion--a strong identity, the story of one person? Jesus . . . Moses . . . Shiva . . . the prophet Mohammed . . . the Buddha?

Because there are so many stories, and so many believers just as fervent as Christians are, I can't accept that there is ONE right way to God. Nobody really, definitely has the ear of God, as the Prof says. And I agree, Micah, that non-believers are often just as moral as believers.
 

Everyone seems to answer whether they themselves believe in one true path or not. However, it seems no one is answering Osler's original question about whether or not it's okay to believe that others make the claim they are on the true path.

I personally think everyone else is wrong. Good luck in the seven circles while I enjoy paradise! While there is still time for all of you, I'm confident there'll be more than enough for me to enjoy when all you individualistic, rational, intelligent people decide the right path isn't for you! Woohoo!

On a more serious note, I tend to believe that the exclusivity of a religion is important to the "religion." Otherwise you have a bunch of people with varying beliefs that don't have a common purpose when they meet, in other words no religion at all. By organizing and praying in one way, and believing that the one way is a true path, the congregants bring themselves together. We can even justify that those with similar paths can make it into heaven, but the exclusivity is necessary for a true religion. Otherwise it's like everyone says, just a moral code that no one is bound to really follow.
 

By the way, Lane, you being a "poor apostate heathen" is not due to you being a non-Christian, rather, you being a Longhorn (see post above, especially the second paragraph, and change "woohoo" to "WHOOP!")
 

In response to Waco Farmer: C. S. Lewis once said something to the effect of "Hell is where God gives sinners exactly what they want, life without him." Clearly, Lewis thought you could reject the acceptance of God. With good reason, the New Testament does seem to claim that there will be some who are left outside the kingdom of God.

But what constitutes being left outside? Jesus came declaring that the kingdom of God was at hand. As the story unfolds, we learn that where Jesus is, there is the kingdom. So, those who draw near to Christ, draw near to the kingdom. Does this mean those who reject him reject the kingdom? Seems that way.

But what about those who’ve never heard? One of the objections to the Christian gospel is what’s called the scandal of particularity. It seems pretty unfair that some people will be condemned solely upon the fact that they were born geographically or generationally separated from the message of Christ. What about them?

The truth is, the Bible doesn’t say too much on this front which has led Christians to give several different answers. Some simply say, too bad. If you don’t respond to Christ, then you are out (even if you never had the chance to respond). This is the exclusivist position.

Others say, it’s true, if you don’t respond to Christ, you’re out, but it may be the case that some respond to Christ without realizing it is Christ to whom they have turned. That is, they’ve had an innate sense of their own unworthiness and have cried out to the God they understood for salvation. Jesus in his grace, excuses their ignorance, and receives them into the kingdom. This is called the inclusivist position.

Still others, aka Tillich, say God’s “yes” is bigger than our “no.” So every one gets to eventually be a part of the kingdom. This is the universalist position.

As I said earlier, I like Lewis' way of thinking more than Tillich's and tend to reject universalism. Between the first and the second, I tend to lean towards number two, but certainly make no hard and fast claims.

As a final note, (I do apologize for the length of this, but that's what you get when you ask a preacher, "Who can be saved?") some of the problem in discussing this topic in the Christian church is that we tend to primarily talk about the salvation of individual souls, while much of the New Testament language speaks of the redemption of the whole earth (of which our individual salvation is a part, but hardly the entire story). But I'll save that discussion for another day.
 

Taylor--

I really value your comments, and always learn from them. Thank you. And we will have that discussion another day!