PLURALISM

There is a difference between plurality and pluralism. Plurality is the reality that all of us in South Asia experience as we live in a contextm of tremendous cultural and religious diversity. It presents us with the challenge of how to live out our faith in such a context (see the article “Living with People of Other Faiths”).

Pluralism, in contrast, denies the reality of religious diversity. It says that no religion can claim to be superior to any other, for all religions are historical and cultural responses to the one divine reality.

Diversity of religious experience and expression must thus be celebrated as something good and healthy, and salvation (or enlightenment or liberation) acknowledged as present in every religion.

Pluralism raises crucial questions for Christians, for the Christian gospel maintains that all humans are sinners in need of redemption by God’s grace and that God desires to save people of every race, culture and religion. It also asserts that God’s salvation comes to us through a particular person, Jesus Christ, who is the decisive self-disclosure of God and who took upon himself the sins of the world. Christians insist that it is only by faith in Jesus Christ that human beings can be restored to right relationship with God.

Pluralism totally rejects the central Christian claim that Jesus of Nazareth was the ultimate self-disclosure of the eternal God. This claim is regarded as arrogant and as an obstacle to the inter-religious harmony so essential to world peace. Pluralists say that while Christians can hold that Jesus is unique and normative for Christian believers, they cannot claim that he is unique or normative in a universal sense. He may be the Saviour for Christians, but he is not the only Saviour of humankind. Pluralists want Christians to abandon any great claims for Jesus and see him simply as one of many great human religious leaders.

It follows that pluralists also reject the historic Christian claim that the Bible contains special divine revelation. It demands that the scriptures of other faiths be accepted as possessing the same authority as the Bible, since they also contain divine revelation. Christianity, on the other hand, maintains that while the biblical doctrine of general revelation (Acts 14:15-17; Rom 1:18-20; 2:12-16) provides a basis for acknowledging the presence of truth in other religions, these religions cannot offer salvation.

Pluralism, however, views different religions as merely different paths leading to the same ultimate goal. The different religious traditions are seen as describing different contexts within which men and women experience essentially the same salvation or liberation.

However, in reality the salvation from sin that Christ offers is quite different from the concept of salvation or liberation in other religions. So it cannot be said that all religions are aiming for the same goal.

Pluralism is a relatively new trend and hence has little historical support. The most serious weakness of the pluralist position is the fact that it is logically inconsistent. It denies religions the right to make strong claims, but is happy to make dogmatic claims for itself.

Meaningful engagement with the issue of pluralism is of critical importance and will directly impact the future of Christianity and mission in South Asia.

Ivan Satyavrata