Christianity, migration and religious pluralism

Question 1

how migration has created multicultural societies

Answer 1

jewish communities before expulsion in 1290 and upon return in 1600’s
overseas expansion meant muslim communities from far east and middle east settled mainly in port towns such as cardiff and south shields

Question 2

outline of migration to britain

Answer 2

• migration from eastern europe after WW@
• Indian and pakistani migrated after liberation of india in 1947, continued to come, peak 1972 after Idi Amin expulsion from uganda
• 1950’s labour shortages; invited from carribbevn and hong kong by government
• 1980’s somalis migrated escaping civil war
• 1990’s Balkan conflict, led many to migrate
• 2000’s, expansion of the eu, migrants crossing through europe form north africa, refugees escaping syrian conflict

Question 3

past responses to multiculturalism

Answer 3

some viewed it as a threat to traditional british values, which they linked to christianity even if they had no real connections with the church

• emotive and inflammatory language was used ‘being swamped’, enoch powell 1968 rivers of blood speech warning disastrous results
• feeling encouraged today by some political parties such as UKIP

however, most people viewed multiculturalism as an opportunity for enrichment

• desire to respect and protect all cultured
• seen as a way of promoting tolerance and equal opportunities in all aspects of british life

Question 4

diversity of faiths in Gb today stats

Answer 4

christian ; 59%
no religion; 25%
muslims; 5%
hinduism, sikhism, judaism and buddhism also showed increase

some areas not multicultural still monocultural

• migrated people tent to settle where their people already are or where there is work
• eg indian asians from Uganda settled where local governments said they had capacity to receive them

Question 5

freedom of religion as a human right in european law

Answer 5

Article 18 “everyone has the right to freedom of though, conscience and religion…”
also part of british law within the 1988 human rights act
allows religious pluralism by making illegal any attempts to ban or restrict practice of religion

Question 6

religious pluralism asa feature of modern secular states and its influence on christian thought

Answer 6

GB = secular thus contains many different faiths and many different cultures
society characterised by:
-exploring one another traditions
-helping one another and respecting differences

Question 7

criticisms of multiculturalism

Answer 7

• threatens social cohesion as no sense of common identity
• immigrant cultures may flourish without being assimilated (religious or culture absorbed by another losing distinctive identity) , leads to isolation or discrimination
• some cultural practices illegal under uk law eg FGM and forced marriages
• shows no culture can be the best, but major reason for belonging to a religion is that of the conviction that it offers best way of life
• existence of statements of belief may make it impossible for someone to accept that the teachings of two or more religions are true at the same time

Question 8

exclusivism

Answer 8

christianity is the only true faith

john 14:6 “…I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”

some exceptions:

• those who die eg children before able to make commitment can be saved eg emergency baptism
• die without ever hearing JC word will be judged on conformity of life to the NML that christians think is built into the fabric of the universe and is accessible to all

Question 9

fundamental exclusivists

Answer 9

-salvation is dependent upon a declared belief in JC, thus evangelism is an absolute priority

Acts 4:12 “ salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”

• god uniquely revealed in JC is central to truth in christianity
• before vatican ii, official view of RC church was no salvation outside the church
• modified at vatican II pope john XXIII observation “ what united us is much greater than what divides us”
• pope john paul II displays positive inclusivity attitude to other christian denominations

Question 10

criticisms of exclusivism

Answer 10

-limits gods unconditional love and forgiveness by tying him to a fundamentalist interpretation of certain biblical texts
-lacks balance
-conflicts with teachings in Luke/Acts that JC had unconditional love and friendship that he showed to the outcasts of society
-points to fact that NT is a product of the church
eg johns gospel
written in later half of the 1st century and is thought to contain the authors belief about the significant for christian belief if the portrayal of jc in the older gospels versus always reporting what jc said

Question 11

Inclusivism

Answer 11

says that other religions may have aspects of beliefs that are the same or compatible with christianity and are therefore themselves ‘true’

closed inclusivism: takes the approach that one religion does not contain all truth, but that other religions have some aspects of it

-open inclusivism: one religion has a better grasp of the truth than other, but not all aspects, so it can learn from others

Question 12

interpretation of inclusivism

Answer 12

approach taken by author of luke/acts and by paul in his letter to the christians in rome where he stresses that god shows no favouritism:

• salvation is open to all
• based on peoples adherence to or rejection of the natural sense of morality that is an inbuilt feature of the world

Question 13

Barth inclusivism

Answer 13

all human nature has been corrupted by the fall that everyone, regardless of religion, is totally dependent for salvation on Gods grace

Question 14

Karl Rahner ‘anonymous christian’

Answer 14

an attempt to reflect the inclusive teaching and lifestyle of JC as seen in the gospels
gods power as transcending human limitations caused by ignorance, error and evil inclinations
gods grace is at work in all people, not limited to christianity
non christians may be saved by good moral conduct, not dependent in a belief in christ ie justification by works
non christian religions have a lot in common with christianity

Question 15

criticisms of rahner

Answer 15

• fundamentalists have condemned the inclusivist approach
• John hick accused it of paternalism
• insulting to other faiths, which should be respected in their own rights and not in terms in what they have in common with christianity
• hick claimed that rahner’s view implied that other religions are flawed

Question 16

how christian denominations view one another

Answer 16

never been uniformity within the church
eg acts of the apostles and pauls letters show that even in the early days there were disagreements

great schism (orthodox church splitting from western chiurch ) there were many councils of bishops to deal with the disagreements

issues:
leadership, authority, interpretation of bible, church organisation, forms of worship and lifestyle

Question 17

catholic church

Answer 17

apostolic succession is the means of continuity with he teaching od JC apostles as the church passes on their teaching in apostolic tradition
sacraments are the gifts bestowed on the church as an act of divine grace

closed inclusivism:
other denominations reflect aspects of christian faith
only RC church has true continuity and authority
dialogue is encouraged with non catholics, but non compromise

Question 18

protestant evangelical churches

Answer 18

exclusivist position
salvation comes by the grace of god through faith, which is a personal commitment to christ as saviour
threefold ministry of the church and sacraments are viewed as unbiblical so RC, cofe and orthodox churches are in error

Question 19

c of e

Answer 19

inclusivist:
holds together christians varying widely in outlook, through discussion and a willingness to compromise on the non essentials
recognition of other churches, despite differences in structure
unwillingness to exclude other christians from the possibility of salvation

Question 20

ecumenical movement

Answer 20

aimed at promoting christian unity
UK, annual week of prayer for christian unity led in Jan

1948 world council of churches was set up, which seeks to promote dialogue between the member churches and a greater shared understanding of the christian faith
-RC church not a member but does have representation at assemblies

Question 21

hicks view of nature of god and religion

Answer 21

relationship between humans and what he thought of as ultimate reality is shaped by history and culture
mistake to understand salvation in terms if sacred writings of one particular religion and to adopt an exclusivist position
rejected concept of hell as incompatible with belief in an omnibenevolent god
distinguished between the concept of ultimate reality and the widely different views that humans have of that reality
religion is about self transformation rather than believing and practising certain doctrines
thus differences and incompatibilities between religion are insignificant

Question 22

hicks universalism

Answer 22

viewed the purpose of life as one of soul making or spiritual growth
raised questions of those who died without fulfilling their purpose and in some cases, having wreaked misery on the world
believed that after death there would be future lives
rejected teaching relating to ever lasting suffering in JC parable of the sheep and the goats

Question 23

assessment of hicks view

Answer 23

not widely accepted for the following reasons:
claim that incompatibles between religions is insignificant is not valid
eg suicide cults or islamic state seem totally incompatible with mainstream religion

xtian traditionally thinks in terms of life death and judgement, hicks idea of future states of existence after death does not fit with this view
universalism is unacceptable to evangelical protestants
most religions reject the view that religion is all about self transformation rather than a quest for truth

Question 24

hick promoting interfaith and interdenominational relations

Answer 24

views about cultural links between individuals and their religion encourage people to think about the one nesss of human religious understanding and not just about the differences between religions

views on nature of religion and on universalism could strengthen interfaith and interdenominational relations

Question 25

freedom of religion expression

Answer 25

not an absolute right in UK if harmful to others, would cause a breach of the peace or express racial or religion hatred it would be a breach of the law

Question 26

Nada Eweida, cross on lapel of BA uniform

Answer 26

for: expression of her faith would cause no harm
against: displays of religions affiliation is inappropriate in the workplace

judgement: FOR
not restricting anyone else rights

Question 27

MR and mrs Bull, refusing to let room to a gay couple

Answer 27

for: owners let rooms to married couples only, upholding christian practice on sex not based on sexual orientation
agaisnt: act of discrimination on ground of sexual orientation

Judgement: against mr and mrs bull. action breached 2007 sexual orientation regulations