Is Religious Pluralism Really a Challenge?
13th April 2005
I am torn. I used to be really interested in conferences like these. While I have deep respect for Ravi Zacharias and his ministry, I am getting a little ambivalent about the purported challenge of religious pluralism.
Religious pluralism has always been around. It just wasn’t noticed by myopic, under-the-coconut-shell evangelical Christians until recently. And, because we forgot that ours is not a religion, we now need to justify that all other religions are false. And, we are stuck with a us vs them, truth vs falsehood type of mentality.
I wonder if it might be more appropriate to be like the Apostle Paul in Acts 17 who saw the common ground, affirmed the truth in traditions and philosophies other than his own, and showed how the reality of God’s grace and mercy can be appreciated (Hmmm…. come to think of it, his “gospel” message here might catch the ire of some folks!).
As I was saying, perhaps religious pluralism might not be so much of a challenge if we only learned to embrace the diversity of God’s great creation, and realize that He has made His people to have an innate craving and desire for His reality. So rather than approach “other” religions in an antagonistic manner, I wonder if it is more instructive and more appropriate to embrace the truth that is found in the religious expressions and philosophical reflections of all cultures.
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