THE PLURALISM QUESTION

(Many of the quotes here come from A New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren).

 ¢â‚¬Å“The plurality of religious traditions and cultures has come to characterize every part of the world today. But what is pluralism? Here are four points to begin our thinking:

• First, pluralism is not diversity alone, but  the energetic engagement with diversity. Diversity can and has meant the creation of religious ghettoes with little traffic between or among them. Today, religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is not a given; it is an achievement. Mere diversity without real encounter and relationship will yield increasing tensions in our societies.
• Second, pluralism is not just tolerance, but  the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference. Tolerance is a necessary public virtue, but it does not require Christians and Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and ardent secularists to know anything about one another. Tolerance is too thin a foundation for a world of religious difference and proximity. It does nothing to remove our ignorance of one another, and leaves in place the stereotype, the half-truth, the fears that underlie old patterns of division and violence. In the world in which we live today, our ignorance of one another will be increasingly costly.
• Third, pluralism is not relativism, but  the encounter of commitments. The new paradigm of pluralism does not require us to leave our identities and our commitments behind, for pluralism is the encounter of commitments. It means holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation, but in relationship to one another.
• Fourth, pluralism is  based on dialogue. The language of pluralism is that of dialogue and encounter, give and take, criticism and self-criticism. Dialogue means both speaking and listening, and that process reveals both common understandings and real differences. Dialogue does not mean everyone at the  ¢â‚¬Å“table ¢â‚¬  will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table — with one ¢â‚¬â„¢s commitments ¢â‚¬ . ¢â‚¬”Diana L. Eck (http://pluralism.org/pages/pluralism/what_is_pluralism)

For Christians this raises certain issues, and many of us find ourselves caught in ambivalence.  ¢â‚¬Å“On the one hand, (we) seem to want a less hostile approach to other religions. We feel uncomfortable with the either  ¢â‚¬Ëœit ¢â‚¬â„¢s us or them ¢â‚¬â„¢ mindset, for (this quickly) descends into prejudice, dehumanization and violence towards the other. But they also feel uncomfortable with the  ¢â‚¬Ëœwhatever you feel is fine, as long as your sincere ¢â‚¬â„¢ approach. Just as the former fuels fear, resentment and even hatred towards  ¢â‚¬Ëœthem, ¢â‚¬â„¢ the latter undermines commitment and identity among  ¢â‚¬Ëœus ¢â‚¬â„¢. ¢â‚¬ - McLaren.

What damage has Christianity done to the world?

 ¢â‚¬Å“We all woke up again today in a world where Christians, Moslems and Jews (along with adherents of many other religions) are either killing one another or planning new ways of killing one another, ¢â‚¬  says McLaren. And this:  ¢â‚¬Å“Christianity has a nauseating, infuriating, depressing record when it comes to encountering people of other religions and a not much better record when encountering people of other brands of Christianity either. ¢â‚¬ 

Another disastrous attitude of Christians through especially the last 200 years, of stripping folk of their culture  ¢â‚¬“ with all its extraordinarily beautiful and ecologically sound clothing, dancing, ceremonies, rites of passage, stories and myths. By denouncing these treasures we Christians have brutalized cultures with devastating effects.

Christians have also been responsible for the poor use of land in many countries of the world, with terrible consequences.

What can we share together which supports these truths?

Due to this, Christians in the main feel ashamed to our core, and this affects how we relate to folk from other faiths.

What blessings, positives, has Christianity brought to the world?

McLaren doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t mention this aspect, however it is extremely valid. Let ¢â‚¬â„¢s look at Christians like Mandela, Martin Luther King, Nightingale, Wilberforce, and share together some of these advances the world now enjoys as a direct or indirect result of Christians.

(Hospitals (from hospitality of Benedict C6th); education (William Booth); sanitation; clean water etc., etc. Charitable institutions and organizations such as World Vision, Tear Fund, St Vincent de Paul are examples of which there are countless.) So we have much to be proud about too.

Only through Jesus do we receive salvation. What Scriptures support this view?

 ¢â‚¬Å“Go into all the world and  preach the gospel” (Mark 16:15).

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is  no other name  under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. ¢â‚¬   (Acts 4:10-12)

Jesus said,  “I am the way,  the truth, and the life.  No one  comes to the Father except through Me”  (John 14:6)

 ¢â‚¬Å“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. ¢â‚¬  (Romans 3:23). This has caused a separation between you and God. (Isaiah 59:2).

Jesus Christ is the mediator who reconciles us to God, so it is essential to trust in what Jesus did on the cross to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us of all unrighteouness.

We need to repent and turn from our sins, and believe in Jesus.   We then will receive Jesus, who is God in flesh, who died and rose from the dead as our Lord and Savior. Then we ask Jesus to forgive us, to come into our heart, and to wash us clean from our sins.

Then we will become a Christian. Many of us have come to faith through this way, and we treasure this and hold it dear to us.

However other Christians come to Christ through promises made by their parents when they are babies, and which they confirm later in life.

Let ¢â‚¬â„¢s hold this gently as we consider some other dimensions.

Think of a child born in a mainly Buddhist country, to dedicated Buddhist parents and raised a Buddhist. He/she becomes a fervent Buddhist who has never heard of Jesus. What eternal destiny awaits this child?

Read Romans 2:1-29. McLaren again:  ¢â‚¬Å“Paul makes it clear that people are never judged on knowledge they don ¢â‚¬â„¢t have, and that God will bless  ¢â‚¬Ëœthose who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality. There will be…honour and peace for everyone that does good…For God does not show favouritism. ¢â‚¬â„¢   Paul goes on to say this is because these people  ¢â‚¬Ëœshow that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them ¢â‚¬â„¢. ¢â‚¬ 

Billy Graham said this “I used to believe that pagans in far countries were lost if they did not have the gospel of Christ preached to them…. I no longer believe that.”  (“I can’t play God anymore,”  McCall’s,  January 1978)

Billy Graham again  ¢â‚¬“ an evangelical conservative, said this in 1997, at The Crystal Cathedral:

“I think everybody that loves Christ, or knows Christ,  whether they’re conscious of it or not, they’re members of the Body of Christ.  …He’s calling people out of the world for His name, whether they come from the  Muslim world, or the Buddhist  world, or the Christian world or the  non-believing  world, they are members of the Body of Christ because they’ve been called by God.  They may not even know the name of Jesus  but they know in their hearts that they need something that they don’t have, and they turn to the only light that they have, and  I think that they are saved, and that they’re going to be with us in heaven.”

What do we think of this?

All paths lead to heaven and God. Do they? Discuss.

Some people who believe in religious pluralism claim that all religions are equally true, or that one religion can be true for some and another for others. Some Christians hold this idea to be  logically  impossible because the two options are mutually exclusive.

Other Christians have held that there can be truth value and salvific value in other faith traditions.  John Macquarrie, a distinguished systematic theologian, is quoted in the  Handbook of Anglican Theologians  (1998). He  wrote that “there should be an end to proselytizing but that equally there should be no syncretism” (p.  2). In discussing 9 founders of major faith traditions (Moses, Zoroaster, Lao-zu, Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Krishna, Jesus, and Muhammad), which he called “mediators between the human and the divine,” Macquarrie wrote that: I do not deny for a moment that the truth of God has reached others through other channels- indeed, I hope and pray that it has. So while I have a special attachment to one mediator, I have respect for them all. (p. 12)

The Mormon church  also teaches a form of religious pluralism, that there is at least some truth in almost all religions and philosophies.

What responses do we have to these ideas?

It doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t matter what religion you are because our faith is a relationship, not a religion. So you can easily have a relationship with God/Jesus and be a Buddhist, Muslim, etc. Discuss.

Consider a Church service where Muslims (in hijabs), Hindus, Buddhists, Sikh ¢â‚¬â„¢s in turbans and New Age believers all attended with us? Could this happen? How would we respond to that type of Christianity?

“America’s pastor” Rick Warren  of  ¢â‚¬Å“The Purpose-Driven Life ¢â‚¬  has said:

“You may be Catholic or Protestant or Buddhist or Baptist or Muslim or Mormon or Jewish or Jain, or you have no religion at all. I ¢â‚¬â„¢m not interested in your religious background. Because God did not create the universe for us to have religion. He came for us to have a relationship with him. ¢â‚¬  ¢â‚¬ ¦(and)  ¢â‚¬ ¦ ¢â‚¬Å“I have known  many people who believe in the Messiah of Jesus, regardless of what religion they are, because they believe in him. It ¢â‚¬â„¢s about a relationship, not a religion.”

What questions does this bring to you?

What constitutes or defines  ¢â‚¬Ëœa Christian ¢â‚¬â„¢, then?

1 John 2:29; 3:7  ¢â‚¬“  ¢â‚¬Ëœnot those who share our creed, but do what is right and just demonstrate that they are God ¢â‚¬â„¢s children; those who love show that they have passed from death to life and are part of God ¢â‚¬â„¢s family (3:14,24;4:7, 16-21). ¢â‚¬â„¢

Jesus said the most important commands are to  ¢â‚¬Å“love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these ¢â‚¬ .(Mark 12:29-31.

John 13:34-5  ¢â‚¬“  ¢â‚¬Å“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another ¢â‚¬ .

Jesus showed a gospel of both words and deeds, so we need beliefs and also action.

And Paul: 1 Corinthians 13  ¢â‚¬“ There abides faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love. Do we truly believe that love is more important than our faith beliefs?

What about the story of the house on the sand?  ¢â‚¬Å“Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?….He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practise is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete ¢â‚¬ . (Luke 6: 46-49).

 ¢â‚¬Å“Faith without works is dead ¢â‚¬ , says James.

Yet on the other hand, we can do nothing to earn our salvation. It is God ¢â‚¬â„¢s free gift. There is nothing we can do which will make God love us more, and nothing we can do to make God love us more. It is not for our benefit, but for the benefit of others that we love.

How, then, do we relate to people of other faiths/no faith?

There are many ways to explore how we are going to live in a multifaith world as deeply committed Christians, but this much is clear:  ¢â‚¬Å“There is a way to be a committed follower of Christ that doesn ¢â‚¬â„¢t require you to be flatly and implacably against other religions and their adherents. … (We can envision a new story in the life of the church)  ¢â‚¬“ a new story that sends us into the world with Christ-like love for our neighbours of other religions, not suspicion; with humility and respect, not disdain (or fear), with a desire to understand, serve and know, not a desire to conquer and colonise; with a passion to share  ¢â‚¬“ both receiving and giving  ¢â‚¬“ because we each have been given treasures for the common good. ¢â‚¬ McLaren.

Jesus Golden Rule helps here. McLaren:  ¢â‚¬Å“Our first responsibility as followers of Jesus is to treat people of other religions with the same respect we would want to receive from them. When you are kind and respectful to followers of other religions, you are not being unfaithful to Jesus; you are being faithful to him. ¢â‚¬ 

How would you like other people to treat you? A typical answer to this question is:  ¢â‚¬Å“I would like them to respect my faith, show interest in it and learn about it, not constantly attack it; find points of agreement that they could affirm, respectfully disagree where necessary  ¢â‚¬“ but not let disappointment shatter the friendship; talk about their faith with me without pressuring me to convert, invite me to share my faith with them, include me in their social life without making me feel odd, etc. ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬“ McLaren.

What would/could a new Christianity look like?

What could we envision if we returned to simply teaching the way of Jesus, without our us/them, superior mindset where we think all people have to believe exactly what we believe and if they don ¢â‚¬â„¢t we reject them (e.g. all the new churches springing up at the moment; all the church rules like baptism, etc that we have said have to be followed  ¢â‚¬“ the canons of Anglicanism, etc).

John 14:9 says that the invisible God has been made visible in his life.  ¢â‚¬ËœIf you want to know what God is like, Jesus says, look at me, my life, my way, my deeds, my character. ¢â‚¬â„¢….Jesus ¢â‚¬â„¢ way has been compassion, healing, acceptance, forgiveness, inclusion and love from beginning to end  ¢â‚¬“ whether it be a visit by night Pharisee, a Samaritan woman, a paralysed man, a woman caught in adultery or a man born blind…..(yet we) often believe that God will reject everyone except people who share your doctrinal viewpoints about me, because I won ¢â‚¬â„¢t let anyone get to the Father unless they get by me first by joining my new religion ¢â‚¬ . McLaren.

 ¢â‚¬Å“We would see that Jesus message of peace and service were right and true after all, and that Jesus was not a gift to one religion, but to the whole world. We would consider all people God ¢â‚¬â„¢s beloved, as neighbours in God ¢â‚¬â„¢s world, loving them, serving them, enjoying them. We would practice Christ-like hospitality (to all). ¢â‚¬   ¢â‚¬“ McLaren.

 ¢â‚¬Å“A reborn… evangelism would mean proclaiming the same good news of the kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed. It would mean seeking to do so in the manner Jesus proclaimed it  ¢â‚¬“ in word and deed, through art and teaching, in sign and wonder, with clarity and intrigue, with warning and hope…..It would invite people into life-long spiritual formation as disciples of Jesus, in a community dedicated…to teaching the most excellent way of love, whatever the new disciple ¢â‚¬â„¢s religious affiliation or lack thereof. ¢â‚¬  McLaren.

However there is also this thought: God ¢â‚¬â„¢s love is everlasting, his compassions never fail; God is faithful and just and merciful and kind and treats all of us with justice and love from beginning to end.

Do we think that this will change once we die, and that then God will become harsh and judgmental?

What about Romans 5:12-21, and 2 Corinthians 5 that the impact of Jesus obedience will be as far reaching as the impact of Adam ¢â‚¬â„¢s disobedience has been? So as all have sinned through Adam, so all have been made righteous through the Second Adam, Jesus.

There are websites which include a litany of Scriptures which support the view that in the end of time  ¢â‚¬“ we don ¢â‚¬â„¢t know when that will be,  ¢â‚¬Å“every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. ¢â‚¬ (Phil. 2:10). If interested, these two web links may assist your thinking about this:

http://godfire.net/Elwin/112_reasons.html

http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html  

My task here today is simply to raise some questions, pose some dimensions to what is an enormously complex subject. But this I know, that Jesus IS the life-giver; that he changes lives and restores relationships, brings healing and freedom and wholeness, and to live a life following Jesus is the most exciting life we can ever lead. Can it be that we can let our structures and rules go, and simply follow Jesus, as he asked his early disciples to do? Aren ¢â‚¬â„¢t we called to be imitators of Christ and to make him known throughout the world? For Jesus, brings us peace, and joy, forgiveness and grace, and certainly an abundant fulfilling life.

Wouldn ¢â‚¬â„¢t we like that for everyone on our planet?  

What do we take with us? Have learnt? What Questions now arise?

We are all on a journey, and all at different stages on the journey of faith. Here there is no right or wrong. Let us respect each other at this time. I hope, though, that all of us have been expanded, opened up, to a spacious, freeing space in which we can quietly reflect and gently come to our own questions. God bless you all with grace and hope.

Christine M. Jones.