Saved Together: A Lutheran Understanding of Salvation in an Interreligious Context

ABSTRACT “A Declaration of Inter‐Religious Commitment,” a policy statement of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, is not shy about telling us how to act toward our interreligious neighbor; but it does not want to tell us how to think theologically about her. To support this statement, this article makes three points. First, the Declaration's descriptions of “evangelism” leave us wanting, especially as we might seek to move beyond the “exclusive/inclusive” binary when it comes to theological articulation of the salvation of those who are not Christian. Second, we should lean more optimistically, rather than so cautiously, into the idea that there are “limits on our knowing,” such that we can be eagerly inquisitive rather than “neutral.” Third, we can adopt a posture of hopeful anticipation regarding salvation, in light of the relational character of Lutheran theology described in the Declaration.