We drove by the Oquirrh Mountain Temple tonight. Breathtaking. \u00a0(Image from LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In pre-modern times, when Christians rarely met non-Christians \u2014 oh, they might have known some Jews, who could be ghettoized or dismissed as \u201cChrist-killers,\u201d but they seldom if ever met Buddhists or Hindus or Sikhs or Jains or Confucians or practitioners of Shinto and only encountered Muslims as political and military foes \u2014 it was easy not to worry about the salvation or damnation of non-Christians.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In today\u2019s world, by contrast, where our neighbors and co-workers might well be radically different from us both ethnically and religiously but, nonetheless, be discernibly good, decent, and sincere people, it\u2019s difficult for a serious and reflective Christian not to be concerned about the fate of the \u201cunevangelized.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And, of course, that concern naturally expands into the past: \u00a0What is the destiny of those who never heard the news of Christianity? \u00a0Are there grounds for hope?<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Much could be \u2014 much has been \u2014 written and spoken on this topic.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Latter-day Saints occupy a strong position on the subject, thanks (among other things) to our doctrine and our temple-focused practice of postmortem redemption of the dead.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a brief consideration of the question as it appears within the Orthodox Christian tradition:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
https:\/\/publicorthodoxy.org\/2017\/04\/04\/salvation-for-non-christians\/<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Incidentally, I almost failed to note that today, Thursday, marked the 187th birthday of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>. \u00a0My gratitude for the Restoration is inexpressibly great.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 In pre-modern times, when Christians rarely met non-Christians \u2014 oh, they might have known some Jews, who could be ghettoized or dismissed as \u201cChrist-killers,\u201d but they seldom if ever met Buddhists or Hindus or Sikhs or Jains or Confucians or practitioners of Shinto and only encountered Muslims as political and military foes \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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