Development I: Pluralism and theology Flashcards
1
Q
3 main positions in chr
A
- exclusivism
- inclusivism
- pluralism
2
Q
exclusivism definition and its 2 types
A
- Chr is the only route to salvation
—> restricted access exclusivism
—> universal access exclusivism
3
Q
definition of restricted AE
A
- view that one is selected by God for salvation by Christ in this life, and those who don’t believe in Christ are damned
4
Q
key details of RAE- scholar - John Calvin
A
- (as described by John Barton): “God not only saves without humans desert but also damns without fault”
—> salvation through God’s grace alone so anyone who doesn’t accept God’s grace is damned —> believes in doctrine of double predestination
5
Q
RAE- scholar: William Lane Craig
A
- “anyone who would receive Christ has the opportunity to do so”
—> theory of ‘middle knowledge’: God knows everything + ensures the gospel is available to those who will respond. If people have no access to gospel it is bc God knew they wouldn’t have responded anyways
6
Q
RAE scholar: Carl Henry
A
- (as described by D’Costa): “we should stand in awe and thanks at God’s merciful, free, undeserved gift of his son”
—> answers the issue of the inculpably ignorant: pre-christian jews and unbaptised children will be saved
7
Q
key features of RAE:
A
- they believe one must hear and respond to the gospel of christ in this life
- christ died only for the elect and everyone else is going to hell: “no one comes to the father except through me”
-believe God is a God of justice and mercy, by only saving those who respond to christ and that justice demands that everyone deserves damnation
8
Q
+ve of RAE
A
- Carl Henry: overcomes the issue of the inculpably ignorant: pre-christ jews and unbaptised young children will be saved because “they have belonged to the channel of revealed religion”
- RAE fits with the Chr doctrine of necessary conditions first salvation: fides ex audito (hearing the gospel is necessary for faith) and Sola Christus (God’s grace can be found through christ alone)
9
Q
-ve of RAE
A
- Catholics reject it: god “desires all men to be saved” —>dismissing idea that we could be predestined for evil
—> CA: RAE may argue the ‘all’ in ^ quote means all the elect — BUT catholics reject this idea bc they argue the idea of being predestined for evil and christ only coming for the elect is dismissed
(catholics categorised as UAE) - inculpably ignorant
- denial of free will
- denying God’s omnibenevolence
10
Q
definition of UAE
A
- salvation is only available through Christ, but the opportunity to accept christ may be at or after death
11
Q
key details of UAE
A
- looks at what happens to those born before christ and have had no access to the gospel in their lives —> it would be difficult to accept that these people are subject to eternal punishment - nor would this be the will of a just God
- some recognise the ‘middle knowledge’ idea where God already knows who will accept the gospel…
- believe there are methods aside from faith and baptism that prepare one for salvation - like through natural law, conscience or elements of faiths through other religions
- official catholic position
12
Q
UAE scholar Karl Barth
A
- “the revelation of God as the Abolition of religion” - implying other religions can go to heaven
- only way God can be revealed to sinful humans is through God’s own offer of grace- only those who he chooses
- as only Chr revelation is true then the truth claims of other religions should be abolished —> The trinity is uniquely christians + makes it clear that Chr alone has exclusivist access to this knowledge
13
Q
UAE scholar D’Costa
A
- arg this is the most valid approach for Chr to the issue of a multi-religious society
- args UAE is the one that fits best w/ Chr teaching because of its idea that salvation is available post-mortem
- argues that Catholicism supports UAE because salvation is possible for a non-chr if they fulfil requirements like responding to their own religion, good works and truth:
—> Vatican council: “through no fault of their own, have not yet attained to the express recognition of God, yet who strive… to lead an upright life”
14
Q
UAE: roman catholic church
A
- “God our saviour, who desires all men to be saved”
—> salvation only available to all-non chr after death if they’ve fulfilled the requirements- i.e. responded to their own religion
15
Q
-ve of RAE
A
- RAE position presents an unloving God
- lacks consistency- vatican II argues that non-christian religions have “rays of truth” and are sufficient for salvation but Dominos Lesus argues: extra ecclesial nulla saus (without being a member pf the church, they rays of truth are deficient for salvation )
- RAE is the cause of Chr imperialism (chr have caused persecution on other Chr for not believing their version of the truth)
16
Q
inclusivism definition and its 2 types
A
- view that, although Christianity is the normative means of salvation, ‘anonymous’ Christians may also receive salvation.
- structural inclusivism
- restrictive inclusivism
17
Q
what is structural inclusivism
A
although salvation is available through Christ, other religions can provide an openness to God’s grace for the faithful - they are on the path to Christ in another name
18
Q
key features of structural inclusivism
A
- theory by Karl Rahner - he coined the term ‘anonymous Christian’ - the pose who experience grace without knowledge of Christ- the inculpably innocent
- Rahner believed that (in the words of D’Costa): christianity is the “explicit expression of grace”- but that this grace can be experienced implicitly by selflessly helping others, e.g. “salvific grace can be mediated through history without explicit knowledge of Christ”
19
Q
structural inclusivism: Karl Rahner
A
- felt other religions provided individuals with the framework necessary to experience God’s grace
- idea of an ‘invisible church’ : “a non-christian religion can be recognised as a lawful religion…without thereby denying the error … contained in it”
20
Q
+ve of SI
A
- defends omnibenevolcne of God (+ better than exclusivism)
- allows for validity of other religions
- allows possibility that one’s moral actions can contribute to their salvation
21
Q
-ve of SI
A
- doesn’t match with central chr beliefs- if fides ex audito is a necessary condition for salvation then its not possible to achieve it fully through any religion except christianity
- undermines christs death
- reduces grace to something found within humans, not a divine gift
- offensive to other religions
22
Q
restrictive inclusivism definiton
A
- belied salvation is only available through Christ, though other religions may offer the means of preparing salvation, but nothing further
23
Q
key features of RI
A
- other religions can’t lead to salvation
- D’Costa describes RI as: “a just God makes provision…through varying means: … beautiful elements within non-Christian religions” (ie you can be prepared for Christ in another religion)
24
Q
-ve of RI
A
- very vague- no real explanation of how it relates to both salvation through christ and a preparation through other religions —> in what way can one come to salvation through them?
- does not provide means for salvation for the non-christian at all and so is more exclusivist than inclusivism (more like UAE)
25
pluralism definition and its 3 types
- there are many roads to salvation, one being Chr
- unitary
- pluriform
- ethical
26
key features of pluralism
- an approach where D’Costa recognised 3 subcategories
- these positions aim to overcome the concept of Chr being the ‘top’ religion and recognise equal worth and validity in other religions and world views
27
unitary pluralism definition
- all religions are believed to be equal and valid paths to one divine reality
28
unitary pluralism summary
- emphasise that alll religions are and can be equal paths to divine realities
- ‘unitary’ indicates a single unitary divine being behind the plural religious phenomena
29
scholar for unitary pl
HICK:
- salvation ultimately comes from God but that all religions can lead to salvation as well as non-theist views (noumenal and phenomenal realities)
- we are all equally capable of experiencing the noumenal reality
- different religious beliefs are not historical belief but symbolic truth
- “we should not infer, from the Christian experience… that salvation cannot be experienced in any other way”
30
+ve of UP
- allows for existence of an omnibenevolent God — each religions is on the path to the same eschatological finality
- no need to claim truths of other religions are wrong
- good people can be saved w/o knowledge of christ
31
-ve of UP
- central belief within chr that christ is the only means for salvation must be abandoned
- Hicke’s positios means Chr must see the incarnation, virgin birth, resurrection and the trinity as myths not historical realities
- hick picks and chooses the elements of chr that work with his theory and ignores those that dont — eg he picks the idea of salvation but ignores the chr view that this can only be through christ
32
pluriform pluralism key features
- position of Raimundo Pannikar
- ultimare reality is so far beyond human comprehension that it can’t be described other than explaining what it is not
- all faiths hold elements of the truth, but none offer the whole truth
- God can’t be limited to one faith
33
scholar for Pluriform pluralism
- Pannikar: we have lots of religions each w/ different variations — there is not 1 faith that is true - they all have aspects that are true
- Keith Ward: just because religions are different doesn’t mean they are invalid
- D’Costa (about pannikar): “it is nota unique truth the self-revelation of the triune God, but an insight into reality”
34
+ve of PP
- validates other beliefs
—> Keith Ward: just because beliefs are different doesn’t mean they’re invalid. he felt religion stems from RExperience so exclusive truth can’t be claimed for any of them
—> ^ supported but the Buddhists story of Indra’s net: a net filled with jewels, whereby if one “select one of these jewels for inspection and look closely…in its polished surface there are reflected all the other jewels in the net”
35
-ve of PP
- goes against sola christus
- western theology- if all religions are equal, do they work with the cyclical view of time?
36
ethical pluralism def
- all religions are related to the divine in that they contain moral and ethical codes and practises: religions shouldn’t be judged according to their beliefs and ideas about the divine
37
ethical pl key features
- all diff religions can lead to salvation + its more about what the religion encompasses, e.g. helping the poor
- more about what you do (praxis) than doctrine (what you believe)
38
scholars for EP
Knitter:
- felt main aspects of all religions was what they do to promote freedom, justice…
- by maintaining dialogue between religions, they’ll be able to unite together to achieve their shared ends (religions of the world need to come together to share their differences in views…)
- all religions have the same soteriological idea that the aim is to be liberated from justice
- D’Costa (about Knitter): “when they tackle the marginalisation… of the poor and weak… no religion is better than another”
39
+ve of EP
- open to anyone- not about the future but about now, so no belief system needed
- supported by Chr scripture- sheep and the goats- aim is to do good
40
-ve of EP
- doesn’t support sola christus because knitter presents salvation as being through good works alone
- assumes a universal standard of good but this isn’t always compatible with different cultures
- dismisses the beliefs of a religion- what is left of a religion if it is reduced to an aim of righteousness
41
case study evidence for interfaith dialogue
- St Philip’s parish -enables christians and churches to be confident in a multi faith world- have developed programmes e.g. ‘Family of Abraham’ a group made up of people only in mixed faith marriages
- A Rocha, in Southall: found that a concern for the stewardship of the local environment goes hand in hand for concern of the wellbeing for those in that area— placed recycling banks in local churches.
