Pluralism

Pluralism: The view that there are many routes to salvation, of which Christianity is one path. Pluralists argue that different religions share the same ultimate goal and that the beliefs and practices associated with religions arise because of human culture and the differences are only superficial.

Pluralism takes three forms

Unitary theological pluralism: This is the view held by John Hick. Initially an evangelical Christian, he moved to the multi-faith city of Birmingham and was impressed by the faith and service to others that he saw in the Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims that he met there.

This raised questions for Hick, he argued that it caused 'a paradox of gigantic proportions as to how an omnibenevolent God could condemn these good, pious people and deny them salvation.

The analogy of the Copernican revolution:

Hick argued that just like there had been a Copernican revolution, there needed to be a revolution of the way we understand religion too.

The Copernican revolution proposed that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but that it was one of the multiple planets that orbited the sun.

Initially met with resistance, his revelation eventually led to many scientific discoveries and transformed the way that people understand the world.

Hick used this as an analogy for what he believed to be the right direction for theology. Hick argued that instead of seeing Christianity as the normative absolute and measuring all other religions against it, we should accept that Christianity is simply one of many religions with God in the center.

Christianity is therefore not the center of religion:

but one of many planets with God at the center. In this idea, Hick is arguing that salvation is not Christocentric but theocentric. This will only be possible when Christians see the new testament for what it is, myths to instruct, not literal stories.

Kant

Taking inspiration from Kant, Hick cites a distinction between noumenally and phenomenal knowledge.

The noumenal world is the world as it really is and the phenomenal is the world as we see it.

Kant argued that the true nature of God is the noumenal, but, because humans have finite minds we will never be able to comprehend that.

Hick goes on to say that religion is a human, phenomenal construct to try to understand God.

He argues that every religion falls short of the truth because none is capable of a noumenal understanding of God.

Religions are all phenomenally different, noumenally they are all referring to the same underlying reality. – 'the real'/ An-Sich.

For this reason, he argues that religious truth claims such as Jesus being God incarnate were not literal facts, and instead should be understood as myth.

Analogy of the blind men and the elephant:

Hick used the parable of the blind men and the elephant to illustrate this argument which says: blind men encounter an elephant and each one feels a different part such as the trunk, the tusk, the ear, etc.

Each person therefore has a different understanding of what the elephant is like, even though they are all encountering the same thing.

Some pluralists argue that this is what religion is like, people encounter God in different ways and therefore draw different conclusions about him, but, that they are all really encountering the same God.

His pluralist views also include the idea that people will have the opportunity to unite with God after death, through purgatory and that everyone eventually will be saved (universal salvation).

Keith Ward:

Ward is a pluralist, but, in a different way to Hick.

He disagrees that there is one God that all religions have some understanding of instead, he argues that there are many different 'reals' as they are experienced by each religion.

Ward argues that we have to accept that views and beliefs in different religions are conflicting but reasons for their religious beliefs can be equally valid.

He believes that knowledge is gained through experience not revelation, there cannot be a competition for truth claims. This means that no one religion can have definite knowledge of God, so, each has its own authentic version of salvation.

Ethical theological pluralism

Paul Knitter argues that all religions have a soteriology aim, to liberate humans from injustice, suffering, and concern for others and so, religion should be open to new interpretations and share a common desire for a better world.

Salvation is based on achieving these aims.

Influenced by liberation theology he believes that the primary purpose of a religious community is praxis (action) and that religion should be open to new interpretations and share a common desire for a better world.

His argument is that because all religions understand soteriology in different ways, dialogue can be especially fruitful. He thinks that dialogue will enhance and develop each religion's interpretation of reality.

Other pluralist thinkers:

Raimon Panikkar:

Panikkar is another pluralist who is quite different from Hick. Having come from a mixed-faith family (Catholic-Hindu) he thought that we need to have 'openness' to the truth rather than claiming that truth is found in one religion or another. A Catholic, for example, can have their faith deepened by the spiritual richness of Hinduism or Buddhism. He embraced the Hindu idea of Advaitra (the sacred unity of all things).

Ultimately, he respects the freedom of God to reveal God-self in any form that God wishes, rather than trying to pin God down to one faith or doctrinal tradition.

Strengths of Pluralism

• Truth is not exclusive to one religion, it is not seen as being hostile, ignorant, and elitist. Which is more acceptable in our postmodern, liberal, secular societies.
• Allows for an omnibenevolent God, as he is not condemning people to hell, who may live good lives just not follow the Christian way. o No need for conversion, which can be seen as hostile and offensive instead it encourages us to spend time helping the poor and marginalized in society as Jesus showed us.
• Accepts the flaws within all religions, which are easy for the atheist to highlight, and yet still allows for them to be a way to find salvation.

Weakness of Pluralism

• It Undermines the comprehensive nature of Jesus' Sacrifice, what is the point of the incarnation sacrificing his life for all of humanity, when he didn't need to.
• Applies human ideas of fairness to God, it makes it easier to see how he is just. But, this does not always seem to be God's way, as seen in the POE, Christians tend to hold to the idea that 'no one can understand what God does on earth' Ecc 8:16.
• When trying to equate human fairness to God, Aquinas would pose the question of how a finite mind can try to understand an infinite God.
• Mcgrath (conservative theologian) disagrees with Hick, stating he has no regard for the clear differences within faiths for example Hinduism and Christianity, he goes on to argue that Hick's ideas set aside the central idea of Christianity, for most Christians the central tenet of Christian belief is Christo-centric.
• Heim an American theologian states that pluralism takes its stance from a Western liberal perspective, that is heavily influenced by secularisation and its need for relative truths rather than absolute truth.