As a Christian, I grew up with the certain knowledge that salvation from hell could only come through believing in Jesus Christ as my savior.

This is nothing unusual. Most of the world’s religions have some concept of heaven and hell and what it takes to get into the former and avoid the latter. The problem, of course, is that each of them often claims to be the correct window on the ultimate truth about what happens to us when we die.

For example, since Muslims don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God or that he was sacrificed for our sins, many Christians believe they know that Muslims cannot be saved from hell, because the Bible is absolutely clear that salvation can only come through Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12).

What does it mean to know? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines knowing as having or reflecting knowledge, information, or intelligence.

My husband and I recently traveled in the Republic of Georgia. A moment that stood out from among many interesting experiences was a meeting with a Muslim gentleman in Adjara, an independent political-administrative region within Georgia. Adjara lies on the coast of the Black Sea near the foot of the southern Caucasus Mountains, just north of Turkey.

There is a larger Muslim community in Adjara than in the rest of Georgia. According to a recent national census, 30% of Adjarans were Muslim (about three times the average in the Republic of Georgia).

On the surface, Muslims live peacefully alongside the Georgian Orthodox Christian Church, which is Georgia’s dominant and most influential institution. And although the Church considers itself tolerant of all faiths, a large number of Orthodox Georgians see Islam as alien to their national identity. As a result, many Muslims feel discriminated against.

Of course the term orthodoxy itself means “right belief.” Talk about knowing the truth!

Since Christians are classified as unbelievers in Islamic law, my husband asked our Muslim host, “What happens to Christians after they die?”

He smiled. “We as humans are too often judgmental, acting like we know the truth about such matters. My answer to your question is that I do not know. But my hope is that we will all meet in eternity.”

“I do not know.” So much wisdom in those four words.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines unknowing as ignorance. In fact, it seems to me that all too often, it is knowing that reflects ignorance.

One of our teachers, Fr. Richard Rohr, has said this about knowing:
“There are just as many Muslims, Hindus, and Jews who are in love—serving their neighbor and the poor—as there are Christians. Be prepared to be surprised about who is living a life of love and service and who isn’t. This should keep us all humble and searching and recognizing it’s not even any of our business who’s going to heaven and who’s going to hell.”

This is probably why St. Dionysius, theologian and philosopher of the 5th or 6th century, said so long ago that the best, most divine knowledge of God is that which is known by not knowing.

I am grateful to our Muslim host in Adjara, who gently reminded us of the great wisdom of not knowing.