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EVANGELICAL CONTRIBUTIONS ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM

All the world’s major religious traditions are making significant and increasing visibility on the American landscape. A small mountain of books and articles have been written on the subject of religious pluralism in recent years. My assignment is to dig through this mound and excavate the five "best" books by evangelical scholars. 

Evangelicals have been slow to produce single monographs dealing with the issue of religious pluralism. After digging through the various strata, my excavation has revealed that there are less than a dozen books by evangelicals on the topic. Someone else might well have picked five different books, even from this limited selection. This list is merely my list of the "top" five books by evangelicals on religious pluralism. Some might also quibble whether or not all of my picks are "evangelical." I have included two "honorary" evangelicals among the bone fide, "card-carrying" members of the evangelical community. Stephen Neill and L. Newbigin were both Church of England bishops who served as missionaries in the pluralistic context of India and circulated in broad ecumenical circles. They both have received a warm reception within the evangelical community because of their strong commitment to biblical Christianity and their emphasis upon a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. I will begin my list with the most recent book and work backwards chronologically. No hierarchical valuation is intended. 

The first book that every evangelical should read is More Than One Way? Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World (Zondervan, 1995), edited by D. Okholm and T. Phillips. As the subtitle suggests, this book sets side-by-side four different perspectives of religious pluralism. The four views are represented by J. Hick’s "Pluralist View," C. Pinnock’s "Inclusivist View," A. McGrath’s "Particularist: Post-Enlightenment Approach." and the "Particularist: Evidentialist Approach" shared by R.D. Geivett and W.G. Phillips. The structure of the book allows each author to articulate his view in a terse essay. Then, each of the other contributors make critical remarks upon that essay. The author is then given a chance to respond to his critics. I selected this book for two reasons: (1) evangelicals are in actual dialogue with the foremost religious pluralist, J. Hick; and (2) the representative evangelical scholars reveal that there are plural answers within the evangelical community to the question of salvation of non-Christians. 

Each of the evangelical scholars oppose Hick’s pluralistic theology of religions. Hick tried to win credibility with his evangelical interlocutors by recounting his "born-again" conversion and his early attempt to defend orthodox Christianity. Pinnock, in particular, takes offense at Hick’s arrogant claim to have "successfully escaped" the intellectual narrowness of evangelical theology. There are, however, more significant evangelical objections than Hick’s intellectual snobbery. For example, each of the evangelicals take issue with Hick’s phenomenological criterion of saintliness, which contends that all religious traditions, more or less, produce similar moral and spiritual fruit in their adherents. Also, each of the evangelical scholars object to Hick’s metaphorical christology, which dismisses a literal understanding of Jesus as the incarnation of God and the second person of the Trinity. In addition, each of the evangelical respondents has problems with Hick’s Kantian distinction between the unknowable "Real" in Itself (i.e., God) and human experience and interpretation of "the Real." Hick defends his position in his characteristically lucid manner, but he simply reiterates what he has already said in his essay and in previous writings. 

The evangelicals are no less critical of one another, although McGrath seems hesitant to enter the fray of fraternal roughhousing. Pinnock suggests that God’s grace is at work in the whole world, including the religious life of humankind. Following Vatican II, Pinnock believes that non-Christian religions may be potentially "saving" if the gospel is never proclaimed due to no fault of the people in other religions. Hick finds Pinnock’s view unstable. McGrath is in fundamental agreement with Pinnock, but remains agnostic about the saving character of non-Christian religions. Geivett and Phillips point out logical flaws and inconsistencies and find no biblical support for Pinnock’s optimism of salvation outside of explicit belief in Jesus as the Christ. McGrath’s essay is the weakest in this collection and Geivett and Phillips spend too much time defending natural theology only to conclude that natural revelation is ineffectual toward salvation. 

The second book that every evangelical ought to own is C. Pinnock’s A Wideness in God’s Mercy: The Finality of Jesus Christ in a World of Religions (Zondervan, 1992). This book is included in my top five because it is an insider’s challenge to rethink the traditional evangelical proposition that explicit faith in Jesus Christ is absolutely necessary for final salvation. 

Pinnock, I think, argues convincingly for a more inclusive and optimist approach to the question of salvation of persons in non-Christian religions without undermining the truth of the gospel or the need for missions and evangelism. There are two fundamental doctrines that serve as "control beliefs" in Pinnock’s proposal. The first is the doctrine that God loves and desires all people everywhere to experience salvation. It is God’s love and God’s will for all to find salvation that shapes Pinnock’s hermeneutic of hopeful optimism. The second doctrine is that everyone who is "saved" is saved only through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Pinnock lays claim to a "high" christology, which he thinks is in no way incompatible with a positive, inclusive, and optimist view of the world’s religions. These two doctrines structure the framework of Pinnock’s thinking about salvation in the non-Christian religions. 

There are two places where Pinnock does not sufficiently develop his argument. One is where he proffers the thesis that because religions are dynamic and continually changing, there is a possibility for the Spirit of Jesus Christ to make a positive and substantial impact on them. While that possibility exists theoretically, I doubt whether any of the major world’s religions would actually find a meaningful place for Jesus Christ and the Christian view of salvation. It is unlikely that religions would adopt one part of Christian doctrine and not be obliged to accept the whole theological framework that renders it a coherent system of belief. The other place of difficulty is Pinnock’s suggestion that a postmortem encounter with Jesus Christ makes "good sense" for those who never heard the gospel in this age. The biblical support for this view hangs largely upon two cryptic verses (1 Pet 3:19-20) and it tends to take away from the importance and decisiveness of making a decision for Christ in this age (Heb 9:27). 

The third book worthy of consideration by evangelicals is L. Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralist Society (Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1989). Newbigin is critical of approaches to religious pluralism that focus narrowly upon the issue of the salvation of non-Christians. His approach is more ambitious and much boarder in scope. Newbigin examines the roots of pluralism, diversity, and relativism in western culture and asks, "What is the Christian message to such a society?" In his analysis of western culture, Newbigin does a masterful job at making contemporary philosophy, ethical theory, sociology, and theology accessible to the non-technical reader. I have included this work in my top five list because of Newbigin’s broader approach and accessibility. 

The question that focuses his work is: "How, in this situation [of pluralism], does one preach the gospel as truth, truth which is not to be domesticated within the assumption of modern thought but which challenges these assumptions and calls for their revision?" (5). Newbigin draws upon the work of Polanyi, McIntyre, Berkhof, Wink, and Wuthnow to help answer this question. In sum, Newbigin argues that the true meaning of history has been revealed in Jesus Christ. This fact is public "truth," not simply private opinion, and as such it must be proclaimed and demonstrated universally by the church to all peoples and cultures. Newbigin takes on religious pluralists like Hick and Knitter and gives reasons why their view is evidence of a cultural and theological collapse in the western world. He defies the common classification by describing his own position as exclusivist in the sense that the revelation in Jesus Christ is uniquely and decisively true, inclusivist in the sense that saving grace is not limited to church-going Christians, and pluralist in the sense that God’s grace is at work in the lives of all peoples. Newbigin does not hold that the world’s religions are alternative or equally valid ways of salvation. While admitting the possibility of salvation for non-Christians, Newbigin is content to say that this is ultimately a matter that God alone can determine. 

The fourth book receiving nomination is Sir N. Anderson’s Christianity and World Religions: The Challenge of Pluralism (InterVarsity, 1984). The first edition was published in 1970 under the title, Christianity and Comparative Religion, and has undergone significant revision. Anderson was the Director of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and Professor of Oriental Law at the University of London. His expertise in Islamic Law and his training in comparative religion give his work a different texture than those mentioned above. I have included this work in my top five list because Anderson interacts with religious pluralism in two distinct spheres: (1) he responds to the intellectual work of theologians and comparative religion scholars; and (2) he engages the actual teachings and practices of the major world’s religions. It is one thing to construct a theology of religions, it is quite another to actually do comparative theology. While I do not agree with all of Anderson’s views, the strength of his book is that he constructs a theology of religions while doing comparative theology. 

He examines the message, the way of salvation, and the view of Ultimate Reality in the major world’s religions and then compares these with parallel themes in the Christian faith. From this analysis, Anderson concludes that the Christian message, the Christian plan of salvation, and the Christian God revealed in Jesus Christ are unique to the world of religions. He is clear to say that there is much that is good, right, and true in non-Christian religions. Nevertheless, Anderson believes that on the critical issues of revelation and salvation, Christianity is not only in opposition to other teachings, but is making the scandalous claim that it alone is true. This tough line is softened somewhat by Anderson’s admission that those who throw themselves on God’s mercy by some strange work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart may find salvation even if the gospel is not explicitly preached to them. Moreover, Anderson affirms the value of interreligious dialogue, but not at the expense of evangelism and mission. 

My final selection is S. Neill’s Christian Faith and Other Faiths (InterVarsity, 1984). This book is an extensive revision of an earlier work (1961) under the same title. Neill’s strategy is also to set the problem of Christian faith and other faiths in sharp relief by comparative analysis. He directly engages the essential teachings of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Primal religions, and Atheism. These chapters are especially helpful for students who are not acquainted with the teachings of the major world’s religions. Neill carefully sets forth the variety of beliefs and practices taught in the various religious and non-religious traditions and offers a comparative analysis from the standpoint of classical orthodox Christianity. In the final two chapters, Neill deals directly with the inner-Christian discussion of how to response to the challenge of religious pluralism. He presents a sensitive and forceful case for Christianity as uniquely satisfying the human quest for meaning and significance. The tone of Neill’s book is less strident toward non-Christian religions than that of Anderson’s. This book makes my top five list because it demonstrates a through familiarity with non-Christian religions, engages them directly and fairly in dialogue, and makes a compelling case for the uniqueness of Christian truth claims. 

An important feature throughout Neill’s book is that he subjects "Christendom" to the same critical scrutiny that he applies to the non-Christian religions. He reminds us that Christian self-criticism is a vital byproduct of encountering other religious traditions. Neill closes his book with an invitation for peoples of other faiths to examine first-hand the person and work of Jesus Christ and for the church to be more like the One we preach. These are worthy objectives as we approach the twenty-first century. 

By Kenneth W. Brewer, Ph.D., John Wesley Fellow; currently pastor, Oldwick UMC in the North New Jersey Annual Conference.