I have to agree with Satanus, while the essay may show a more generous outlook by granting all believers the possiblity of God's approval, and rejecting the "One True Religion" idea, they still aren't very generous in who they consider are worshipping God correctly, because they limit it to those who believe in Jesus, which is still clinging to the idea of "One True Religion" (beleiver's in Jesus in general with various different bible interpetations) and a rejections of other religions as false and not meeting wih God's approval.
It always make me question the importance the Bible puts on "faith" to have God's approval with it accompaning rewards for beleiving. Why would God want to judge people adversly because they did not believe "hear say" evidence, which can not be verifed? I could see a reasonable God perhaps condenming those who did not obey his commands after he gave plenty demonstratable evidence that he was God, but to punish those who did not beleive "hear say evidence", really is not very fair, for it favors the gulible, and penalizes those more careful or critical when it comes to beleiving hearsay.
I know some will use special pleading like: God's knows the good hearts and so grants them the faith they need to beleive without sufficiant evidence, while he lets the proud stay in unbeleif. To me if we follow that type of resoning then we must also conclude, that all the people that never even heard of the christian message, or were born in another religion to which they have been indoctrinated to beleive is the true one although not christian, that they too must have all bad hearts and that is why they were born into a religion not christian and have not heard the testimony about Christ.
To me it seem very evident that this importance the bible puts on faith is just a ploy to get you beleiving in something, and suspend any critical examination, and if doubts come latter to reject them out of hand for loss of faith leads to damnation.
