Religious pluralism and society Flashcards
Who was Paul Eddy?
- Asked the Synod what they felt on whether they should be trying to convert those of other faiths
- Thought Christians had become too scared to cause offence, meaning they don’t proclaim Jesus as the way to salvation
How did the Church of England respond to Paul Eddy?
Published ‘Sharing the Gospel of Salvation’ to clarify Eddy’s issues in 2010
What does ‘Sharing the Gospel of Salvation’ say about conversion?
- Reaffirms that Jesus is the only way to get salvation
- Warns against treating Christian mission as a marketing exercise where non-Christians are the target
- Emphasises the need to recognise that people may already belong to major world religions, meaning family members might get hurt
- Says that Christians should not talk about any darkness or hopelessness that may believe may follow from not converting
- Be willing to learn about other’s faiths and let people take your time
What is Redemptoris Missio?
- Encyclical by John Paul II
- Addressing the decreasing missionary action that is the spiritual purpose of Church on earth
- John Paul wants to answer challenges to conversion from a modern world
What does Redemptoris Missio teach?
- Mission has been recently reduced to helping people build communities of justice, freedom and peace. Before, it involved conversion
- John Paul rejects views that conversion fails to respect freedom and religion. He believes that it’s everyone’s right to hear the Gospel
- Proclaiming Christ with hope of converting people is good but only if it’s done in a way that respects their conscience
- Also says that other religions are a positive challenge for the Church
- Every Christian should practice dialogue with an open mindedness
What is the scriptural reasoning movement?
- People of different faiths come together to read and reflect on other’s scripture together
- About exploring texts and possible interpretations across faiths
- Helping us ‘disagree better’
- Conversion not allowed
- Practiced globally, including places which are affected by religious tensions
Matthew 28:19
‘Go and make disciples of all nations’
What letter was an example of interfaith dialogue?
- 2007
- From leading muslim scholars
- Letter named ‘A Common Word Between Us and You’
- Highlighted the shared passion that Christians and Muslims have for worshipping God and loving your neighbour
- Expressed desire to continue an ongoing dialogue between Christians and Muslims
What are some pros of interfaith dialogue?
- May promote social cohesion and understanding of other cultures
- Encourages stronger understanding of personal faith and allows for the strong possibility that people will leave even more convinced by their own faith
- Religious pluralists may say that no religion can claim to know the truth
What are the cons of interfaith dialogue?
- Many Christians view the main objective of interfaith dialogue as conversion
- May be said to definitely NOT promote social cohesion, because it has cause conflicting beliefs WITHIN religions!
- Inter faith dialogue is very limited in what it can do when there are large gaps in material wealth that counter social cohesion
- Most believe it’s every Christian’s duty to convert people and have a sense that people are missing out on an incredibly important message
What is the main theme in this topic?
How do themes of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism affect society and Christian practice in interfaith dialogue and conversion? How should Christians act towards other faiths?
What is the liberal view of interfaith dialogue and conversion?
- Dialogue requires being open to changing beliefs and learn something
- Two groups simply attempting to convert each other isn’t dialogue and can’t promote social cohesion
- Exclusivism and its goals of conversion undermine dialogue
What is a conservative view of interfaith dialogue and conversion?
- It requires genuine expression of your faith, including if you believe that your religion only is true and others should convert
- You don’t have to have an open mind
What view is scriptural reasoning based on?
The idea that intolerance is caused by a lack of understanding
Who developed textual reasoning? What is it?
- Peter Ochs, a Jewish theologian
- Combines study of scripture with current issues facing communities and applying philosophy
- Scriptural reasoning was developed from this
How do scriptural reasoning sessions work?
- Participants choose a topic
- Each community selects a passage from scripture
- Each passage introduced and read out
- Passages discussed one at a time and possible meanings/interpretations discovered
- Discussion may involve discussion of the text’s relevance to contemporary issues
What ideology is scriptural reasoning?
Scriptural reasoning is post liberal, attempting to avoid liberalism AND fundamentalism problems
What are the issues with scriptural reasoning?
- Represses exclusivist parts of religion which annihilates large aspects of the faith it seeks to bring together, meaning it can’t be fully inter faith - people’s entire faiths aren’t being discussed!
- Explicitly against discussion about which religion is true, which may lead to conservatives rejecting it as relativistic
- May be said to attack religious freedom
What is relativism in the context of religion?
The idea that there is no one true religion
How does Gavin D’Costa criticise scriptural reasoning?
- Doubts that it’s able to avoid relativism
- Religions are all-encompassing worldviews
- They don’t just explain their reality, but also why other religions believe in other realities, eg. Judaism failing to recognise Jesus as the Messiah
- Religions involve being critical of other worldviews, yet the aim of conversion is part of a believer’s faith
- Can participants really maintain their own faith while partaking in dialogues?
What analogy does Ford use to describe scriptural reasoning?
- Describes it as a tent where different faiths come together
- This shows how it’s a unique, neutral space where all faiths are equal
What did Cardinal Ratzinger claim about secular liberal culture?
It has begun to view exclusivist beliefs in Jesus as threats to tolerance and freedom
Wha does Christopher Hitchens argue about exclusivist attitudes (specifically Eddy)?
- They cause social problems!
- Believed that people have the right to judge religious believers negatively for trying to convert people because it creates social tensions
- Equally, religious believers should be free to do this
- Religious conversion leads to intolerance
- Criticism is not the same as marginalisation. In a society of free speech, atheists are allowed to criticise in the same way that believers can try to convert
What might relativistic pressure lead to for traditional Christians?
It may lead to fundamentalism and therefore extremism if people think their religious freedom is under attack. This would not be good for social cohesion!
How does William Lane Craig defend conservatives approaches to interfaith dialogue?
- True religious diversity has to include exclusivism
- Liberalism itself shows intolerance by denying exclusivist religious freedom
- You don’t have to adopt pluralism to have productive dialogue or a cohesive society
What does Paul Knitter argue about pluralism?
- There is a link between exclusivism and intolerance
- Even tolerance isn’t enough for social cohesion. Only pluralism is
- True core in all religions is peace/justice
- Exclusivist beliefs that God is on one side have encouraged violence. Even the Nazis thought God was on their side
What is an ‘axial shift’?
A change in the nature of what religion is through relating and understanding other religions and collaborating rather than competing
How does Knitter draw parallels between religious harmony and racial harmony?
- The health of a multi-racial society is threatened by one race believing in its supremacy
- In the same way, the health of a multi-religious society is threatened by one religion believing it’s God’s preferred religion
What’s a quote from Paul Knitter about religious supremacy?
‘Christian supremacy is just as dangerous as white supremacy’
1Corinthians 9:16
‘Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!’
