Mere Christianity

Here are a few snippets I pulled from one of my favorite books on being a Christian from Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

"Here is another thing that used to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him?  But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are.  We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him."  [Ch. 5, page 64]

"The world does not consist of 100 percent Christians and 100 percent non-Christians.  There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians but who still call themselves by that name: some of them are clergymen."  [Ch. 10, page 208]

"There are other people who are slowly becoming Christians though they do not yet call themselves so.  There are people who do not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so strongly attracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselves understand."  [Ch. 10, pages 208-209]

"There are people in other religions who are being led by God’s secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it."  [Ch. 10, page 209]

Good Stuff in these troubled times... IMHO :-D

To be fair, Lewis has been criticized by many Christians for being an Inclusivist, believing that salvation can come to those never hearing the name "Jesus" and possibly even after one's earthly death (we are, after all, eternal beings).

“Though all salvation is through Jesus, we need not conclude that He cannot save those who have not explicitly accepted Him in this life.” [page 102, God in the Dock by C.S. Lewis]

After all, (my) God is "all powerful" and does as He pleases.