From Albert Mohler’s Column:
Just before the end of 2008, the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released a report indicating that a significant percentage of American evangelicals reject the biblical claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation. According to the report, 52% of American Christians believe that “at least some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life.”
Surprisingly, 37% of those specifically identified as evangelical Christians agreed, rejecting the claim that Jesus is the only Savior and identifying at least some non-Christian religion or religions as leading to eternal life.
A most interesting response to this report now comes from Charles M. Blow, the “visual Op-Ed columnist” for The New York Times. In “Heaven for the Godless?,” published in the December 27, 2008 edition of the paper, Blow celebrates the report and expresses his pleasure in the fact that Americans are abandoning their belief that, in his words, “heaven is a velvet-roped V.I.P. area reserved for Christians.”
Blow’s third proposal delivers the most significant paragraph in his column:
Now, there remains the possibility that some of those polled may not have understood the implications of their answers. As John Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum, said, “The capacity of ignorance to influence survey outcomes should never be underestimated.” But I don’t think that they are ignorant about this most basic tenet of their faith. I think that they are choosing to ignore it . . . for goodness sake.
At this point Blow’s analysis gets even more interesting. He rejects the claim that American Christians (including the evangelicals cited in this report) are confused or ignorant concerning what the Bible teaches about “this most basic tenet of their faith.” No, Blow insists, these American Christians are not confused or ignorant about this Christian teaching: “I think that they are choosing to ignore it … for goodness sake.”
Look closely at this argument. Blow argues that many American Christians are rejecting the claim that Jesus is the only way of salvation for sake of “goodness.” In other words, “good” people don’t believe that other people are going to hell.
Here we see the ultimate confusion of theology and etiquette. The implication of Charles Blow’s argument is clear. He believes that Americans are trimming theology to fit current expectations of social respectability. Socially respectable people — people who are recognized for “goodness” — consciously reject the clear biblical teaching that Jesus is the only Savior because it just isn’t socially respectable to believe that your neighbors and fellow citizens who do not believe in Christ as Savior are going to miss heaven and go to hell.