Pluralism and Theology Flashcards
What is liberalism?
• It is our individual freedoms that should be respected
* This leads to plural societies which causes religious pluralism
What are the 2 problems of pluralism for Christians?
- Epistemological Problem = if Christian theology can accept any truth claims of other religions
- Soteriological Problem = can people from other religions or beliefs be saved by God
What are the 3 responses to the 2 problems caused by pluralism for Christians?
- Theological Exclusivism
- Theological Inclusivism
- Theological Pluralism
What is theological exclusivism?
• It is when Christians believe that only Christianity fully offers the means of salvation
Who established 2 types of theological exclusivism?
• D’Costa:
1. Restrictive Access Exclusivism
2. Universal Access Exclusivism
What do both restrictive and universal access exclusivism support?
• They both support “solus christus” (salvation through Christ alone)
Who supports restrictive access exclusivism?
• Calvin
- This is due to his belief in double predestination as he believes Christ’s death was only for the elect
What do universal access exclusivists believe?
• They believe that Jesus died for everyone who hears and accepts the gospel
What do both universal and restrictive access exclusivists believe about salvation?
• They both believe salvation can only come from fides ex auditu and peopel accepting it
What do universal access exclusivists believe about God?
• They believe God gives everyone the opportunity to respond to the gospel, even after death
What do restrictive access exclusivists believe about salvation?
• They believe salvation is only offered to those who hear and respond to the gospel in this life
What belief does D’Costa hold about salvation?
• He holds the universalist belief
- This is supported by Timothy as it states that God “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth”
What type of theological exclusivist is the Catholic Church?
• They are universal access exclusivists
- This is because they believe God can save non-Christians (Dominus Iesus)
Who supports the Catholic Church?
•D’Costa
- This is because he believes that God will present the gospel after death to those who have not yet heard it
What does Kraemer support?
• He supports Christian missionaries
- This is because he believes that revelation of God through Christ is central to salvation
* This means the gospel is crucial as only the truth can be found in the gospel (solus christus)
What approach does Barth take?
• He can be interpreted as both a theological exclusivist and inclusivist
- This is because he believes we can only know God through God’s word (theology of word) which is seen primarily through Jesus and argues that the truth claims from non-Christian religions should be “abolished”
- However, he also argues that God can reveal himself whenever he chooses, which means he could choose to reveal himself to other religions and some scholars argued that “abolish” is used in the context to mean “transform”
What does theological inclusivists believe?
• They believe that salvation is through solus Christus, but does not have to be through fides ex auditu
What 2 types of theological inclusivists does D’Costa establish?
- Structural Inclusivism
- Restrictive Inclusivism
What do structural inclusivists believe?
• They believe that any religion whose structures develop an openness to God’s grace can lead to salvation through Christ
What do restrictive inclusivists believe?
• They believe that salvation can be offered to those who have not heard of the gospel, but God’s inclusiveness is restricted to individual people, and does not extend to other religions
What type of theological inclusivist is Rahner?
• He is a structural inclusivist
- This is because he combines solus Christus with the belief that God wants everyone to be saved
* This means Christ is the sole cause of salvation, but that salvation can also be passed on through history and other religions without explicit knowledge of Christ
What 3 arguments does Rahner use to support his beliefs?
- Implicit knowledge of God’s grace = this is because other religions can implicitly support God’s grace and support salvation
- Anonymous Christians = this is because religions who support God’s grace, but have not heard the gospel can also be saved due to inculpable ignorance
- Votum Ecclesia = this is because someone who wants to be a member of the church, but is prevented can still be saved as anyone who wants God’s Grace can be saved
What 3 types of theological pluralism does D’Costa establish?
- Unitary pluralism
- Pluriform pluralism
- Ethical pluralism
What is unitary pluralism?
• It is the belief that all religions can be equally valid paths to the same one divine being
What is pluriform pluralism?
• It is the belief that all religions can be different paths to different divine realities
What is ethical pluralism?
• It is the belief that the truth of religions should be judged according to their ethical principles
Who supports unitary pluralism?
• Hick
1. He supports theocentricism over christocentricism (this is because he believes salvation through Christ alone limits the number of people who can be saved so we should focus on God instead)
2. He supports the myth of Jesus’s divinity (this is because Jesus was not God incarnate but a historical figure who points people towards the divine being)
Who supports pluriform pluralism?
• Panikkar
- This is because he believes no one religion has the whole truth, but that they all have some truth
Who supports Panikkar?
• Ward
- This is because all religions are partially true, which means they can cooperate with each other and discuss their disagreements to get closer to the truth
Who supports ethical pluralism?
• Knitter
- This is because he supports soteriocentricism which means he is focused on salvation
* However, he believes that salvation is the ability a religion has to save people from marginalisation, exploitation and oppression (this also means all religions can learn from each other)
2 strengths of theological exclusivism:
3 weaknesses of theological exclusivism:
3 strengths of theological inclusivism:
2 weaknesses of structural inclusivism:
2 strengths of theological pluralism:
3 weakness of theological pluralism:
Who argues that Rahner moves too far away from the central importance of Christ and his death on the cross?
• Balthasar
- This is because he believes salvation can only come to those who have heard the gospel
What does D’Costa argue Balthasar’s criticism also applies to?
• He argues that it also applies to restrictive inclusivism
- This is because knowledge of Christ and his death is required for salvation, and neither form of
inclusivism can explain how salvation is brought about without that knowledge
