Does Pardon Hinge on Right Belief?
Two praying men ask God to forgive their sins. One is a Jew, asking fervently that the God of Israel might remove his guilt. The man utters a petition that ascended heavenward from the lips of David thousands of years ago: "Create within me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me." But the prayer that justified the Psalmist does not work for his modern-day kin. God treats this man's prayer like one of Cain's sacrifices. Rejected. Meanwhile, another man prays -- a Christian. The petition is only moderately heartfelt, but it ends with the phrase "in Jesus' name, amen." Because of that religious postscript and the accompanying doctrine of Christ as personal savior, the man receives full pardon. Does this make sense? Does the Being who spread out this majestic universe, created down to the sub-atomic level and designed the infinite complexity of life really suspend forgiveness unless the penitent has the correct beliefs about salvation? And does he exempt Himself from the command to forgive seventy times seven, irrespective of worthiness, to those who ask pardon? Maybe so. I won't pretend to have figured out the religious issues of pluralism vs. exclusivity. And I may be guilty of imposing my own "American experience" on the universe (everyone having a right to follow the dictates of conscience). But the demand for right belief and the withholding of pardon for all but the religiously correct doesn't sound like it rises to the dignity of the Supreme Being. There's always a good chance that I'm wrong to doubt such attested-to orthodoxy. I know many of you can quote Scripture verses that prove it. Still, there are biblical texts that suggest something other than the exclusivist view. In Romans, Paul intimated that the heathen who lives up to his portion of light may be vindicated in the end (2:14-16). It seems, therefore, that the Jewish man could be, too. And for Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount, the one condition for receiving forgiveness is to forgive others (a radical view that doesn't get enough play):
"'Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." (Matt. 6:12-15)
Another point is that Jesus died asking God to forgive his murderers -- people who were not his followers, obviously. Why would our Lord ask the Father to pardon people who by their religious persuasion were incapable of receiving it? You're entitled to whatever belief you deem most soundly Christian, most consistent with the perfections of God. And if the exclusivists are right, may God forgive me -- yes, in Jesus' name -- for not wholeheartedly endorsing that view.