Topic 8 - Pluralism and Society Flashcards
WHAT ARE THE 3 AIMS OF SCRIPTURAL REASONING?
- Wisdom (everyone is united in their desire for wisdom coming out of
discussion) - Collegiality (everyone is an equal)
- Hospitality (non-judgemental environment)
WHAT ARE THE METHODS USED BY SCRIPTURAL REASONING?
- Participants identify a narrative or theme, perhaps a concern or issue arising from
their community or their context. - Each faith community selects a short passage from their scripture relating to that theme.
- Participants meet in small groups and one at a time, each passage of scripture is read out loud to the rest of the group. Others may never have come across it before so they give an ‘introduction’, explaining a little of its context in the scripture and its importance in the faith tradition.
- Convened by a facilitator, participants then discuss the passages one at a time- they may begin by asking questions to help them understand it better, or share a reflection or something that particularly strikes them as they hear it. In this way, an open and interactive discussion begins and the participants are able to reflect together on the possible meanings of the text.
HOW HAS GLOBALISATION LED TO MULTI-FAITH SOCIETIES?
- facilitated by the advance of technology making travel quicker and cheaper
- Crane and Matten termed it as ‘deterritorisation’
- Michael Barnes said behind the romantic images on multi0faith society local people have worries about their identity
how has the post enlightenment led to multi faith societies?
post enlightenment thinkers such as kant, hume and rousseau put a particular influence upon using human reason reason to develop understanding.
the post enlightenment era had a big emphasis upon human rights and tolerance
how has migration led to multi faith societies?
- diversity of places such as southall
- people may move because of increasing economic gap between their country and where they move making it essential
how did mulieris dignitatum respond to inter faith dialogue
‘inter religious dialogue is a part of the Church’s evangelizing mission’
‘dialogue must be respectful because all lawful religions are led by the holy spirit’
believe members of the church can learn more about god’s revelation through non-christian religions
how did the gospel of salvation (2010) respond to inter faith dialogue?
said church of england must show ‘hospitality.. developing good inter-faith relations in the hope they will come to faith and be baptised’
says people must have a shared sense of common good which can only come from respecting others religions
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 1
exclusivists, salvation only through christianity (dominius iesus)
• Although respectful of other religions, they only “often reflect a ray of the Truth” as they lack the necessary controlling beliefs e.g. sola christus, fides ex auditu One of the aims of “Dominus Iesus” was to draw a line between accepting “rays of truth” outside Xnity and maintaining the fundamental belief that salvation is only possibly through the Christian Church
DOMINIUS IESUS WAS A DECLARATION PUBLISHED IN 2000 BY POPE BENEDICT
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 1 - counter argument
opportunity to evangelise (calvin + luther)
• Exclusivist attitudes often associated with Calvin and Luther, and their strong adherence to humans being wholly corrupt due to the Fall, and unable to receive salvation independently – NEED God’s grace and acceptance of Jesus and Son of God Opportunity to introduce others to the gospel with the hope of conversion (fides ex auditu); the chance to bring people into direct contact with Christianity as they may be the elect and thus able to respond and achieve salvation
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 1 - counter RESPONSE
revitalise christian beliefs (sharing the gospel of salvation)
- ‘Sharing the Gospel of Salvation’ (2010) – outlines why members of the Church should be bolder in expressing their beliefs openly in society, “if we are too cautious of sharing openly the foundations of our beliefs… we deny a little of God’s nature”
- Has to be done in a spirit of openness and generosity but ultimately it is hoped non-Christians may come to accept the truth of Xnity
- As humanity is sinful, it is only those who hear the gospel (fides ex auditu) and respond (the elect) that can be saved – those who do not have the opportunity are undeserved anyway
- God demonstrates his selfless, undeserved act of love through offering salvation to the elect through Jesus’s redemption for our sins on the cross – although we are fallen, some are still given the chance to reach the Beatific Vision
- “There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12)
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 1 - conclusive response
based on the assumption that jesus was the literal son of god, threat of intellectual ignorance (hick)
- Christian exclusivism can be argued to be internally coherent – IF Jesus is God incarnate, then it would make sense to claim that Christianity has the truth about God. However, this is based on a rather large, un-provable (unlikely) assumption – that Jesus was genuinely the Son of God. John Hick argues that Jesus never claimed to be the Son of God and the title was used in an honourific sense to make the point that Jesus acted in a God-like way. Instead, Jesus should be seen as a “gift to the world” as a teacher of wisdom, and not a source of exclusive truth about God.
- By taking a Christocentric approach, exclusivists not only overlook the idea of a loving God who would want all the to be saved, but also cause practical issues in 21st century multi-faith societies where people hold a variety of beliefs due to gloablisation – intellectually ignorant and pose threat of religious conflict and intolerance.
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 2
inclusivists, common ground other religions can mediate truth of christ
- David Ford (structural inclusivist, inter-faith pioneer) argues a common ground must be established; then differences can be discussed in a spirit of collegiality.
- “God our saviour… wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy)
- Karl Rahner, in “Theological Investigations”, through his concept of structural inclusivism, has argued that “a non-Christian religion can be recognised as a lawful religion” if the religion’s structures develop an openness to God’s grace i.e. through encouraging moral behaviour, votum ecclesia
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 2 - counter argument
not distinctively christian (john piper)
- Some have argued, such as John Piper, that the common ground established (love of God) is far too vague, and ultimately undermines the fundamental truth of Christianity: Jesus and Son of God, something which Muslims reject…
- Seems to over belittle the Christ’s redemption on the cross, as all good people can be saved – secularises Xnity.
- Misused notion of votum ecclesia – phrase refers to those who consciously wish to become members of the Xn Church; cannot implicitly wish for something you are unaware of.
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
Point 2 - counter response
cannot deny ultimate truth of christianity (rahner)
- Address the charge of Christian imperialism and therefore develop an openness to genuine discussion, which is not competitive – able to make critical judgements but must be “tolerant, humble and yet firm” (“Theological Investigations” Karl Rahner)
- Rahner adheres to the “Solus Chritus” principle, arguing that it was Jesus’ atonement that allows people to be saved through grace, yet realises that other religions can mediate God’s grace (as outlined in the 1995 CoE Doctrine, “Mystery of Salvation”)
ESSAY PLAN - PLURALISM AND SOCIETY
POINT 2 - conclusive response
christianity has to abandon this privileged position and assume truth is open ended (d’costa)
- Rahner’s inclusivism is patronising towards other religions, as it suggests only Christ is the truth. Equally, other religions are not respected on their own merits – people must adhere to the teachings and values of Christ.
- Gavin D’Costa, in “Christianity and World Religions” offers a more convincing alternative to inclusivism by arguing that seeing Christ as the only path to salvation (Christomonism) is misleading and ignores the role of the Holy Spirit. If a successful inclusivist doctrine is to be formed, one must look past the figure of Christ alone, to the Holy Spirit within the Trinity. The Holy Spirit may well reveal itself through other means and so other religions may possess truths Christianity can learn from
- Avoids problems wit Rahner’s “anonymous Christianity” and encourages inter-faith dialogue.
