Religion and Plurality—Central Theological Issues in the Christian Faith

I. Character of the Christian Faith

Dealing with religious plurality is a special problem for what are known as the “founded” or “prophetic” religions. This is because the “founded” religions arise from a core vision of a founder, resulting in the emergence of a new religious tradition. This happens either in response to a revelation (as in the case of Islam), or as a radical reform movement that eventually separates itself from the parent religious tradition (as in the case of Buddhism and Christianity). The strength, vitality, and credibility of these traditions depend on their faithfulness to the core visions of their founders. These religions also capture and preserve their core visions in canons of scripture, which play a major role in the life of the faith community.

It is in the nature of such religions that they are also actively “missionary” in character. The new revelation needs to be proclaimed; reformation and the alternate perspectives it brings need to be advocated. These visions grip the imagination of their immediate followers, imbuing in them a sense of urgency and obligation to spread the “message.” It is little wonder then that such religions, unlike “traditional” religions, have little time to reflect on plurality or on the merits and demerits of other ways of believing and being.

In the case of Christianity, the sense of urgency and the preoccupation with its own message were heightened by the eschatological setting of Jesus’ own teaching and ministry. The early church saw itself as a community on which “the end of time had broken in.” The messianic expectation and the conviction of the impending parousia (the Second Coming of Christ that would wind up history) shaped the psychological makeup of the early church. This ethos continues to stay with it to the present day.

Seen from this perspective, Christianity was never intended to be a “settled” religious tradition (as it eventually developed into) but a “prophetic challenge.” Its goal was the “proclamation” of the Good News of the in-breaking of the Reign of God over all of life, which demanded a new discipleship, particularly in the way one related to God and to one’s neighbors. When the expected parousia did not take place as a historical event that brought human history to its intended conclusion, Christianity gradually settled down into a religious tradition. It has, however, not come to terms with its new status of a “religious tradition.” Nor has it been able to stand on its own as a religious tradition. While Buddhism to a large extent became a separate religious tradition by gradually breaking off from its Hindu moorings, Christianity retained the Hebrew scriptures as its “Old Testament” to provide the “story” of the human predicament within which its message might be interpreted and understood—yet it would not see itself as a sect within the Jewish tradition.

This peculiar character and history of its development has much to do with Christianity’s inability to handle religious plurality. While it accepts plurality as a reality, it does not have handles to relate to it. Its preoccupation is with how it can remain “faithful to the core vision” that brought it into existence, its need to “proclaim the Good News” of God’s reign over all life, and the need to “call people to a new discipleship.” Christian exclusivism, thus, does not arise from ill will toward other religious traditions but is innate to its self-understanding.

The theological traditions through which Christianity has tried so far to integrate its reality as a religious tradition with its desire to be an eschatological community appear to be inadequate in the pluralist context. This has resulted in many misunderstandings of the purpose of its mission in the world and its calling together of an expectant community, the church. Its mission today is often experienced as imposition and a race for numbers. Many Christians themselves have strayed from the original intentions of mission and of the original purpose of the creation of the...