Yesterday I asked people to chat with me about Christian universalism (see “If you’re a Christian universalist, why?”). Today I want to hear from Christian pluralist. By a “Christian pluralist” I mean you consider yourself a Christian, you find God provided your salvation as the Christian religion proclaims, but you think God has provided multiple path ways to salvation. To use Hudson Smith’s analogy: It is a large mountain with many paths but one destination.
Let me know what makes you a Christian pluralist!
– What other paths lead to God? Islam? Buddhism? Hinduism?
– Do you think there are any religions that do not lead to God?
– What do we do with the uniqueness of Jesus if there are other ways to God?
– Why are you a Christian if there are other equally valuable paths?
It would be great to hear from you!
the archives near Emmaus 
I could be wrong, but I’ll be surprised if anyone answers this in the affirmative.
I can’t see how one can be a Christian, professing to believe in Christ, and assume there could be any other mechanism (save for Christ’s redemption) that lead to salvation.
Conflict with the ‘world’ is an inevitable out-working of faith.
Andrew, I’m not a Christian pluralist, but here are several distinct ways that someone might end up there while still being a worshipper of Christ:
* Believing that Christ’s redemption can be mediated through other religions, too
* Believing that the exclusive statements of Jesus in the Gospels were added by the Gospel writers and are not historical or valid
* Not reading the Bible very much and instead going with what seems like it makes sense
* Having non-Christian friends or associates who exemplify Christian values and things Christians would call fruits of the Spirit, leading them to question how they could consider themselves saved or their friends unsaved
Again, I’m not attempting to defend any of these, but I think it’s important to recognize that there are people who take this position, and they do so with reasons – often well-thought-out ones.
Brian,
Another good one but I think it’s tied into so many underlying issues that it may be confusing.
Any answer to this question is going to involve what exactly we mean by “God”, “paths”, “lead to”.
1) God – The way your using God in this question seems to be in the sense of final fullness of presence ala the Beatific vision. Am I reading you right here?
2) Paths – Your examples here are all world religions. Do you mean “paths” in the modern evangelical sense of “worldview” or do you mean something more like the practice of religious rights (Prayer, fasting, etc.)?
3) Lead to – When you say lead to do you mean lead to in the sense of a compass (pointing the way toward a direction) or like your hostess leads you to a table in a restaurant (Takes you to the destination)?
Andrew
I imagine there are a few people out there who hold this position. When I’ve heard Marcus Borg speak he is essentially a Christian pluralist.
Bill
Those are good examples of reasons that might be given.
Dan
It is quite difficult to address pluralism for these very reasons. Not everyone shares ideas of god, salvation, eschatology, and the like. What I am aiming for with “God” could be hard to define if someone considers themselves a Christian pluralist. I imagine a Christian pluralist would say the Christian presentation of God is correct, but that other religions can still lead to this God though they don’t understand him. Of course, it is altogether possible that if someone is a Christian pluralist they could believe in something vague like “final reality”, yet see Christian practices as the way to obtain that reality. Like a Christian Buddhism of sorts!
It doesn’t get any easier with paths and destinations. I guess I am leaving those things wide open for personal interpretation since it’s what my question demands.
Hello 🙂
I am a pluralist because I do not believe that humans have the power to discover such details about God that are stated in holy books, like the Bible. I am doubtful that the Bible is truly the “word of God” when it was written by humans with their various interpretations and perspectives.
I believe that there is a God, and I think that today’s popular monotheistic religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.) are just different interpretations of that God, because human language and perspective is diverse and faulty. Even religions such as Buddhism and Taoism that focus more on an Ultimate Reality than a God may be different interpretations of that Higher Force, that Unmoved Mover.
I am a Christian because I choose to worship this Being in a Christian church. I do not know for certain whether the events in the Bible are the real Truth or whether they are just human language trying to explain something greater, but I love the teachings of Jesus and try to follow Him with my life. I believe that no matter what religion you are in (or if you even participate in one), you should pay respect to God (or Ultimate Reality, Unmoved Mover, whatever you would like to call Him) in your own way, and you are capable of achieving salvation or “enlightenment” through those methods.
I know that many other Christians would criticize me for my beliefs, and to be honest I’m still trying to develop my own perspective. I do hold many different opinions than the churches and doctrines, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am always doubtful when following what men tells other men to do… I rely more on that spiritual connection to a higher being, and what I feel is right.