Rahner’s thesis is fundamentally rooted in the convictions that God is a merciful and loving God who wants to save all humanity, that the Holy Spirit is at the core of each person’s pure conscience, and that faith in Christ is necessary for salvation. Rahner cannot accept that God, who became incarnate and died for the sins of the world, would damn all those without explicit faith in Christ. Surely there are people who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ, but stay true to their pure consciences in their everyday actions. These particular people, even atheists, have anonymous faith because they freely seek the Truth, which points to the fact that they have accepted God’s gift of love through the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly anonymous faith must be a faith in Christ because Christ, the Incarnate Truth, is the only path to salvation.

No doubt Rahner’s thesis provides hope that some non-Christians can enter the Church, but it does not imply that the gates of Heaven will be open for all. Rahner argues that when a person knowingly acts against his or her pure conscience, he or she rejects God’s offer of salvation. Rahner, true to his optimistic approach, does not underscore the consequence of such a rejection. Christ considers the rejection of the Holy Spirit to be an unforgivable sin! (cf. Matt 12:31-32; Mark 3:29-30) If one freely refuses God’s grace, even if he or she outwardly professes faith in Christ, he or she remains outside the Church where no salvation can ever be found.

Rahner can be rightly criticised for not citing specific biblical passages to support his thesis. Moreover, certain verses of the New Testament appear to demonstrate that his argument is incompatible with Christ’s message. In John 3:5, for instance, Christ affirms that baptism is necessary for salvation. Rahner’s argument, on the other hand, is consistent with the belief that Christ, following his death, descended into hell to save all righteous individuals (i.e., anonymous Christians) who had died before God was fully revealed through the Incarnate Truth (cf. 1 Pet 3:18-20; 4:6). These anonymous, un-baptized Christians were now reborn and granted full communion with Christ and his body, the Church. At the heart of Rahner’s thesis is the hope that Christ will save all righteous people from all places and times.

Rahner’s thesis may seem to severely diminish the importance of the Church’s mission, ordered and directed by Christ, to evangelize the world. In reality, however, evangelism is not at all undermined by Rahner’s thesis because a person’s inner faith in Christ is ever more strengthened once he or she is explicitly converted to Christianity through the Bible, apostolic tradition, and the sacraments of the Church. As well, a person who is familiar with the Gospel and a participant in the Eucharistic celebration can more fully realize if his or her conscience is guided by the Holy Spirit, mere human desires, or even Satan.

Rahner’s thesis may be offensive to some non-Christians because it presumes that the Christian faith is the ultimate faith. Christian theologians, however, should not compromise their faith in the wake of political correctness. Rahner’s thesis, in fact, should be considered a vision of inclusion because it illustrates the true Christian hope that all people, Christians and non-Christians alike, will somehow find eternal life in Christ’s Church. Rahner’s thesis does not alter the truth of salvation, but only amends the formulation of that truth.