3 minute read
Alan Race first articulated the exclusivist-inclusivist-pluralist trichotomy model in 1982.1 This framework proposes three broad outlooks for how Jesus followers perceive other world religions. Each model contains nuanced permutations, but in the streamlined sense Exclusivism maintains there’s no salvation possible in other religions, Inclusivism holds open the possibility that God is present in other religions and may save non-Christian adherents through Jesus, and Pluralism says all world religions are equally true and valid. All three views have Christian proponents.
Two decades later, Paul F. Knitter adapted and expanded Race’s work.2 Knitter’s model offers four major perspectives. The Replacement Model aligns with Exclusivism, but parses between two sub-perspectives. The Fulfillment Model sees Christianity as bringing a fuller truth to earlier faiths like Judaism or indigenous religions. The Mutuality Model offers a blended pluralism that perceives a mixture of truth, error, and incompleteness in all religions, so they ecumenically need one another. The Acceptance Model is a pure pluralism that sees all paths as leading to God.
I’ll give it to you straight: I don’t know the answer. Paul’s lifestyle sure seems to point to more of an Exclusivist conviction. C.S. Lewis gives a compelling Fulfillment vision in The Last Battle. Billy Graham expressed hope for some kind of postmortem evangelistic opportunity for those who never heard the name of Jesus, which resonates with me. Rob Bell’s Love Wins didn’t move the needle for me, but David Bentley Hart’s That All Shall Be Saved sure was thought-provoking. I’ve got all these eclectic perspectives and many others interacting and synthesizing in my head.3
Who I’m sold on is the endlessly fascinating person of Jesus as described in the New Testament.4 In John 14 He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus of Nazareth is my core conviction and spiritual centerpiece. Beyond that? I’m far less resolute about the eternal implications for practitioners of other world religions. Having studied the beliefs and practices of many religions and spiritualities, I don’t fear them nor am I resentful towards with them. Quite the opposite, I try to humbly learn from them.5
The original beatniks practiced spiritual curiosity and religious tolerance, so their influences were eclectic.6 It seems to me there’s a perspective available that’s both faithful to The Way of Jesus and reflects the values of the Beats. I’m open to discussion about the specifics, but my outlook is to consciously have Jesus as the gravitational center and True north of the spiritual configuration, then be humbly yet discerningly receptive to influence from other world religions. I don’t believe all world religions are equally true, but I do think we can and should learn from all of them.
Author
His book is Christians and Religious Pluralism: Patterns in the Christian Theology of Religions.↩
His book is Introducing Theologies of Religions.↩
I don’t have a strong Yay or Nay to the Perennial Tradition. At this time, I feel neither attracted to, nor repelled by, it. *shrugs*↩
I wholeheartedly agree with this quote from Lesslie Newbigin’s book, The Gospel in a Pluralist Society:
“It has become customary to classify views on the relation of Christianity to the world religions as either pluralist, exclusivist, or inclusivist… [My] position is exclusivist in the sense that it affirms the unique truth of the revelation in Jesus Christ, but it is not exclusivist in the sense of denying the possibility of the salvation of the non-Christian. It is inclusivist in the sense that it refuses to limit the saving grace of God to the members of the Christian church, but it rejects the inclusivism which regards the non-Christian religions as vehicles of salvation. It is pluralist in the sense of acknowledging the gracious work of God in the lives of all human beings, but it rejects a pluralism which denies the uniqueness and decisiveness of what God has done in Jesus Christ.↩
I’m not a half-baked progressive/libertarian COEXIST bumper stick guy. That watered down mentality drives me nuts. This stuff matters and it should take real work. That being said, my commitment is to doing the hard work of finding and gleaning truth, beauty, and goodness wherever it is to be found.↩
From what I’ve seen, the list includes Judaism, Roman Catholicism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism, occult magic, and Native American animism.↩
