Anonymous Christian is the controversial Christian doctrine concerning the fate of the unlearned which was introduced by the Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner (1904–1984) that declares that all individuals, who sincerely seek truth and goodness, and strive to follow the moral truths they know, can respond positively to God's grace, albeit unknowingly or indirectly, even if they do so through other religious traditions and/or are not explicitly aware of Jesus Christ. In other words, God's grace, including the benefits of Christ's sacrifice, are not confined to the boundaries of any particular religious tradition or by our awareness or acceptance of Christian doctrine. Instead, anyone who lives a life of love and goodness, guided by the moral teachings found in Christianity, even if they don't consciously identify with it, is implicitly united with Christ and can be saved through him, implying that non-Christians can still be recipients of God's grace and attain salvation.
Non-Christians could have "in [their] basic orientation and fundamental decision," Rahner wrote, "accepted the salvific grace of God, through Christ, although [they] may never have heard of the Christian revelation."
The notion of inclusivism, for which Rahner's Anonymous Christian is the principal Christian model, is "perhaps the most popular of interreligious postures" and was one of the most influential theological ideals to affect the Second Vatican Council.
Karl Rahner accepted the notion that without Christ it was impossible to achieve salvation, but he could not accept the notion that people who have never heard of Jesus would be condemned.
"Anonymous Christianity" means that a person lives in the grace of God and attains salvation outside of explicitly constituted Christianity. A Protestant Christian is, of course, "no anonymous Christian"; that is perfectly clear. But, let us say, a Buddhist monk (or anyone else I might suppose) who, because he follows his conscience, attains salvation and lives in the grace of God; of him I must say that he is an anonymous Christian; if not, I would have to presuppose that there is a genuine path to salvation that really attains that goal, but that simply has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. But I cannot do that. And so if I hold if everyone depends upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and if at the same time I hold that many live in the world who have not expressly recognized Jesus Christ, then there remains in my opinion nothing else but to take up this postulate of an anonymous Christianity.Rahner acknowledges the sinful state of humanity and emphasizes that salvation is not something humanity deserves but is freely given by God's grace. Rahner's view can therefore be compatible with the Protestant principles of "sola gratia" ("by grace alone"), "sola fide" ("through faith alone"), and "solus Christus" ("in Christ alone"), as he affirms that Jesus Christ is the unique and definitive mediator between God and humanity, and that it is only through His life, death, and resurrection that salvation is made possible. Rahner asserts that the grace obtained through his sacrifice is universally available to all people, so that even those who are not explicitly Christian can benefit from his saving work and be saved through their implicit faith in him.
According to Rahner, a person could "intellectually profess disbelief but [be] existentially ... committed to those values which for the Christian are concretized in God." Rahner suggests that God's grace is at work in the lives and hearts of all people, drawing them to himself, prompting them to turn away from wrongdoing, transforming them from within, and offering opportunities to lead them toward salvation, even if they are not consciously aware of it. Individuals who also do not profess belief in Jesus, even if the Gospel has been presented to them, may also be included in the scope of Jesus' salvific work due to their responding positively to God's grace through their moral and spiritual striving which serves as evidence of God's work in their lives. The ultimate determinant of salvation in this view, is one's response to God's grace which enables individuals to respond positively to these impulses/promptings of the Holy Spirit and attain salvation.
The theologians W. D. Davies and Dale Allison wrote that proponents of the notion find scriptural support in Romans 2:14–16, as well as in Matthew 25:31–46.In Romans 2:14-16, Paul acknowledges that Gentiles who do not have the law may still do what the law requires by obeying their conscience. This suggests that there may be some sincere seekers of truth among the Gentiles who, despite not having the law, still strive to live morally upright lives. According to this interpretation, God is the righteous judge who knows the hearts of all people and thus his judgment will take into account the individual's response to the truth they have been given, as well as their sincerity in seeking him. God will judge them based on the knowledge they have been given, not the knowledge they haven't yet received. In contrast, the Gentiles who knowingly reject the truth about God despite having some knowledge of him through creation and conscience, and choose to suppress it through their own wickedness by turning to idolatry or immorality (Romans 1:18-25) have closed themselves off of the possibility of salvation due to their persistent rejection of the truth and God.Proponents of this view often argue that in the parable, the sheep (the righteous) are separated from the goats (the unrighteous) on the basis of how they have treated others during their earthly lives. The righteous are commended for their acts of compassion and care for the needy, while the unrighteous are condemned for their failure to do so. Jesus identifies himself with the needy, saying, "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." This suggests that acts of kindness and compassion towards others are ultimately acts of service to Christ himself, suggesting that non-Christians who also serve others, even unknowingly, are serving Christ and responding to his grace.
Some proponents may also point to other verses like:
The Anonymous Christian theory has been criticized from a variety of viewpoints. After stepping down as Pope Benedict XVI, Ratzinger refined his own position on the theory:[1]
"Lately several attempts have been formulated in order to reconcile the universal necessity of the Christian faith with the opportunity to save oneself without it.... the well-known thesis of the anonymous Christians of Karl Rahner... sustains that the basic, essential act at the basis of Christian existence, decisive for salvation, in the transcendental structure of our consciousness, consists in the opening to the entirely Other, toward unity with God.The Christian faith would in this view cause to rise to consciousness what is structural in man as such. So when a man accepts himself in his essential being, he fulfills the essence of being a Christian without knowing what it is in a conceptual way.The Christian, therefore, coincides with the human and, in this sense, every man who accepts himself is a Christian even if he does not know it.It is true that this theory is fascinating, but it reduces Christianity itself to a pure conscious presentation of what a human being is in himself and therefore overlooks the drama of change and renewal that is central to Christianity.Even less acceptable is the solution proposed by the pluralistic theories of religion, for which all religions, each in their own way, would be ways of salvation and in this sense, in their effects must be considered equivalent.The critique of religion of the kind exercised in the Old Testament, in the New Testament and in the early Church is essentially more realistic, more concrete and true in its examination of the various religions. Such a simplistic reception is not proportional to the magnitude of the issue."
Some Catholic groups, such as the Society of St. Pius X, have long battled against the rise of liberalism and modernism in the Catholic Church and have criticized the Anonymous Christian theory saying, "is a very grave doctrinal error because it declares personal justification as being already realized for every man without any participation of his will or free choice and, so, without any need of his conversion, faith, baptism or works. Redemption is guaranteed to all, as if sanctifying grace were ontologically present in each man just because he is man."[2]
Conservative Protestant Christians generally believe that the notion of Anonymous Christian explicitly contradicts the teachings of Saint Peter, Paul the Apostle, and other apostles. For example, Acts 4:12, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved." This group of Christians believes in "Christian exclusivism - the view that biblical Christianity is true, and that other religious systems are false."[3]
Liberal Christians condemn the notion because, as Rev. Hans Küng put it, "It would be impossible to find anywhere in the world a sincere Jew, Muslim or atheist who would not regard the assertion that he is an 'anonymous Christian' as presumptuous".[4] Religious pluralist John Hick states that this notion is paternalistic because it is "honorary status granted unilaterally to people who have not expressed any desire for it."[5] Küng further stated that the Anonymous Christian theory is a 'theological fabrication' that merely gives face-saving lip-service to the Catholic dogma Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus. It is, says Küng sarcastically, "an elegant gesture which sweeps the whole of good-willed humanity into the backdoor of the holy Roman Church." Hick also rejects the notion because the majority of people are born into non-Christian families. Anonymous Christianity, per this group, denigrates the beliefs of others by supposing that they are really Christians without realizing it.[6]