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The Great Divorce and the Stumbling Block of Christian Exclusivism
Jesus said,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me.”
This is a great stumbling block to Christian belief today. Exclusivism has become a very bad word. Inclusivity is a cardinal virtue and anyone who does not support inclusion is a heretic from the spirit of our age. For many, hatred and exclusion are synonyms in today’s vocabulary.
C.S. Lewis wrote in a time, 60 years ago or so, when this issue was not nearly the hot button it is now. But, as in so many other examples, Lewis was prescient and posed the issue in a way that dissolves the apparent contradiction between the claims of Christianity and contemporary moral values. He did this on a number of occasions and in various ways, but one of the clearest and best is in his short novel The Great Divorce.
Lewis said that William Blake wrote of the marriage of heaven and hell and he has written of their divorce. Yet, in his beautiful and compelling story, those in hell have a continuing opportunity to get on a bus and take a bus ride to the outskirts of heaven.
Most opt not to as they seem too busy in disagreements and in moving. Hell, as Lewis describes it is not a burning lake of fire, but…
