Christian exclusivity is anathema to the natural religious Man. “If someone is sincere about their religious faith, who are you to judge?” Their dogma characterizes today’s Christian inclusivism, but did you know that there were a few “sincerity=salvation” voices in the Reformation period:
The emphasis among [various humanist-rationalists during the Reformation] committed to the rational and ethical approach was upon sincerity rather than upon inerrancy as the condition for God’s favor. Sincerity is an interior loyalty to that which at the moment appears to be true. Castellio went so far as to say that to tell the truth is to say what one believes to be true. On this basis he could declare that Servetus had been put to death for telling the truth inasmuch as by lying and denying his convictions he could have been saved. He perished because he would not recant. The reason why sincerity is so prized is because integrity is indispensable in the question for truth. There is no deposit of dogma equally valid whether professed by the sincere or the insincere. Rather there is a truth which can be seized only by those who pursue it with passion and utter transparency (The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Roland H. Bainton, 220).
