Pluralism and Diversity

Overview

Recall questions on plurality and pluralism, particularism, inclusivism and Rahner's anonymous Christians, Hick's pluralism and its critics, alternatives to the threefold classification, and the Ecumenical movement.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Distinguish the sociological fact of plurality from pluralism as a philosophical claim.

   Model answer

   Plurality is a description: many Western societies now contain substantial communities of several faiths and of none, through migration, mobility and conversion, so encounter is ordinary rather than exotic. Pluralism is a claim about truth, namely that the major traditions are equally good paths towards one and the same ultimate reality. Living in a plural society does not commit anyone to pluralism, and it is a common error in essays to slide from the first to the second.

2. 2

   What is particularism, and who holds it?

   Model answer

   Particularism, often called exclusivism, holds that salvation comes only through Christ and, on stricter versions, only through explicit faith in him, so other traditions are not saving paths. Cyprian's insistence that there is no salvation outside the Church is an early form; Barth's Christocentrism, which denies that human religion reaches God at all, is a modern one; and much conservative evangelicalism holds it as the basis of urgent mission.

3. 3

   Explain inclusivism.

   Model answer

   Inclusivism holds that Christ is the only source of salvation but that its benefits are not limited to those who know his name. Those who respond to grace as it reaches them, through conscience or their own tradition, may be saved through Christ without recognising him. It combines two claims most Christians want to keep: that God genuinely wills everyone's salvation, and that salvation is Christ's work. It has become the mainstream Catholic position and is held by many Protestants.

4. 4

   Explain what K Rahner meant by anonymous Christians.

   Model answer

   Rahner argued that grace is at work everywhere, not just where the gospel is preached, and that a person who accepts their own existence in openness to mystery, and lives by conscience and love, has already responded to the grace that comes through Christ, even while calling themselves Hindu, Muslim or nothing. Other religions can therefore be lawful ways in which that grace is mediated, until the gospel genuinely confronts someone.

5. 5

   What criticisms are made of Rahner's proposal?

   Model answer

   That it is patronising, awarding people honorary membership of a religion they have consciously not joined, and defining them by a category they reject; Hick made this objection sharply. Muslims and Buddhists do not recognise themselves in it. Critics from the other direction argue it drains mission of urgency, since if people are saved anyway, evangelism becomes optional information. Defenders reply that it is a statement about how God saves rather than a label to use in conversation.

6. 6

   How does J Hick argue for pluralism?

   Model answer

   He proposed a shift of centre comparable to the move from an earth-centred to a sun-centred astronomy: God rather than Christianity at the centre, with the traditions as planets. He distinguishes ultimate reality as it is in itself, which is beyond all human description, from the ways it is experienced, which are shaped by culture, language and history. The traditions are therefore culturally conditioned responses to one reality, not rival reports on the same object.

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