Plural Problem?

4

Avondale College









Plural Problem?









A Paper
Presented in Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Subject
THSY28000





















by
Linval London
November 2011

Word Count: 2169





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Introduction
"What is wrong in believing in Jesus and Mohammed…at the same time?" In today's modern milieu of spiritual practice, the common consensus is that that all roads lead to the mountaintop and all pathways lead to God. While this sentiment seems to throw open wide the road to a better relationship with the divine, is this really the case? The proliferation of multiple worldviews has brought us to the point where many a personal perception will be in contact or conflict with other faith traditions. Our course of action when this occurs can define or destroy our spiritual foundations, so we must apply a discerning eye to all religious practices, determining their validity and possible intersection with our own.
This essay will take a brief look at some forms of religious pluralism. In doing so, we will explore some suggestions on how the Christian church can maintain a distinctive and authoritative message in a culture that is, not only open to multiple religious pathways, but which is also seeking something certain among a sea of choice.

What is Pluralism?
The term "pluralism" can have numerous definitions and multiple applications. While this essay will mainly focus on the phenomena of religious pluralism, it would be wise to acknowledge the pluralistic nature prevalent in today's society. This cultural pluralism plays an indirect role in how we understand other individuals, but it does not have to lead to a radical adoption of another faith or belief system. An appreciation for social diversity can enrich life through exposure to other cultures, styles, and traditions, while allowing the individual to remain in their own place of conceptual safety.
Eck believes, however, that pluralism is not simply diversity, but an "energetic engagement with diversity." Diversity can exist and people will still be separated by their beliefs, some benefiting and some being marginalised, never the two meeting. She goes on to state that in today's world, religious diversity is a foregone conclusion, but "pluralism is not a given; it is an achievement." In her eyes, pluralism is not something to be afraid of, but embraced, addressed and used to bridge the gap between different segments of society. Diversity alone, without this authentic relationship or meeting, only increases tensions in our societies.
Second, pluralism is "the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference," not merely tolerance. While tolerance can be a virtue, it does not necessitate people of differing faith traditions (or humanistic subscription) to seek to discover anything about one another. Sheer tolerance does nothing to combat our ignorance of one another, thus leaving in place the stereotypical half-truths, which can manipulate our fears, strengthen the lines of division and foster unnecessary violence. The cost of ignorance is high in today's society and pluralistic dialogue can be a way of combating the issue.
This dialogue is what Eck describes as the "encounter of commitments," not simply belief. Dialogue is not just one side speaking or teaching, but also the necessary activities of listening and learning. Eck further says that "the new paradigm of pluralism does not require us to leave our identities and our commitments behind," but it does require us to enter into a conversation from which all sides can grow and learn something from each other. According to Eck,
"Dialogue does not mean everyone at the "table" will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table -- with one's commitments. It means holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation, but in relationship to one another."

Thus pluralism, at a glance, seems to accomplish that which it has set out to do, promoting community in the place of conflict, and understanding acceptance in the stead of divisive mistrust.
If this was all that pluralism brought to the table, the Christian church would not have a problem, but it does not stop simply at meaningful discussion or open dialogue. Pluralism, at its most extreme, can lead to a diffusion of belief and increased intolerance among not only adherents of particular faiths, but between the pluralist and the traditional mono-religious adherent as well.
Religious pluralism can be seen to be attractive because at first glance it appears to be very accepting of all faiths, thus in contrast to faith traditions that take a more inclusive or particular view of spirituality.
However, according to Story, pluralistic religious thinking can be an "extremely dangerous" force that can undermine the discovery of religious truth. Extreme religious plurality does not encourage personal discovery of truth, merely an acceptance of what someone else defines as truth. Thus, the danger of religious pluralism is the stagnation of spiritual growth among those seeking to know more about the divine.

How the Church Responds
In Acts 4:12, it states that salvation is in Christ alone and "that there is no other name by which man can be saved, except through Jesus." However, in Acts 10:35, we read, "in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him," leaving us with a passage of scripture that seems to point towards the universality of religious destination, no matter if you are Jew or gentile. The issues surrounding pluralistic religiosity are not new, but ancient in their origin and scope. Whether it was the mysterious belief systems of paganism or aberrations within their own Judeo-Christian heritage, the early church struggled to define their identity while still maintaining an agreeable connection to their community and a relevant place in society.
How should today's Christian community respond to religious pluralism? Quite often, the initial response is to retreat and entrench into a "religious ghetto," refusing to move beyond the tried and true traditions, thus isolating themselves from interaction with other religions, and ignoring other spiritual traditions as if they did not exist or matter. This emulation of the ostrich, ignoring all troubles in hopes that they will blow away, does not reveal confidence in the gospel message, but the arrogance and imbecility of the messengers.
Another, rather extreme, response is to use force to prove the superiority of Christianity, thus eliminating all other religions. While this was once the way it used to be, it is no longer a viable option. In today's society, a violent outburst or vocalization is a sign of weakness, not strength. Christianity is not a weak religion, so this response cannot be received well in the social milieu of today.
Christianity may also respond by re-visiting some of the well-settled truths held dear by the majority, and honestly seeing whether there exist grounds for another faith to add to the foundation. Tang, citing Rienzie Perera's paper, Religions, Cultures and Peace: The Challenge of Religious Pluralism and the Common Life in Asia, states that Christians must re-examine three key theological statements if an adequate solution to religious pluralism is to be found. "They are: outside the Church no remission of sin, outside Jesus no salvation, and outside the Scriptures no revelation of God." While some could consider the mere mention of re-assessment of these pillar beliefs blasphemy, it may very well be a necessary step to address the dialogue sparked by the friction between the old and new.
"Religion is capable of dividing us, but in its more mature forms, it's also capable of reminding us of what we have in common." The Christian church must listen, and not just with an ear to change the views of others, but with a willingness to listen to the voice of God speaking to them from the mouth of all His children. Macquarrie states, "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."
This is not a matter of accommodation or compromise, but merely the giving of a listening ear and a willingness to move beyond the spiritual impasses brought about by misunderstandings into something that is both progressive in application and orthodox in its heritage. Christians must listen to the experiences of their fellow traveler on the road to God, and listen to understand.
The only place where "peace can find a home" is in understanding one another in a relationship of mutual respect. The Christian and the Muslim can sit down and find benefit in their dialogue, not just from a theological standpoint, but also from their shared personal encounters with the divine. However, both must benefit from the change and be challenged by the belief of the other, thus re-igniting the desire to search more earnestly for the truth of God. Vigil states that to engage in inter- (or intra-) religious dialogue, without a willingness to notice truth is a futile task. The search for truth must take a decisive priority over preferential beliefs or even long-standing religio-cultural traditions.
Christianity must take the initiative to engage those of other faiths, not as a matter of adopting their beliefs, but to fulfil its role as both bearer and seeker of divine truth. Simply tolerating another faith tradition is insufficient and incapable of bypassing the cultural divide. It is the responsibility of all followers of Christ to ensure that every member is not only biblically literate, but also socially aware to the point that they can take the gospel they have learned and apply it to the multinational community they reside in. Cultural awareness, especially in this era of global religious plurality, is not something to shun, but rather an opportunity to share.
In order to weather the storm of pluralism, Christianity must abandon its idolatrous grip on absolute truth, and begin to seek the fullness of truth revealed through the life of Christ. Koyama states, "Fullness of grace and truth" does not mean "absoluteness of grace and truth". "Fullness" is a hot biblical concept while "absoluteness" is a cold philosophical concept." In a society hungry for a relevant way to interact with God, Christianity can speak of a fullness that found not in the embracing of all traditions, but in adopting a willingness to learn from God and to discern His full truth.

Conclusion
Christianity is not against pluralism as a societal norm, but rather the issue is in the extreme manifestations of the pluralistic paradigm that threaten the uniqueness of the Christian faith. While maintaining a place of firm belief and solid conviction, the Christians sense of identity must never isolate it within its ivory towers of doctrinal security.
The best way to combat the encroachment of pluralistic thinking is not to ignore it, but to address it head on, and this can only occur if the church is confident enough in its unique ideologies to engage in open cross-faith dialogue.
Truth should be recognised as truth, no matter where it is discovered. The goal of any interfaith dialogue should be the revelation of the truth, pure and simple. Christians find this in Jesus, but it is only through the showing of respect and dignity that Jesus can be revealed to other faiths and cultures. If honour is given, then honour will be received and mutual openness to learning can be achieved by all at the table.






















Bibliography
Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

Cox, Steven L., and Kendell H. Easley. Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007.

Eck, Dianne, "What Is Pluralism?" Oct 2011.

Gurt Ruppell, Peter Schreiner. Shared Learning in a Plural World: Ecumenical Approaches to Inter-Religious Education. Münster, DE: LitVerlag, 2003.

Koyama, Kosuke. "A Theological Reflectton on Religious Pluralism." The Ecumenical Review April (1999). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2065/is_2_51/ai_56063939/pg_2/?tag=content;col1 [accessed Oct 2011].

Macquarrie, John. Mediators between Human and Divine: From Moses to Muhammad. New York, NY: Continuum, 1996.

Netland, Harold A. Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Mission. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001.

Robert Wright , Joanne J. Myers. The Evolution of God. 2010.

Saat, Norshahril, "Time to Rethink Religious Pluralism" Oct 2011.

Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language, Updated 2nd Ed. Dallas, TX: Word, 1995.

Smith, Huston. The World's Religions. New York, NY: HarperCollins e-books, 1991. Access Date Access 1991.

Story, Dan. Christianity on the Offense : Responding to the Beliefs and Assumptions of Spiritual Seekers. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998.

Tang, Alex, "What Is the Christian Response to Religious Pluralism?" Oct 2011.

Vigil, José M. Theology of Religious Pluralism. Münster, DE: LIT Verlag Münster, 2008.





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Discuss the challenge that religious pluralism presents to the Christian church.
Make suggestions for the stance that Christianity might take if it is to communicate a distinctive,
authoritative witness to a multi-religious, multi-cultural, post-Christian world.


Dianne Eck, "What Is Pluralism?" http://pluralism.org/pages/pluralism/what_is_pluralism (accessed Oct 2011)
Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid.
What I have attempted to show is the scope which religious pluralism covers. Religious pluralism can be categorized into both inter-religious pluralism and intra-religious pluralism. Inter-religious pluralism refers to the views held within one faith tradition about the validity or truth of other faith traditions. On the other hand, intra-religious pluralism refers to views held by specific schools of thought or denominations within a faith tradition about the validity or truth of other schools or denominations within the same major faith tradition.
While most Christians do not take issue with intra-faith dialogue, as this consists of brothers speaking with brothers, when it comes to inter-faith dynamics, there is some hesitation to validate another faith tradition as having "truth" that is beneficial to the body of Christ. Unfortunately, the unwillingness to engage with our theological cousins and neighbours, in authentic dialogue, only breeds further misunderstanding and may blur further legitimate discovery within the Christian sphere. The church truly only knows what it believes when it is challenged to defend what it believes. "The perception that inter-faith dialogues are forums for conversion has to be remedied. Dialogue has always been an important way to correct misunderstandings. Dialogue can also serve as a means for different groups to voice their arguments and counter-arguments." [Norshahril Saat, "Time to Rethink Religious Pluralism" http://web1.iseas.edu.sg/?p=1259 (accessed Oct 2011)]

Harold A. Netland, Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Mission (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 213.

Dan Story, Christianity on the Offense : Responding to the Beliefs and Assumptions of Spiritual Seekers (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1998), 15.

Ibid., 15.


Steven L. Cox and Kendell H. Easley, Holman Christian Standard Bible: Harmony of the Gospels (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 244.

Alex Tang, "What Is the Christian Response to Religious Pluralism?" http://www.kairos2.com/religious_pluralism.htm (accessed Oct 2011)

Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, Updated 2nd Ed (Dallas, TX: Word, 1995), 490.
Peter Schreiner Gurt Ruppell, Shared Learning in a Plural World: Ecumenical Approaches to Inter-Religious Education (Münster, DE: LitVerlag, 2003) ,27.

Tang, (accessed)

Ibid.

Attempts were made to locate the original document, but as of this writing, only a secondary citation was available.

Tang, (accessed)

Joanne J. Myers Robert Wright The Evolution of God (Interview Transcript)
John Macquarrie, Mediators between Human and Divine: From Moses to Muhammad (New York, NY: Continuum, 1996), 12.

Huston Smith, "The World's Religions," (New York, NY: HarperCollins e-books, 1991) [accessed Oct. 2011], NA.

Ibid., NA.

José M. Vigil, Theology of Religious Pluralism (Münster, DE: LIT Verlag Münster, 2008), 336.

Ibid., 336.
Kosuke Koyama, "A Theological Reflectton on Religious Pluralism," The Ecumenical Review April (1999). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2065/is_2_51/ai_56063939/pg_2/?tag=content;col1 [accessed Oct 2011]

Πλήρης (ple-res; meaning fullness, complete) bears the image of filling a ships hold to capacity. [William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, and Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 3rd ed. ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 826-827.] To take this image into the realm of divine knowledge, it could be said that our "full" knowledge of God is limited by our small holds; our capacity is not great. Thus in order to carry more cargo, you must have more ships. Therefore, by communicating with other faiths we can begin to fill up all our vessels with truth enough to make the journey across the sea of life into eternity.
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