RELIGIOUS PLURALISM AND THEOLOGY

John 14:6 vs John 14:2

JOHN 14:6

'I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes through the Father, except through me'.

JOHN 14:2

'In my Father's house there are many rooms'.

is the existence of Christianity alongside other religions a new phenomenon?

no, Christianity has always existed as a religion alongside others: Greek and Roman Gods, Jewish faith present as it emerges

definition solus Christus

'Only Christ'

definition extra ecclesium nulla salus

'no salvation outside the church'

definition votum ecclesiae

'Church of faith' or implicit faith in the Church. Inclusivists maintain you can be an implicit member of the invisible church of faith through your desires and by the way you live your life

what are the 3 traditional approaches within Christianity in response to other religions?

-Exclusivism

-Pluralism

-Inclusivism

who can be said to be responsible for these classifications?

'Christians and Religious Pluralism, 1982, Alan Race identifies these 3 broad classifications

what does exclusivism mean?

SALVATION CAN BE FOUND THROUGH CHRISTIANITY ALONE:

-only one true religion

-only through hearing the gospel and accepting it can a person receive salvation- for some this includes the rite of baptism

-Christ provides a pathway to God that cannot otherwise be found

-religions say different things; they cannot all be right

3 main arguments for exclusivism

-human beings are fallen and cannot know God or earn salvation

-Jesus was God incarnate

-you must be a member of the Church to be saved

explain the argument from exclusivism that human beings are fallen and cannot know God or earn salvation

-if people were born with original sin (Augustine) this means no one deserves to go to heaven; salvation must be an inherited gift from God

-a person, who has been tainted from birth, can never be sinless; all people deserve hell

-untrue to say good people should be rewarded with heaven irrespective of belief as this undermines idea of justification by faith alone

biblical support of exclusivism argument of fallen humans

ROMANS 3:23: 'For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'

explain the argument from exclusivism that Jesus was God incarnate

-Christians alone believe Jesus to be God= superior to non Christian religions based on prophets rather than God himself

-Jesus is the mediator between humans and God; without him God would be inaccessible and salvation impossible

-If Jesus were God it means he is in a position to mediate true knowledge, has authority to tell people how to behave, and can die as an atoning sacrifice for sin

explain the argument from exclusivism that you must be a member of the Church to be saved

-doctrine of extra ecclesium nula salus= no salvation outside the church

-varies by denomination

+ Roman Catholic exclusivists: the 'Church' exists with the Pope as head, and a priesthood which can be traced back to Jesus via apostolic succession

+ Protestant exclusivist: not equate Church with RC institution, but would say you need to be baptized into the Church to become a 'full' Christian

biblical support of exclusivism argument of needing to be a member of the Church to be saved

MARK 16:16

'He that believes and is baptized is saved. But he that does not believe is damned'.

2 scholars for exclusivism

Hendrik Kraemer

Karl Barth

explain Kraemer's response to exclusivism

-his work, 'The Christian Message in a non Christian World', (1938), he emphasized non Christians cannot achieve salvation through their own faith system but must convert to Christianity

-irrespective of how well meaning people of other faiths are

-believes you cannot pick out compatible beliefs and practices as inclusivism does; religions are whole belief systems which must be considered in their entirety- no 'partial truth'.

counter to Kraemer?

Contradictory- we pick out parts of the Bible to follow

Contradicts the inclusive nature of Christ- e.g. Parable of the Good Samaritan

explain Barth's approach to exclusivism

-known for expressing views about the essential importance of Christ for human salvation

-knowledge of God can only be found where God chooses to reveal it through his word (Gospel of John prologue= 'in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God)

-ultimately, Jesus is the only totally reliable way to genuine knowledge of God

-'Church Dogmatics' (1956), Barth notes God created the world for no other reason than 'to enter into covenant fellowship with it in the incarnation, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ'.

how can Barth be criticized as an exclusivist?

-some argue Barth is not entirely exclusivist, as he does say God can and does reveal himself when he chooses

-could leave open the possibility of God choosing to reveal Himself in other ways

what is narrow exclusivism?

salvation is available only to people who belong to heir own particular denomination within Christianity, e.g. Augustine believed this.

5 strengths of exclusivism

-internally coherent; if God is incarnate it makes sense to claim Christianity has the truth about God

-keeps the distinctive nature of Christianity

-scholars Karl Barth/Henrik Kraemer support

-could be argued inclusivism undermines the Bible, Church and priesthood

-could be said pluralism makes Christianity just one religion among many= not special

3 scholars against exclusivism and why

-John Hick: Jesus never claimed to be the son of God

-David Hume: miracles cannot be good evidence for God- likely to be rational explanations for these= Jesus not divine

-Gavin D'Costa: exclusivism ignores the idea of the trinity saying God can only be found through Jesus

6 weaknesses of exclusivism

-built on the assumption Jesus is Son of God, where the concept of incarnation= illogical and incoherent

-morally dubious nature of sinners being made righteous by death of innocent man

-if God is omnibenevolent and wants salvation for entire humanity why would he create a criteria for salvation

-God is infinite and eternal= no one can understand Him

-biblical challenge of sheep and goats- judgment is done on basis of works, not faith

-Hick/Hume/D'Costa

what does pluralism mean?

ALL RELIGIONS ARE EQUALLY TRUE:

-different religions can have value and the potential to lead their followers to salvation/enlightenment/whatever people choose to call it

-the beliefs and practices of different religions arise because of human nature- differences are only superficial

what analogy is used to demonstrate pluralism?

the analogy of the blind men and the elephant

-different men feel different aspects of the elephant, e.g. wide, and elephant is like a fan, tail is thin= like a rope

-put all the descriptions together= real elephant

scholar focused on pluralism

John Hick

what should Christianity be understood by in Hick's viewpoint?

-Christianity should not be understood as the truth- it has flaws, as all religions do

-the truth claims should be understood as myths and symbols, not literal truth claims

what does Hick view faith as?

out interpretation of events- experiences can be understood through Christianity/Buddhism/Taoism. Religious experience is what gives people reason to believe, experiencing the divine

what Christian beliefs does Hick believe as symbols?

-Jesus was God incarnate

-Jesus rose from the dead

-Jesus was born of a virgin who conceived through the Holy Spirit

4 reasons: pluralism undermines central Christian beliefs

-Hick seems to strong undermine core beliefs, diluting the faith

-John 14:6- 'I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes through the Father except through me'- how is this understood if all religions are equally true

-too many conflicting claims made by other religions to ascribe pluralism and maintain Christian beliefs

-Harold Netland: on Hick's theology, Jesus simply becomes a great religious leader

4 reasons: pluralism does not undermine central Christain beliefs

-argued that belief in the literal incarnation is unnecessary condition of being Christian

-Christian beliefs can be built on, by learning from other relgions

-Rudolf Bultman: one can still hold the teachings of Christ without believing He performed miracles

-Raimon Panikkar: Christ can be found across religions and isn't exclusive to Christianity

how does Hick back up his views?

-the gospel writers were not eyewitnesses and were writing after the event

-the earliest gospel is Mark- begins with the story of Jesus' baptism rather than any story about his birth, usually presenting him as a prophet-type figure than God incarnate- John's gospel, most presenting Jesus as God was last written

-the term 'Son of God' used to widely describe people who acted like God in some way- only when Christianity moved into the gentile world it began to be taken literally than metaphorically

3 of Hick's books on pluralism and religion

-God and the Universe of Faiths, 1993

-The Myth of God Incarnate, 1977

-The Next Step Beyond Dialogue

what does Hick comment in God and the Universe of Faiths, 1993?

"Can we accept the conclusion that the God of love who seeks to save all mankind has nevertheless ordained that men must be saved in such a way only a small minority can in fact receive this salvation?"

what does Hick comment in The Myth of God Incarnate?

-challenged traditional interpretations of the incarnation

-believed faith rather than reason, was the basis for religious belief, and religious experience is what gives people the reason to believe

-justifies pluralism by reporting that as no religion can prove their claims and experience is what provides the ground for belief, all religions must be treated with respect and taken seriously.

"thus Guatama was the Dharma made flesh, as Jesus was the Word made flesh".

what does Hick comment in The Next Step Beyond Dialogue?

"Christians ought to be better human beings than those who lack the inestimable spiritual benefits"

-not the case that religions produce better people

Hick's view on religious experience

(William James support)

-believed that people have genuine experiences of spiritual things and 'the Real' accounts for the diverse spiritual experiences of people in different faiths

-explained using analogy of people listening to music and experiencing different emotions- "different lenses through which the divine Reality is differently perceived"

problem with Hick's view on religious experiences

some religious experiences/corporate experiences are specific to the religion- e.g. Mejugorje

what 2 things can Hick be described as?

-critical realist

-'transcendental pluralism'

who distinguishes between the different forms of theological pluralism, and what are these differing versions?

D'Costa

-unitary theological pluralism (UTP): John Hick

-pluriform theological pluralism (PTP): Keith Ward

-ethical theological pluralism (ETP): Paul Knitter

what is UTP and Hick's response to this?

philosophical rather than theology of Christain tradition

-Hick uses Kant and the an-sich to argue although religions are phenomenally different, noumenally they are all referring to/postulating the same underlying an-Sich/reality

-revelation emanates from God not Christ-Christianity should be theocentric- focused on God- rather than Christocentric

-sola Christus abandoned

what is Kant and the an-Sich?

-epistemological distinction between noumenal and phenomenal knowledge

-noumenal= what a thing is in itself (ding an-Sich)

-phenomenal= the world as we experience it and as it appears to us

-we can only postulate a ding an- Sich, cannot know it directly

-an-Sich doesn't reveal itself to humans but rather it is we who experience it according to the culture and times we live in

what does PTP argue?

-that there are many 'reals' as they are experienced by each religion

-no one religion can have definitive knowledge of the Real (or an-Sich)- each religion has its own particular authentic version of salvation, liberation or knowledge

Keith Ward on PTP?

-sometimes we just have to conclude beliefs between religions are different and conflicting, but reasons for them can be equally valid

-knowledge is gained through religious experience, not revelation- cannot be competition for exclusive truth

danger of Hick's UTP?

it suffers from the same kind of imperialism he was trying to avoid

Paul Knitter's ETP?

-all religions share a soteriological (study of things beyond our knowledge, spec. salvation) aim of liberating humans from suffering, injustice, intolerance, falsehood

-all religions have same primary aim

-dialogue= enhance, develop each religions interpretations

what does inclusivism mean?

CHRISTIANITY IS THE MOST TRUE, OTHER RELIGIONS PARTIALLY:

-Christianity is the only one true religion and Jesus' death are of central importance

-non-Christians can go to heaven, and that it is unnecessary to have explicit faith in Jesus /to be a member of the church

5 ways how inclusivists can support their position

-God is loving and fair so must make it possible for all people to be saved

-Jesus died for everyone so this action must affect non Christians

-members of non Christian religions often behave in a way that would be regarded by Christians as good

-religions have significant differences- so cannot all be true, but also have significant similarities

-God is creator, thus revealed in creation, so you do not need to read the Bible to have some knowledge of God

why would inclusivists say their position is superior to pluralism?

because it maintains the unique position of Jesus and the church without ignoring the fact religions sometimes teach opposing things

why would inclusivists say their position is superior to exclusivists?

because it follows naturally from Christian principles which exclusivists seem to ignore, such as taking into account the benevolence of God. It also encourages positive attitudes to non Christians

2 teachings found in the Bible to support inclusivism

-STORY OF PAUL PREACHING TO THE ATHENIANS

-PARABLE OF THE SHEEP AND GOATS

Explain the story of Paul preaching to the Athenians

Acts 17:16-34

-urgency in telling others

-used to suggest that non Christians might have knowledge of god but not the same detailed knowledge and personal relationship that Christians have

-doesn't wholeheartedly denounce the valu of other Gods; "I see you are very religious"

-"For in him we live"

explain the parable of the sheep and goats

-used to argue that people are judged and go to heaven on the basis of how they behave rather than what they believe

-could be used to support the idea of anonymous Christians

-"righteous to eternal life"

-"for I was hungry and you fed me"

2 scholars in inclusivism history?

-Augustine and Aquinas, interested in the question of what happened to non-Christians

3 solutions proposed by inclusivism in regards to the fate of non Christians/those who lived before Jesus

-After his death, Jesus descended to the dead, to liberate those already in hell

-God would give special revelatory experiences to those in areas where they didn't have access to scripture

-God would use his omniscience to know what a person would have chosen if they had the chance to encounter Jesus (COUNTER: WHAT IS THE POINT OF EXISTENCE)

2 scholars supporting inclusivism

-Karl Rahner

-Gavin D'Costa

Karl Rahner's response to inclusivism

-Christianity is the one absolute religion

-Jesus died for human sin and enables people to be saved through grace; his death was necessary for salvation

-grace can be mediated through non Christian religions, and those who do so are 'lawful' religions

-non Christians who behave in a 'Christian' type way already have God's grace acting in their lives; should be regarded as anonymous Christians

-Church= comprised of visible institution but also those whose behavior and values reflect those of a Christian

-all humans, whether they know it consciously or not, desire grace and salvation

Rahner's view on evangelisation

-Church still has a duty to evangelise because other religions can still be lawful yet contain error

-But, should remember that who they evangelize may already know God but in an implicit way

Ayer's response to Rahner

other religious believers would challenge his claim that Christianity is the one absolute religion- no way of advocating such a statement= unverifiable

Gavin D'Costa's response to inclusivism

-rules out exclusivism because it is incompatible with God's love, ignores examples of revelation in OT and ignores importance of moral action and behavior which sheep and goats emphasizes

-rules out pluralism because it ignores the centrality of Jesus and makes all religions re-define their claims

-believes Christianity can learn from non Christian actions- God is revealed to them in a way which might add to Christian understanding; ongoing learning

-the revelation of God in Jesus is normative, but not exclusive

Gavin D'Costa quote on revelation and knowledge of God

"Christians need to learn more deeply about God from God's self revelation, wherever it has occurred"

4 strengths of inclusivism

-provides a successful middle way between exclusivism and pluralism

-allows Christians to see a central role for Jesus and Church

-avoids the theological problems associated with exclusivism

-avoids arrogance as much as exclusivism does

5 weaknesses of inclusivism

-'disguised' exclusivism

-still no attempt to see religions by themselves; just seen in contrast to Christianity

-John Hick: unknowability of God makes a Christo-centric starting point unphilosophically sound

-Rahner's revision of inclusivism is patronizing and insulting to non-Christians

-D'Costa's starting point is essentially a Christian understanding the nature of God