No Religion Has a Monopoly on God’s Truth, Clerics Assert

Is it possible to proclaim the truth of your own faith and at the same time agree that other religions are also paths to salvation?

As paradoxical as that may seem, two religious thinkers--one Christian, another Jewish--say that must happen as the United States becomes a nation of growing religious diversity.

It may not be as easy as it sounds. In remarks at Fuller Theological Seminary this week in Pasadena, they said they are talking about far more than simple tolerance, a kind of live-and-let-live attitude.

What is needed, they said, is for each religion to delve deeply into its beliefs to discover theological grounds for affirming the truth and legitimacy of other spiritual traditions.

Anything less, they added, not only smacks of a kind of religious arrogance, but opens the door to conflict.

Called a “theology of pluralism,” the proposal was explored during a two-day seminar by the Rev. Ronald F. Thiemann, dean of the Divinity School of Harvard University, and by Rabbi A. James Rudin, national director of inter-religious affairs for the American Jewish Committee in New York.

“Believers have no trouble affirming and celebrating the truth of their own religion,” Rudin said. “It is much harder, but equally important, for people of faith to acknowledge the truth and legitimacy of other religions.”

“There is a widespread conviction,” Thiemann added, “that in order for one to hold firmly to truth and to the truth claims of one’s own faith you must . . . by force say the other is false.”

Both men conceded that a theology of pluralism faces formidable obstacles. For example, evangelicals, as well as other Christians, often cite a statement attributed to Jesus in John 15:6: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.” Elsewhere, Christians are commanded to go into the world and baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which they see as a clear call to evangelization.

In fact, Rudin and Thiemann had to wait no longer for polite but heartfelt protests than a question-and-answer session that followed their presentations at Fuller, an evangelical seminary where Jesus Christ is proclaimed as the only way to salvation.

“Evangelism is not a mere intent that we can discard and still be faithful to our faith,” one student said. Another, who identified herself as a Jew who believes that Jesus is the promised Messiah, added: “You want us to say, ‘Jesus is for everybody, but don’t tell the Jews.’ ”

Thiemann described such thinking as “binary logic,” two alternatives existing in opposition to each other.

Both Rudin and Thiemann made clear that a principal reason for their proposal is the furtherance of domestic tranquillity. Religious diversity is growing and religions that once dominated the nation’s social, political and moral discourse are having to make room for others. Thiemann noted that the fastest growing religion in America is Islam.

One reason for culture wars, he said, is that views on volatile issues like abortion and homosexuality are grounded in different views of the sacred.

“It’s not just that we disagree, but we disagree on the notion of the sacred, and therefore your view must be ‘sacrilegious’ and can’t be adjudicated,” said Thiemann, whose current research focuses on the relation of Christian theology to American public life. In 1991, he wrote “Constructing a Public Theology: The Church in a Pluralistic Culture.”

Rudin said a theology of pluralism is needed to complement constitutional safeguards.

Like Thiemann, Rudin said such a theology is not a surrender to contemporary moral standards, which many religious people see as falling.

“It is not a cop-out to the exigencies of modernity. Nor is a viable theology of pluralism an example of moral relativism in the modern age, but it is a recognition that there is and apparently will continue to be a wide variety of religious expressions operating under a universal God,” Rudin said.

Both clerics see openings in Christian and Hebrew Scriptures for acknowledging the truth in other faiths.

For Rudin, the traditional rabbinical concept of the seven Laws of Noah that dates to the 2nd century was an early attempt at affirming that spiritual diversity “is a permanent fixture in God’s universe.”

Rabbis held that while Jews are commanded to observe and carry out 613 divine commandments, people who are not Jews are obliged to fulfill only seven.

“One of the best known Rabbinic sayings, ‘The righteous of the world have a place or a share in the world to come,’ indicates that there is salvation outside the synagogue,” Rudin said.

Thiemann sees possibilities of a theology of pluralism in Trinitarian theology in which God is worshiped as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Christians, he said, worship God and believe in an almighty creator who lives in divine transcendence and mystery. “Revelation comes to us by grace and we grasp it by faith,” he said. “But the revelation falls into our sinful hands; therefore it always has to be received in an attitude of gratitude and humility.”

In other words, Thiemann indicated, Christians should appreciate that their understanding of God’s revelations may not be complete.

Second, he said, Christians believe that Jesus was raised from the dead. If so, they should expect their God to be a God of surprises.

Third, he said, Christians believe in the spirit of God. “We are called to follow, but there is no blueprint. If we do follow, we still do so recognizing that we don’t see the whole picture,” he said. “There might be [non-Christian] companions with us who also witness to God’s truth.” For the sake of the Gospel, he said, Christians need to be open to the spirit’s leading.

“For Christians, truth is always a matter of groping by faith and not by sight,” he said.

Both Jews and Christians acknowledge that theological concepts change over time, one reason why Christians sometimes refer to Scripture as “the true and lively word,” a point made by Peter Gomes, minister at Harvard University’s Memorial Church, in his latest book, “The Good Book.”

Rudin said Scripture is no longer used to sanction slavery, for example. Now, he said, theological concepts attributing masculine characteristics to God are under severe attack.

“It is now time,” he said, “to devote the same energy, talent, and time toward the development of a theology of pluralism.”