Religious pluralism and theology

Overview

Recall questions on the theology of religions, exclusivism, inclusivism and the anonymous Christian, pluralism and the criticisms of each, whether a loving God could refuse salvation, whether a good life is enough to be saved, and whether the three positions are genuinely distinct.

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

   What question is Christian theology of religions trying to answer?

   Model answer

   It asks how the Christian claim that salvation comes through Christ relates to the existence of other religions in which people plainly find meaning, moral seriousness and what they describe as contact with God. The answers are usually grouped into three: exclusivism, which restricts salvation to explicit Christian faith; inclusivism, which holds that Christ saves people who never knew him; and pluralism, which treats the religions as different routes to the same ultimate reality.

2. 2

   Explain the exclusivist position in Christian theology of religions.

   Model answer

   Exclusivists hold that Christ is the only means of salvation and that this salvation is received through explicit faith in him, so other religions do not offer a way to God however admirable their followers may be. Supporters appeal to the New Testament's insistence on Christ as the one mediator, to the missionary commission, and to the point that a faith making universal claims cannot treat them as optional. Some exclusivists soften the position by leaving the fate of those who never heard of Christ to God's mercy.

3. 3

   What are the main objections to exclusivism, and how do exclusivists respond?

   Model answer

   That it consigns the majority of humanity, including those who never heard of Christ, to loss through an accident of birth; that it is hard to square with a loving God; and that it has historically underwritten contempt for other cultures. Exclusivists reply that God's justice is not measured by human intuition, that they are reporting what they take to be revealed rather than choosing a policy, and that honesty about disagreement is more respectful than pretending the differences do not matter.

4. 4

   Explain the inclusivist position and the idea of the anonymous Christian.

   Model answer

   Inclusivists hold that Christ is the source and standard of salvation, so it is his death and resurrection that save anyone at all, but that people can be saved by responding to God through the light they have, without ever having heard of him. Such people have sometimes been described as anonymous Christians: they belong to Christ in fact without belonging to the Church by name. The Catholic Church took a broadly inclusivist line at the Second Vatican Council, teaching that those who seek God sincerely and follow their conscience may attain salvation.

5. 5

   What criticisms are made of inclusivism?

   Model answer

   From one side, that it is patronising: a devout Muslim or Hindu is told that their tradition is really an unrecognised form of somebody else's, which they have every reason to resent. From the other, that it is unstable, since if people can be saved without hearing the gospel then the urgency of mission collapses and Christ's uniqueness becomes a theoretical label. Inclusivists reply that they are trying to hold together two things Christians want to keep: that Christ is decisive, and that God wills everyone's salvation.

6. 6

   Explain the pluralist position in Christian theology of religions.

   Model answer

   Pluralists hold that the great religious traditions are different culturally shaped responses to the same ultimate reality, so Christianity is one authentic path among several rather than the path. The usual argument is that the traditions produce comparably transformed lives, that no tradition can show its claims are superior without begging the question, and that a God who loves everyone is unlikely to have made salvation depend on where one was born. It typically requires reinterpreting the incarnation as a way of expressing Christ's significance for Christians rather than a metaphysical claim about him alone.

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