Pluralism and multiculturalism Flashcards
Outline exclusivism
The belief that Christianity is the one and only truth and thus is the only way of achieving salvation.
Catholicism can be seen as exclusivist as they argue salvation cannot be achieved outside the Catholic Church.
Karl Barth is an exclusivist and emphasises “sola Christus” which outlines how salvation can only reached through Christ. Barth argues it is “The Doctrine of the Trinity which fundamentally distinguishes the Christian Doctrine of God” and therefore those who do not believe in the Trinity, thereby reject Jesus and so cannot partaking in the atoning power of his sacrifice.
Evaluate exclusivism
Emphasises the centrality of Jesus’ crucifixion, thereby acknowledging key ideas of Christianity.
Affirms and justifies evangelism.
Scripture support: Jesus states he is “the way, the truth…nobody comes through the father except through me.”
Limits God’s omnibenevolence: Those not exposed to the Christian faith or those born prior to Jesus would be condemned according to an exclusivist view.
Contradicts how Jesus lived his life: Gospels portrayed Jesus as one who reached out to all in society, including those most marginalised and excluded by society. Jesus arguably embodied an inclusivist approach.
Contradicts the Parable of the Sheep and Goats: “the righteous will inherit eternal life” indicates salvation is achieved through your actions rather than belief in particular doctrines.
Outline Inclusivism
Suggests Christianity is still the only true religion but excepts other religions may embrace the same truths and contain aspects that are compatible with Christian ideals.
Rahner’s anonymous Christian attempts to preserve God’s omnibenevolence arguing that one can live in the grace of God and therefore attain salvation even if they are outside the explicitly constituted Christianity. However, this only refers to individual’s not exposed to Christianity.
Outline Pluralism
Hick is an advocate for pluralism, suggesting all religions can be equally valid and true at the same time.
Outline Pluralism
The concept that all religions are equally valid as they are merely just different interpretations of the same divine reality.
Hick uses the parable of the blind men and the elephant to illustrate this; just as touching a different part of an elephant results in a different description, different religions can be seen as different descriptions of the same single truth.
Hick outlines how whether one is a “Christian, Jew..Marxist or Maoist is nearly most of the time dependent on the part of the world that person was born”
Compatible with modern British society which is increasingly multicultural.
Hick can be seem to overgeneralise religions and minimises their differences by arguing they all participate in the same truth. Not all religions are about opening up the mind to a divine reality, eg: many pagan religions are about making sacrifices, Christianity is fundamentally mono-theistic whilst Buddhism is generally non-theistic.
Hume: different religions make contradictory claims so they cannot be simultaneously true.
