Just to follow on from my posting about hell and salvation and the linked doctrine Extra ecclesia nulla salus, we are led to the challenging idea that once Christianity or a particular version of it are no longer the only way to God, the door to tolerance and diversity begins to open.

The idea is challenging, and no doubt some will challenge me with I am the Way the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except by me from St John’s Gospel Everything depends on how one goes by Jesus to the Father.

I do believe that Universalist theories need to be carefully defined and qualified and not presented as dogmas. Using labels – for oneself and others – is also dangerous. They are just convenient descriptions for any person seeking to understand and make progress in both intellectual and spiritual terms.

But, I remain struck by the notion that when Christianity claims exclusivity, it becomes intolerant and ultimately open to evil. Again, either/or is not the way, but the seamless continuum between the extremes or a pretended “middle way”.