Questions – World Religions
On this page we consider the issue of world religions and how these may be understood in regard to issues of salvation – questions like
- Do all religions lead to God?
- What are the consequences if I choose a way that does not lead to God?
Here you will find an extract from the respective chapter in 'The God of the Cruel World, some book recommendations and links to websites where people are attempting to provide answers to these types of questions.
Extract from 'God of The Cruel World'
Like the pluralist, the Christian inclusivist also believes that God is made known through each of the world religions. However, the inclusivist believes that full and complete knowledge of the Divine can only be gained through Jesus Christ. Now to understand the dynamics of the inclusivist approach, it is necessary to journey back to the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council (of the Roman Catholic Church) which wrestled with the issues of how people from other faiths should be considered in terms of Christ's salvation. The conclusion of 'Vatican 2' was that while its members believed that everlasting salvation could only be found through faith in Jesus Christ, special provision should be extended to those people from other traditions who:
'through no fault of their own do not know the gospel of Christ or his Church, yet sincerely seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do [God's] will as it is known to them through the dictates of conscience[15].'
In reaching this decision, the Council also recognised and affirmed that whatever was true and holy in other faiths also reflected 'a ray of that truth which enlightens all men[15]'. Central to this line of thinking was the idea that other religions should be thought of as at a stage of being 'pre-Christian' rather than 'non-Christian' as the council believed that each one was ordained to find its fulfilment in Christ.
Of course, the inclusivist approach differs from pluralist ideas in that it does not suggest that all religions lead to God but rather that although other religions may display something of the truth of the Divine, the complete truth comes only through Jesus Christ. The suggestion of the Second Vatican Council (Roman Catholic Church) was that other religions may also be considered participants in this process because Christ secures the possibility of eternal salvation for all people through his death and resurrection, irrespective of how they came to believe in him. The idea developed by Council members proposes that Christ's salvation is granted to people in one of two ways – the
- Ordinary way of salvation
- Extraordinary way of salvation
[15] - New Dictionary of Theology (IVP, 1998) p135
Extract from 'The God of the Cruel World' (World Religions) © 2007 Bob Eckhard
Further Reading
Links
Ernest Valea's comparative analysis of major world religions from a Christian perspective
Books
'World Religions Made Simple' – Mark Water’s basic introduction to the major world religions is a useful resource highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the different religious groups – currently out of print but possibly available on back order.