This is book is part of Zondervan's Counterpoints series. According to the editors of this work, the purpose is to bring Christian thinkers together to discuss the question of the salvation of non-Christians. The contributors are: (1) John Hick, advocating pluralism; (2) Clark Pinnock advocating inclusivism; (3) Alister McGrath advocating a somewhat exclusivistic position; and (4) R. Douglas Geivett & W. Gary Phillips advocating exclusivism.

As is often the case with this series, the book suffers from poor editing. All of the essays are worth reading, but they generally don't deal with the alleged topic of the book. For example, Prof. Hick tells us that he believes in universal salvation and that he has written a book arguing for this position, but he doesn't give his reasons in the essay. Prof. McGrath touches on the issue, but not in any great detail. Prof. Pinnock deals with the topic in a limited manner. It is only Profs. Geivett & Philips who actually go into the question in some detail. They provide an exegesis of Acts 4:12 and some other passages. However, none of the other contributors responds with any detailed exegesis. What is often seen as the key passage concerning the salvation of non-believers -- Romans 2 -- is only mentioned in passing. So, this book is really a discussion of religious pluralism, not salvation.

In spite of my criticism, I think this book is helpful to anyone who wants a background on the general issue of religious pluralism. If you are looking for a discussion of evangelical views of the salvation of non-believers, then this isn't the place to look.

I like all the differing views. While I am a conservative, I like the other points of view. This series is usually good for exposing differing views.

I was somewhat disappointed in this particular book, since I was hoping it would deal with what salvation means (Saved from what?) and how people are saved. Instead, it focuses exclusively on who may be saved.

Without a good understanding of the meaning of salvation, it is hard to be confident about who it may or may not apply to. However, the WHO question seems to be of more concern than the WHAT, WHY and HOW questions to most people interested in questions of salvation.