A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Bishop Hanson on the salvation of non-Christians

This is interesting: an ELCA blogger wrote to Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson about his take on Episcopal Presiding Bishop Schori’s controversial (at least in the hothouse of the blogosphere) remarks on the salvation of non-Christians (via I Am a Christian Too). And Bp. Hanson actually wrote back.

Bishop Hanson’s reply is very sensible – you can read it here – and he expresses himself with a certain forthrightness and clarity that seem to have been lacking in some of Bp. Shori’s comments.

But then again, Lutherans have always been better at theology than Episcopalians. 😉

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3 responses to “Bishop Hanson on the salvation of non-Christians”

  1. John Perry

    I don’t really care much about Bishop Schori’s beliefs; that’s a matter for the Episcopal Church. I’d have a different opinion if she were a Catholic bishop.

    Nevertheless, reading the letter and the comments on several linked websites, I am struck by the fact that a lot of people are bending over backwards to explain what she means (inclusivism, they hope), as opposed to what she actually said (pluralism, everyone agrees).

    It’s not clear to me why people are so gung-ho to divine what someone “meant” to say, as opposed to what s/he actually said. Confusion and misstatement among the laity should be a given (I, being a half-educated layman, am a case in point). But shouldn’t a *Christian bishop* be sufficiently educated on such a basic fact of Christian faith, and so practiced in expressing it, that the words cannot possibly misrepresent the meaning?

    Also, as a side remark — on one of the websites, someone states that Dante’s view of salvation is inclusive. But his guide in Hell and Purgatory (Virgil) could not guide him through heaven as well, because as a good pagan the best he could hope for was Limbo. If Dante is inclusivist (as Justin Martyr was), shouldn’t good pagans like Virgil and Socrates have free access to heaven?

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  2. Lee

    Yeah, and I think there is a bit of implied criticism in Bp. Hanson’s comments where he talks about putting the best construction on what she says and how he might not put things in quite the same way, etc.

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