Program / Course 18: World Religions / Lesson 1.3
What you will learn
- Distinguish religious diversity as a fact from pluralism as a theory.
- Define exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism and state what each claims about truth and salvation.
- Separate the question of truth from the question of salvation.
- Recognize that these labels are rough and that many thinkers do not fit neatly.
The big idea
People have always met neighbors whose religion differs from their own. Three broad answers are given to the question of how the religions relate. Exclusivism holds that one religion is true and that salvation is found through it alone. Inclusivism holds that one religion is fully true, while others may contain truth and salvation may reach people outside it. Pluralism holds that several religions are equally valid paths to the divine. These labels are tools for thinking, and each hides a good deal of variety.
Key terms
- Religious diversity
- The plain fact that people hold many different religions. Everyone agrees on this fact. The disagreement is about what follows from it.
- Exclusivism
- The view that one religion, for Christians the Christian faith, contains the saving truth, and that other religions are mistaken where they differ.
- Inclusivism
- The view that one religion is normative and fully true, while people outside it may be saved through Christ in ways that are not fully visible, and other religions may hold partial truth.
- Pluralism
- The view that the major religions are different, roughly equal responses to one ultimate reality, so that none is uniquely true or saving.
- Soteriology
- The study of salvation: what people are saved from, what they are saved for and how it happens.
- Truth claim
- A statement a religion makes that is meant to be true of reality, such as that God is one or that Christ rose from the dead.
- Relativism
- The view that truth depends on the person or culture, so that no religious claim is true for everyone. This is different from pluralism as the term is used in theology.
Background
The terms exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism became common in the late twentieth century, partly through the work of the philosopher John Hick and the theologian Alan Race. They are modern labels, but the questions are old. Early Christians lived among Jews, Greeks and Romans of many faiths and had to say what they thought of them. Later Christians met Muslims, then the peoples of Asia and the Americas.
Two questions are bundled together in this debate and should be kept apart. The first is about truth: are the teachings of the religions true, and can they all be true when they contradict one another? The second is about salvation: can a person be saved without belonging to a given religion, or without having heard of it? A person may answer these differently, and many of the most interesting positions do.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Diversity is a fact, pluralism is a theory
Religious diversity means that many religions exist. Everyone, believer or not, agrees on that. Pluralism, in the technical sense used in this course, is a particular theory about what the diversity means. Confusion comes when the word is used in both ways.
Society can also be pluralistic in a civic sense: people of many faiths live together under equal laws. A Christian can support this arrangement, which is about neighborly peace and freedom of conscience, without holding the theological theory that all religions are equally true.
Step 2: Exclusivism
The exclusivist holds that the Christian message is true and that salvation depends on Christ. Where other religions teach something that contradicts the gospel, they are mistaken. Texts often cited are John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,” and Acts 4:12, “neither is there salvation in any other.”
The word exclusivism is often heard as unkind, but exclusivists do not all say that the unevangelized are lost. Some do. Others hold that only Christ saves while leaving open how and when his saving work reaches particular people. The common thread is a claim that Christ is the unique and necessary Savior and that other religions, as systems, do not save.
Step 3: Inclusivism
The inclusivist holds the same about Christ: he is the savior of all. But the inclusivist adds that his grace may reach people who do not know him by name. Other religions may contain real truth and goodness, and sincere seekers may be saved through Christ without explicit faith. The Second Vatican Council taught something like this when it said that those who through no fault of their own do not know the gospel, but seek God and try to do his will, may attain salvation (Lumen Gentium 16).
The inclusivist does not say that every religion is a path to God. The claim is that Christ’s saving work is wider than the visible church. Early writers such as Justin Martyr, who spoke of seeds of the Word scattered among the nations, are often cited in support.
Step 4: Pluralism
The pluralist holds that the great religions are different responses to a single transcendent reality, which different traditions call God, Allah, Brahman or the Real. John Hick compared the situation to the Copernican revolution: just as the sun, not the earth, lies at the center, so the Real, not any single religion, lies at the center. In this picture the doctrines of each religion are culturally shaped descriptions of something that exceeds them all.
The pluralist view has serious critics, including many Christians and also many non-Christians. Muslims, Jews and Buddhists often object that pluralism does not take their traditions seriously: it asks them to reduce their claims to something they themselves would not accept. Hick’s critics also ask how contradictory beliefs, such as that God is a Trinity and that God is one in a way that excludes this, can all be true.
Step 5: Using the labels carefully
The three labels are a map, not the territory. Many thinkers do not fit neatly. Some Orthodox writers decline to say anything about the fate of others beyond trust in God’s mercy. Some evangelicals hold that the unevangelized may be saved by Christ. Some Jewish thinkers hold that righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come, while still holding that Jewish covenantal practice is binding on Jews.
Remember also that the labels apply to every worldview. A Muslim is an exclusivist in a sense about Islam, and a secular humanist who holds that religious claims are false makes an exclusive claim about reality too. The question for each person is not whether to make truth claims, but which ones, and how to hold them with humility and respect.
- Is the question I am asking about truth, about salvation or about both?
- Which of the three positions do I currently hold, and have I held it for reasons?
- What is the strongest argument against my position?
- Can I state each of the three views in a way that a thoughtful holder would accept?
- What do I think should happen to civil peace if believers of different religions disagree about truth?
- How would a Muslim or a Buddhist respond to pluralism as Hick describes it?
Examples
An exclusivist statement
“Jesus Christ is the only Savior. People are reconciled to God only through him, and the gospel must be preached to all.” Some who say this go on to say that those who never hear are in God’s hands. Others say they are lost. Both are exclusivist about the means of salvation.
An inclusivist statement
“Christ died for all. A person who has never heard of him but who responds to the light that God has given may be saved by his grace, even though that person does not know the source.” The claim keeps Christ at the center but widens the reach of his work.
A pluralist statement
“The great religions are different paths up one mountain. The Christian knows the divine as Father, the Muslim as Allah, the Hindu as Brahman, and none of these captures the whole.” The statement is meant to be generous, though a faithful Muslim or Christian may reply that it does not reflect what their own faith says about itself.
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic teaching is inclusivist in structure. It holds that salvation comes through Christ and his Church, and also that those who without fault do not know them but seek God sincerely may be saved (Lumen Gentium 16, Catechism of the Catholic Church 846-848). The Church also holds that other religions may reflect a ray of truth (Nostra Aetate 2), while rejecting the view that all religions are equal.
Orthodox
The Orthodox Church confesses that salvation is found in Christ and in the Church, which it holds to be the Orthodox Church. It generally avoids detailed statements about the fate of those outside, and many Orthodox writers say that the boundaries of the Church are known to God. Orthodox teachers commonly reject pluralism that would make Christ one path among many.
Protestant
Protestants hold all three positions in some form. Confessional and evangelical traditions are often exclusivist, resting on John 14:6 and Acts 4:12. Some Protestants, such as C. S. Lewis in a well known passage of Mere Christianity, lean inclusivist. Liberal Protestants influenced by Hick or Schleiermacher are more often pluralist. Protestants disagree among themselves, and the debate is active.
Jewish
Judaism does not generally seek converts and does not teach that non-Jews must become Jewish to be saved. Rabbinic tradition speaks of the Noahide commandments, a set of basic moral obligations for all people, and holds that the righteous of every nation have a share in the world to come. At the same time Judaism holds that the covenant with Israel is particular and binding.
Muslim
Islam is exclusivist about the final revelation in the Qur’an, yet it recognizes earlier prophets and, in the Qur’an, gives a place to Jews and Christians as People of the Book. Muslim scholars differ about the fate of those who have not heard Islam clearly, and many emphasize God’s mercy toward those who were never properly told.
Why it matters
These three terms will return in Module 7 and in every comparison lesson. Having them clear early prevents a common mistake, which is to treat the debate as one between the kind and the unkind. Each position is held by thoughtful, charitable people, and each faces real objections. The student needs the vocabulary before deciding anything.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Pluralism just means being polite to people of other religions.
Correction: Politeness and civil peace are good, and Christians can hold them. Theological pluralism is a stronger claim: that the religions are equally valid responses to the divine. A person can be courteous without holding this.
Misunderstanding: Exclusivists believe everyone outside their religion is damned.
Correction: Some do, but many exclusivists leave open how Christ’s work reaches people. The claim is about Christ as the only Savior, not necessarily about the number of the saved.
Misunderstanding: Inclusivism means all religions lead to God.
Correction: Inclusivism claims that Christ’s grace may reach people through other religions or beyond them. It does not claim that those religions as systems are saving paths.
Misunderstanding: Pluralists have no truth claims.
Correction: Pluralism is itself a truth claim about the relation of religions. It also asks adherents to reinterpret their own doctrines, which many of them resist.
Knowledge check
What is the difference between religious diversity and pluralism?
Religious diversity is the fact that many religions exist, which everyone accepts. Pluralism, in the theological sense, is a theory that the major religions are equally valid responses to one ultimate reality. The same word is also used for civil arrangements in which people of many faiths live together under equal laws.
How does inclusivism differ from exclusivism?
Both hold that Christ is the unique Savior. The exclusivist stresses that other religions, where they differ, are mistaken and do not save. The inclusivist adds that Christ’s saving grace may reach people who do not know him, and that other religions may contain partial truth.
Why do some adherents of other religions object to pluralism?
They argue that pluralism asks them to give up what their own tradition says about itself. A Muslim insists on the final authority of the Qur’an, and a Christian on the deity of Christ. Making all claims equal descriptions of an unknown Real changes their meaning.
Why should the truth question be kept apart from the salvation question?
A person may think one religion is most true while hoping that God saves people outside it. Another may think several religions contain truth but still hold that salvation comes through Christ. Keeping the questions apart allows these positions to be stated clearly.
Think it through
- Which of the three positions did you assume was correct before this lesson? Where did that assumption come from?
- Can a person be a civil pluralist and a theological exclusivist? What would that look like in a neighborhood?
- Which Bible texts seem to support each position? Do any texts fit more than one?
- How would you explain these three terms to a friend of another faith?
Independent assignment
Three positions in your own words
In your notebook, write about 100 words each for exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism, in a form that a defender of each would accept. Under each, list one biblical or historical argument its defenders give and one objection they must answer. End with 150 words saying which position seems strongest to you now and what you still need to learn. Total length about 450 to 500 words.
Further study
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religious Diversity (Pluralism) Read for the standard philosophical account of pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism.
- Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) Read paragraph 16 on those who have not received the gospel.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the section on outside the Church there is no salvation, and the paragraphs that follow.
- Alvin Plantinga, Warranted Christian Belief Read selectively for the argument that exclusivist belief is not irrational.
- John 14:6 Jesus as the way, the truth and the life.
- Acts 4:12 Salvation in no other name.
- 1 Timothy 2:4 God desires all to be saved.