This question begins Chapter 1 of Rob Bell's book about Salvation, Love Wins: A Book about Heaven, Hell, And the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. I have a review of that book in this blog - just type "Rob Bell" or "Love Wins" in the search bar.
This question has caused arguments between well meaning Christians of all denominations. While it's hard to find anyone who would say that Gandhi is not a person to be admired and even a person to be emulated, his salvation is what some would question. So, let's start out by looking at the primary issues.
The basic Christian understanding of salvation comes from John 14:6 where Jesus says, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (emphasis my own). In other words, one must believe in Christ as Savior to be saved. A large number of Christians believe that the Jewish people who adhere to the Covenant God made with Abraham (and later the Law with Moses) will also inherit Salvation. This comes from Genesis 17:10-11 - 10 This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; 11 and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. There are also quite a few Christians, though definitive Biblical proof is hard to find, who believe that those, through no fault of their own (let's say: some remote tribe in the Amazon who has yet to be discovered) has not heard of Jesus, will be judged on what they have received and what they believe. Most likely, this would include the fact that they must believe in a god since Psalm 14:1 says, "Fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.'" Other Christians, however would appeal back to John 14:6 and say that this same group of people, though they are without blame are lost to salvation.
So, what do we do with Gandhi? First of all, was Gandhi a Christian? To answer that question is more difficult than one may think. All of my references to his life come from the book, Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World by Louis Fischer. To begin, Fischer's book, a "Signet Classic," should be read by ALL Christians (and I would even say ALL People of EVERY Faith - and even those without a Faith). Fischer's prose is sophomoric at times, and he often uses names and terms that are unfamiliar to modern Western readers (who are unfamiliar with the history of India) without explaining the definition or who the person is, but the basic message of Gandhi's life flows brilliantly throughout the book.
Mohandas K. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in Western India to a Hindu Family. So, that may answer our question - he was not born a Christian. But, Christianity is not a faith into which one is born...It is a faith into which one chooses to be born again.
Well into his teenage years, Gandhi never renounced his Hindu customs and married his wife when both were 13 years old. As a young adult, Gandhi went to London where he did experiment with atheism. Through that experience, he found himself "thirsting for religion" (page 11). While in Britain, he read the Bible, and he was fascinated by the Old Testament Prophets, Psalms, and Ecclesiastes, and especially the New Testament - most important to him was Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. This he compared to the Hindu sacred text, the Bhagavad-Gita.
So, what do we do with Gandhi? Still, I don't think we have an answer. The Gandhi of his youth was different from the Gandhi that is familiar to most modern people. From Britain, Gandhi went to South Africa where a major transformation took place in his life. He began his quest for a more spiritual life. In South Africa, Gandhi began fasting and took up his now famous practices of asceticism - taking care of needs as opposed to "wants" (page 31). While he was inspired by Christians, this probably didn't make Gandhi a Christian. After all, many Christians have borrowed practices from other religions and adapted them to Christianity (for example, yoga - a Buddhist/Hindu practice can be adapted to a secular or even Christian practice of exercise and meditation).
It was in South Africa that Gandhi began his non-violent civil disobedience to protest the wrongs of society. He was inspired by Thoreau and Tolstoy. In fact, he and Tolstoy corresponded from 1909-10 (page 40). Possibly at this time, some may begin to consider Gandhi a Christian. That is if we go by Tolstoy's definition in his book The Kingdom of God is Within You. There, Tolstoy defines a Christian as one who "enters into no dispute with his neighbor, he neither attacks nor uses violence; on the contrary, he suffers himself, without resistance, and by his very attitude toward evil not only sets himself free, but helps to free the world at large from all outward authority" (page 40). Obviously, Tolstoy was a Christian Anarchist who held a relationship between faith and works.
It is there that we must digress. Must a Christian have "works" to be a Christian? Romans 3:23 says, "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." Therefore, works alone cannot save us. But, James 2:17 says, "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." So, that implies that while we must believe, we must also "back up" our belief.
So, what do we do with Gandhi? As his life went on, and he returned to India and began working for Indian Independence, Gandhi began appealing to God. Which God? That is precisely the question. When describing God, Gandhi said, "God is," and on another occasion, he said, "He alone is." This indirectly harkens back to Exodus 3:14 - God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.” ’ Gandhi used the same name of God that God used - "Is" is a form of "am," and both are the form of the verb "to be." In the original Hebrew, it is transliterated as "ehyeh ʾašer ʾehyeh"
Gandhi then began breaking Hindu rules. One of the cardinal rules for orthodox Hindus was to stay away from the Untouchable Caste. Gandhi worked and fought for their inclusion into society. He actively socialized with them. At least in this book, however, there is no indication that Gandhi renounced the Hindu faith along with some of its practices.
So, what do we do with Gandhi? Gandhi was overtly asked what religion he was. He replied to the question that he was "Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist..." When Gandhi had prayer services, it was not uncommon for him to include Christian Hymns, Bible Readings, Koran Readings, and Hindu Readings. So, what do we do with Gandhi?
Here is what we do with Gandhi. We should look to him as a role model as far as actions go. We should see Gandhi as a peacemaker and strive to be a fraction of what he was. We should love others the way that Gandhi did. We should simplify our lives down to what is important just as Gandhi did. We should see Gandhi as one of the greatest humans who ever lived. Gandhi walked the walk and talked the talk of a great person. While actions speak volumes, we cannot for certain know his heart. We cannot for certain know anyone's heart.
Notice what I didn't say. I made no reference to Gandhi's salvation. I made no reference to what God should do with Gandhi. Judgement is God's Job. We don't get a vote in Gandhi's salvation (or in his non-salvation). We are only responsible for our own salvation and for spreading the news of salvation as we know it. We are not responsible for others acceptance or non-acceptance of any doctrine or belief.
That is very freeing! We don't have to worry. We are only responsible for ourselves and to minister as God calls us. After that, it is out of our hands. We have no way of knowing what any given person is capable of knowing, or understanding, or accepting. We have no idea if someone is truly a believer or if someone just pretends to be. We have no idea if a self-avowed atheist makes a deathbed conversion. We have no idea if a self-avowed atheist or believer in another faith had some issue that only God knows about that made them unable to believe. If that is the case, we have no idea how God will handle that person's salvation.
So, what do we do with Gandhi? We love him just as God loved us, and we hope that in his mercy, God granted him salvation just as we hope God will grant us salvation.
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