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April 17, 2005
Interfaith Dialogue: A Beginning and A Caution
My brief, from which this post is excerpted, focuses on interfaith dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
As Christians, we should be able to articulate what we believe Jesus has to say on the matter of other religions. I believe John 10:16 needs to be our starting point for demonstrating a Christian vision for a theology of religions. As a part of the much beloved Good Shepherd passage Jesus says, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” That verse speaks a powerful enough message by itself. But, if we read it in conjunction with what came before, we will note that “the sheep follow him because they know his voice,” (John 10:4). The sheep of the other folds know the voice of God who calls them. The Shepherd may appear in other forms to other peoples, but it is the same Shepherd, Jesus Christ, who is the gate for all His sheep. Nothing can separate us from that love (Romans 8:38-39).
Christ came that we all might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10) and that life comes through reconciliation with God. By sin, we are separated from God, but “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,” (2 Cor 5:19). It does not say that God sent Christ to reconcile with just one sort of people, but it says to the world. The entire world, and all its peoples, is God’s creation and are all blessed. Some thought that the message of Jesus was to be limited to just a few, but the Holy Spirit proved this to be false (Acts 10:34-44). In John’s vision of the consummation of all things it is not a select few worshipping before the throne but “saints from every tribe and language and people and nation,” (Rev 5:9). When I synthesize all of this, I must adopt for myself the inclusivist approach to a theology of religions. A brief description of the three "camps" of Christian Theologies of Religion can be found in the extended portion of this post.
Also, I want to offer a word of caution about "doing" interfaith dialogue among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. There is a temptation in many of these types of interfaith discussions to avoid the subject of current political situations in the Holy Land. Because they are so contentious, there is a temptation to try and stick only to “religious” matters in discussion and leave “political” matters aside. In reality, the two are so inter-woven that they are impossible to separate and attempts to do so will only frustrate and retard conversation. It is best to acknowledge the current situation and include it in the discussion. When this is done, it inevitably complicates the dialogue and raises the level of emotional investment, but to have an honest and true dialogue, this must be done. Real interfaith dialogue is not easy. If you leave an interfaith discussion feeling all warm and fuzzy inside then you likely have not engaged in the real and the difficult nature of coming to the table with honest questions and genuine feelings. If you are not challenged by interfaith dialogue, then you have not done it.
-R
Christian theologies of religion fall primarily into three camps: exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism . Exclusivism has as its central tenet that there is no salvation (the work of Christ) outside of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Unless you profess his name and confess the orthodox Christian faith you will not be saved. Period. This has been the belief of the majority of denominations throughout the ages and has strong ties to the missiology of colonialism. It is supported by scriptures like John 14:6 – “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Inclusivism also believes that there is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ, but maintains that there may be other ways to obtain that salvation through Christ than the direct confession of the Christian faith. In the end, for the inclusivist, it is Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, who alone saves. But the mysteries of salvation are such that inclusivists are unwilling to pin such everlasting consequences down to a human understanding. John 10:16, mentioned above, supports this claim.
Pluralism proclaims that there is more than one way to achieve salvation through God. From there it can get very diverse. Some Christian pluralists believe that there are different ways to obtain salvation, as Christians define it, than through Christ. Others might say that salvation for a Christian is very different from salvation for a Zoroastrian; that is to say, there are different salvations. Still others might be unwilling to say that only the person and work of Jesus Christ does all the saving. This claim is more difficult to support from Christian scriptures, but Matthew 24:42 has been used to substantiate it.
Posted by Ryan W at April 17, 2005 04:03 PM