Pluralism Flashcards
What is inter-faith dialogue
Inter-faith dialogue also known as inter-religious dialogue inter-belief dialogue in order to include those whose belief are non-religious. It is about communication between people of different beliefs in order to build relationships, break down stereotypes and prejudices and to promote each and understanding
-David Ford identified occasions that have led to inter-faith dialogue; the Holocaust and Judaism + Anti-Semitism
Redemptoris Missio and John Paul II
Translates to the “mission of the redeemer” and covered the place of Christian missionary work in multi-faith world. The encyclical makes it clear from the outset that Christian mission to non-Christians remains essential. The Pope states Jesus Christ is the one saviour and that Christ is the only way in which God is revealed to the world. However also acknowledges in a multi-faith world Christian missions can be seen as negative and intolerable to other religions.
Paul Eddy’s “Sharing the Gospel of Salvation”
Paul Eddy is a member of the Church ho believes Christians had become too fearful of giving offence to the point where they no longer proclaimed that Jesus Christ was the way to Salvation. Sharing the Gospel of Salvation reaffirms the Christian message that God’s plan for salvation is uniquely achieved in Jesus Christ.
-This view is most likely to be approved by Bonhoeffer
Scriptural Reasoning Movement
Scriptural Reasoning as a movement began amongst Jewish Scholars in the USA. They looked at the sacred texts of Judaism and shared the expertise of Jewish philosophers, linguistics and leaders. Christians and Muslims were invited as well as they share common roots with Judaism. The participants tells eachother about their cultural values and beliefs listen to eachother and ask questions.
Alan Race on Pluralism and definitions
In Alan Race’s book he identifies 3 broad perspectives Christians may develop:
-Exclusivist view: where it is believed that Salvation can be gained only through Christian faith
-Inclusivism: used to refere to those who agree that Christianity is the key to salvation but think its possible for non-Christians to be saved by Christ
-Pluralism: is the term used for views that hold that there are many different paths to salvation
Narrow and Broad Exclusivism
Narrow Exclusivism is the view holding that salvation is available only to people who belong to their own denomination within Christianity eg Augustine and Calvin
Broad Exclusivism is the view holding that all people who accept Christ through faith are saved regardless of the kind of Church to which they belong or style of worshiping they prefer
D’Costa: divided exclusivists into 2 groups, those he called restrictive access and universal access exclusivists. One is narrow and one takes a more pluralistic approach
Kraemer: he emphasised that non-Christians cannot achieve salvation through their own faith systems but have to convert to Christianity
Karl Barth on pluralism
Barth took up an exclusivist approach stating that the only ways in which God has chosen to reveal himself is through Jesus Christ, Bible and the Church Teaching
Anonymous Christians and Karl Rahner on pluralism
Karl Rahner was a Catholic Theologian. He questioned whether non-Christians should be saved. Rahner described Christianity as the absolute religion. However he went on to explain that an understanding of Christianity as absolute seemed to exclude from Salvation anyone who lived before Christ. For Rahner this seemed to oppose the idea of an omnibenevolent God
-Rahner uses Old Testament examples that people who do not know Christ but had genuine faith in God can be saved. He calls these people anonymous Christians eg Abraham, Moses and Job
John Hick’s pluralist approach
Hick suggested that there was a need for something called the ‘Copernican Revolution’. For context Copernicus was the individual who proposed that the world was not geo-centric but rather that the Earth along other planets orbitted around the Sun. Hick uses Copernicus as an analogy for theology. Hick believed that people should put God or Reality at the centre. Therefore Christianity and other religion orbit around that as there are more than one way to get to God or to be saved.
Raimon Panniker’s approach to Christianity
Panniker did not think that there are many ways or different truths of expressing one truth. Instead he talked about the need for openness rather than making claims to know what ‘the truth’ is. After his visit to India to 1954 he came to the conclusion that Christ may not be a specific individual but rather a name for God revealing himself to people. Christ for Panniker is the word Christians use for God making himself known, other religions may have a different name for it.
