Post by stephen on Feb 10, 2019 17:04:15 GMT
“When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves” (Romans ch2 v 14).
The message of the New Testament centres upon what Christ has achieved.
That is, he died on the Cross, was raised from the dead, and was established as Lord and future judge.
We are included in what Christ has done, because we belong to him, and we are therefore “washed, sanctified, and justified”.
We have entered into a new relationship with God.
The implication is that salvation comes exclusively through the name of Christ.
The teaching is summed up in the judgement scene at the end of Revelation, where two kinds of books are brought out for the judgement of the dead.
One set of books records their deeds, which would be enough to condemn them all.
But those who belong to Christ have their names registered in the book of life, and they alone pass through into the new Jerusalem.
The question then arises, “What about those who were never told about Christ?” For that matter, what about those who were given a misleading and off-putting understanding of Christ, including those who died on the fires of the Inquisition?
On a strict interpretation of the gospel message, they would find no place.
However, the New Testament shows us a God who does not deal with us in a legalistic way.
The parable of the “labourers in the vineyard”, in which the short-term workers are not penalised, offers a picture of a God whose generosity does not limit itself to our strict entitlements.
Indeed that is the whole point of the doctrine of “grace”, that the offer of salvation to anybody is an act of generosity, more than we are entitled to expect.
So despite the clear central focus on the person of Christ, there may be grounds for hope that a God of this kind will interpret the conditions of salvation more broadly.
The theologian Karl Rahner is known for his concept of “anonymous Christianity”; that is, a state of belonging to Christ which is not explicitly identified even in the individual’s own mind.
There are glimpses of that possibility in three different New Testament passages.
Firstly, there is the listing of the Old Testament “men of faith” in Hebrews ch11.
According to Paul, Abraham was accounted righteous by virtue of his faith (Galatians ch3 v6). The implication is that all these men were also found righteous on account of the same faith.
We are told that they “did not receive what was promised”. But this was only because God was waiting for us to join them, “that apart from us they should not be made perfect”.
Yet their faith could not have been an explicit faith in Christ Jesus, by name.
Though Abraham “rejoiced that he was to see my day”, according to Jesus (John ch8 v56), we don’t know that even Abraham would have known him by name. Abraham’s trust was in the promise given “to your seed”.
The other men and women listed in this chapter would have had a more generalised faith in their God, which was unconsciously directed towards the Christ who would fulfil God’s promises.
The church of the Middle Ages developed the tradition of the “harrowing of hell”. That is, when Christ entered the realm of the dead, he found there these Old Testament men of faith, who had been waiting for him, and brought them out with him as part of his own resurrection.
For a more modern understanding, we might think of the atonement in Christ as retrospective in effect, not bound by the limitations of time but valid for those in faith who came before him as well as for those who were born afterwards.
Is it possible that Jews of the modern age might be found righteous, like Abraham, by virtue of their faith in our common God, even without the explicit reference to Christ?
Secondly, there is the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew ch25 vv31-46).
The “sheep” in that story are puzzled at being rewarded for serving the Son of Man, so he explains “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me”.
This raises the question, who exactly are “these my brethren”?
The traditional application of the parable has tended to assume that he means everybody else in the crowd, humanity in general.
However, a growing school of thought believes that the Son of Man is pointing both sheep and goats towards a third group in the scene, his own followers.
This would be in keeping with other comments in the gospels, showing his interest in “these little ones who believe in me”;
“Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Matthew ch10 v42).
In other words, their attitude towards the followers of Christ becomes the test of their attitude towards Christ himself.
If this interpretation is correct, the implication is that people are being invited into the kingdom who have NOT been consciously members of the Christian body.
Even on the traditional interpretation, the fact remains that some of the sheep are surprised to find themselves in that body- which implies, again, that they had not been thinking of themselves as Christians.
In effect, they have been “anonymous” Christians.
The third example is the verse quoted at the beginning.
Paul is rebuking those Jews who believe that their knowledge of the Law is indispensable for the teaching of the world.
Not so, he says. The Gentiles may not have the written Law of Moses, but a version of the Law is available to them.
Later in the epistle, when Paul is addressing the Christians, he offers the guidance of the Holy Spirit as a better way of understanding God’s will; “We serve not under the old written code, but in the new life of the Spirit” (ch7 v6).
But here he speaks of what the Gentiles in general have “by nature”.
The basic principles of God’s law, at least, are “written on their hearts”.
Thus they may be capable of doing the right thing, provided only that they have sufficient faith in God to motivate them to do so.
On the day of judgement, therefore, their consciences will be able to “accuse them or perhaps excuse them” for what they have done.
One of the scenes of “The Last Battle”, by C.S. Lewis, presents the character Emeth, who is a Calormene and therefore a life-long follower of the god Tash. He describes how he encountered Aslan, and was surprised to find himself made welcome.
“But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no servant of thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me… “(ch15)
As Aslan specifies a moment later, he is talking about the good services. Everything of that kind is really a service done to Aslan, whether consciously or not.
So Emeth has been an “anonymous” Aslan follower, like the “sheep”, doing the right thing by virtue of the law that was “written on his heart”.
The question of ”those who have not heard about Christ” is really just one of the facets of the old “problem of evil”. It comes down to whether God can be trusted to do what is right.
We find ourselves, like Job, not fully understanding how everything can be reconciled.
As in the case of Job, we need to allow the areas which we don’t understand to be covered by our faith.
We are not in a position to judge whether it is right to extend salvation beyond “the main door”, the explicit name of Christ.
But if it is the right thing to do, faith says that God will do it.
“All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well” (Julian of Norwich)
The message of the New Testament centres upon what Christ has achieved.
That is, he died on the Cross, was raised from the dead, and was established as Lord and future judge.
We are included in what Christ has done, because we belong to him, and we are therefore “washed, sanctified, and justified”.
We have entered into a new relationship with God.
The implication is that salvation comes exclusively through the name of Christ.
The teaching is summed up in the judgement scene at the end of Revelation, where two kinds of books are brought out for the judgement of the dead.
One set of books records their deeds, which would be enough to condemn them all.
But those who belong to Christ have their names registered in the book of life, and they alone pass through into the new Jerusalem.
The question then arises, “What about those who were never told about Christ?” For that matter, what about those who were given a misleading and off-putting understanding of Christ, including those who died on the fires of the Inquisition?
On a strict interpretation of the gospel message, they would find no place.
However, the New Testament shows us a God who does not deal with us in a legalistic way.
The parable of the “labourers in the vineyard”, in which the short-term workers are not penalised, offers a picture of a God whose generosity does not limit itself to our strict entitlements.
Indeed that is the whole point of the doctrine of “grace”, that the offer of salvation to anybody is an act of generosity, more than we are entitled to expect.
So despite the clear central focus on the person of Christ, there may be grounds for hope that a God of this kind will interpret the conditions of salvation more broadly.
The theologian Karl Rahner is known for his concept of “anonymous Christianity”; that is, a state of belonging to Christ which is not explicitly identified even in the individual’s own mind.
There are glimpses of that possibility in three different New Testament passages.
Firstly, there is the listing of the Old Testament “men of faith” in Hebrews ch11.
According to Paul, Abraham was accounted righteous by virtue of his faith (Galatians ch3 v6). The implication is that all these men were also found righteous on account of the same faith.
We are told that they “did not receive what was promised”. But this was only because God was waiting for us to join them, “that apart from us they should not be made perfect”.
Yet their faith could not have been an explicit faith in Christ Jesus, by name.
Though Abraham “rejoiced that he was to see my day”, according to Jesus (John ch8 v56), we don’t know that even Abraham would have known him by name. Abraham’s trust was in the promise given “to your seed”.
The other men and women listed in this chapter would have had a more generalised faith in their God, which was unconsciously directed towards the Christ who would fulfil God’s promises.
The church of the Middle Ages developed the tradition of the “harrowing of hell”. That is, when Christ entered the realm of the dead, he found there these Old Testament men of faith, who had been waiting for him, and brought them out with him as part of his own resurrection.
For a more modern understanding, we might think of the atonement in Christ as retrospective in effect, not bound by the limitations of time but valid for those in faith who came before him as well as for those who were born afterwards.
Is it possible that Jews of the modern age might be found righteous, like Abraham, by virtue of their faith in our common God, even without the explicit reference to Christ?
Secondly, there is the parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew ch25 vv31-46).
The “sheep” in that story are puzzled at being rewarded for serving the Son of Man, so he explains “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me”.
This raises the question, who exactly are “these my brethren”?
The traditional application of the parable has tended to assume that he means everybody else in the crowd, humanity in general.
However, a growing school of thought believes that the Son of Man is pointing both sheep and goats towards a third group in the scene, his own followers.
This would be in keeping with other comments in the gospels, showing his interest in “these little ones who believe in me”;
“Whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Matthew ch10 v42).
In other words, their attitude towards the followers of Christ becomes the test of their attitude towards Christ himself.
If this interpretation is correct, the implication is that people are being invited into the kingdom who have NOT been consciously members of the Christian body.
Even on the traditional interpretation, the fact remains that some of the sheep are surprised to find themselves in that body- which implies, again, that they had not been thinking of themselves as Christians.
In effect, they have been “anonymous” Christians.
The third example is the verse quoted at the beginning.
Paul is rebuking those Jews who believe that their knowledge of the Law is indispensable for the teaching of the world.
Not so, he says. The Gentiles may not have the written Law of Moses, but a version of the Law is available to them.
Later in the epistle, when Paul is addressing the Christians, he offers the guidance of the Holy Spirit as a better way of understanding God’s will; “We serve not under the old written code, but in the new life of the Spirit” (ch7 v6).
But here he speaks of what the Gentiles in general have “by nature”.
The basic principles of God’s law, at least, are “written on their hearts”.
Thus they may be capable of doing the right thing, provided only that they have sufficient faith in God to motivate them to do so.
On the day of judgement, therefore, their consciences will be able to “accuse them or perhaps excuse them” for what they have done.
One of the scenes of “The Last Battle”, by C.S. Lewis, presents the character Emeth, who is a Calormene and therefore a life-long follower of the god Tash. He describes how he encountered Aslan, and was surprised to find himself made welcome.
“But I said, Alas, Lord, I am no servant of thine but the servant of Tash. He answered, Child, all the service thou hast done to Tash, I account as service done to me… “(ch15)
As Aslan specifies a moment later, he is talking about the good services. Everything of that kind is really a service done to Aslan, whether consciously or not.
So Emeth has been an “anonymous” Aslan follower, like the “sheep”, doing the right thing by virtue of the law that was “written on his heart”.
The question of ”those who have not heard about Christ” is really just one of the facets of the old “problem of evil”. It comes down to whether God can be trusted to do what is right.
We find ourselves, like Job, not fully understanding how everything can be reconciled.
As in the case of Job, we need to allow the areas which we don’t understand to be covered by our faith.
We are not in a position to judge whether it is right to extend salvation beyond “the main door”, the explicit name of Christ.
But if it is the right thing to do, faith says that God will do it.
“All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well” (Julian of Norwich)