Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner got himself in beaucoup trouble with his notion of the "anonymous Christian." His intentions were pure. But he was dead wrong, and he deserved the censure he received.
Rahner argued that anyone who exhibits a Christ-like spirit of faith, hope, and love but hasn't explicitly identified with Christianity is nonetheless a de facto "anonymous Christian" -- that is, a Christian without knowing it. What he intended to say is that folks can be filled with the spirit of Christ without necessarily belonging to the Christian faith. But what he wound up doing is gravely insulting members of other faith traditions, not to mention folks who repudiate all faith, by claiming them willy-nilly for Christ.
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