Christianity and Other Religions

By The Very Rev. Dr. Brian Baker, Dean of the Cathedral
Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento, California
November 2, 2006

1 Timothy 2:5
⁵For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human,

John 14:6
⁶Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 3:16 - John 3:19
¹⁶“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. ¹⁷“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. ¹⁸Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. ¹⁹And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.

1 John 5:12
¹²Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Four Models

1. Exclusivism (Replacement model: Christianity replaces all other religions)

2. Inclusivism (Fulfillment model: Christianity is the fulfillment of all other religions)
   A. History: (From Knitter, p. 64f.)
    1) Some early church theologians had a more sacramental view of creation and humankind.
     a) Justin Martyr: The Word was sown in creation and all of humankind partakes of this Word. “Those who have lived by reason are Christians.”
     b) Tertullian: the spirit of every human is “naturally Christian”
    2) Shift when Christianity became religion of Empire and w/ Augustine. Influenced by his own pre-conversion escapades and the threat of the “barbarians” who were threatening the Roman empire, Augustine emphasized the importance of Christian salvation. For centuries the church taught that outside the church, there was no salvation.
    3) Christopher Columbus and the new world. Christians assumed everybody had heard the gospel. And those few who hadn’t would be readily drawn to its truths. The west encountered folks who hadn’t heard the gospel and many weren’t easily persuaded. Council of Trent (545-63) adopted the notion of “baptism through desire” to include those who followed their conscience and lived morally and therefore implicitly expressed a desire to join the church.
   B. Karl Rahner: “Anonymous Christians” All grace is Christ’s grace. People who are participating in life-giving ways in other religions are participating in Christ’s grace. Note: He was not writing for Buddhists or Hindus. He was writing for Christians in order to free them from their negative views of those outside the church.
   C. Critique: Imperialistic. While it doesn’t condemn other religions, it doesn’t value them either.

3. Pluralism (Mutuality model: many religions with similarities in dialogue).
   A. Christianity does not have a corner on religious truth. This does not mean all religions are equally beneficial. But it does allow that other religions may be valid paths to “salvation.”
   B. The Philosophical Bridge: No religion is perfect. There is one “Reality or Truth” and various religions teach different aspects of that truth. Hick: goal is to move from being “self” centered to “Reality” centered. Different cultural contexts created different Religious expressions aspects of this Reality.
   C. The Mystical Bridge: Various paths up mountain to union with Divine or Mystery.
   D. The Ethical Bridge: Religions judged by their work for social justice.
   E. Critique: Jesus becomes “one of the boys.” It diminishes the uniqueness of different religions. Pluralistic Christians are too ready to jettison the uniqueness of Christ.

4. Acceptance (Many true religions with different aims or “salvations”)
Jesus Christ is the unique mediator of salvation.
The Buddha is the unique revealer of the dharma.

Back to the Bible: the verses are confessional (love language) not philosophical or objective. You are the most beautiful woman in the world. It is a description of an experience. We experience Christ as THE way for salvation. It is an affirmation for Christians, not necessarily an insult for Buddhists.

Knitter, Paul F., “Theologies of Religions.” Orbis, 2002.