From: keiner@earthview.cms.udel.edu (Louis Keiner)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Non-Religious Practice
Date: 28 Sep 92 02:07:18 GMT

rpitts@cerl.gatech.edu (Richard Pitts) writes:
>
>Some religions reveal fundamental and irreconcilable differences (e.g.,
>some affirm one God, some many gods, and some all is God.)  Logically,
>these three world views could all be wrong, but they could not all
>be correct.  Could it be that the contradictions between the world religions
>are only apparent rather than real?  Is this just man's inability to 
>grasp the infinite reality of God?  The Eastern analogy often used
>to illustrate this point is a group of blind men touching different
>parts of the same elephant.  Thus they get different impressions depending
>on where they are touching the elephant (i.e. different realities.)
>However, Christian philosopher C. Stephen Evans, in his book Philosophy
>of Religion, points out two weaknesses.  One, he points out a radical 
>skepticism concerning our knowledge of God (i.e., no one can really
>know God satisfactorily.)  The second is it does not account for the
>exclusive claims made by Jesus Christ (Matt 7:13; John 14:6; Acts 4:12).
>Jesus claims to be the way, not a way.  Christianity's belief in the
>incarnation (God entering the world in the person of Jesus Christ) 
>is a direct and historical revelation of God.  Thus we believe this is
>God's way and not our own.  This assertion does not imply that 
>every feature of non-Christian religions is false.  In fact, that all 
>people have a witness of God via creation. [condensed from of "The Challenge
>to Religous Pluralism" by Kenneth R. Samples, Christian Research Journal,
>Summer 1990.]

I find it interesting that Christians take those 'exclusive claims made by
Christ' and turn them into exclusive claims made by Christians. Jesus said that
he is the way, and I believe that. Christians have taken that to mean that
the way is THEIR way, and their interpretation of Jesus' message, ie. salva-
tion through faith in Jesus Christ alone. I do not presume that non-Christians
cannot know the Redeemer aspect of God without knowing the person of Jesus
Christ. Yes, Jesus is 'the way, the truth and the light,' but Christians have
taken his saying so and interpreted it as being "You have to know God through
Jesus in the way that I do," which is arrogance, not piety, on the part of
Christians.

I do indeed have a skepticism about our ability to know God. It just seems
logical when you're dealing with and infinite being, doesn't it? We do indeed
know many things about God, from revelation and personal experience, and our 
religion is concerned with taking those things and applying them to our lives. 
We ask "From what I know of God, what does God want me to do?" To say, though, 
that there are no other revelations or experiences but our own is ridiculous.

Peace,

Louis

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Louis E. Keiner - College of Marine Studies        "Let be damned for eternity
University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716            only those who would make
keiner@earthview.cms.udel.edu                       themselves gods." Voltaire
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