During the most recent ALPHA the question 'What about other religions?' has been raised in relation to many different circumstances throughout the course. I'm sure this has been asked throughout history as Christians attempt to reconcile their faith with that of other people of faith. One of the first official functions to be held in the Houses of Parliament at the turn of the year 2000 was a 'Thanksgiving and Celebration of Faith' at which leaders and representatives of all the main religions and denominations as well as the Prime Minister and other political figures were present. This was not an act of worship but recognition of what people of faith hold in common, and everyone pledged to uphold faith. So how do I as a Christian approach other faiths in this pluralist society? First of all we need a definition of faith as it relates to religion.
It is clear from this definition that a number of human activities could be considered as 'religion'. Football for example has all the basic elements of a religion these days. People venerate their idols and worship their teams. They participate in rituals like wearing the club replica kit and chanting their anthems from the stands of the huge temples known as 'The Stadium of Light', 'The Theatre of Dreams' and 'The Home of Legends'.
Shopping too is increasingly becoming a religion for many. Worshippers flock to the massive out of town temples we call 'Meadowhall', The Trafford and Metro Centres. Have you ever looked at the design of these places, towering columns, majestic arches, domes, fountains, statues, mosaics, unashamedly temples of mammon raised up to worship the great god 'Consumerism'?
I'm sure you could think of many other pseudo religions such as fanatical following of a rock idol or pop group, or the obsessional involvement in a sport or keeping fit. But it's not this kind of religion that I want to focus on. I want to look at the way we as Christians relate to those who in all sincerity, and displaying great spiritual awareness and understanding, maintain a belief system that appears entirely different to our own.
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- Monotheistic - one God |
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| - diverse belief system with many deities |
| - religion without a god, although there is a belief in gods in a spiritual realm. |
There are of course many other belief systems that do not conform to the criteria
for them to be considered as mainstream world religions.
Some of these include:
I'm not going to go into any detail about these - just to say there are many diverse belief systems all around the world of which Christianity is numerically the largest! Encyclopedia Britannica tells us there are 1,700 million people who would call themselves Christian (33%); there are 880 million Muslims and 663 million Hindus.
Other groups have developed either as breakaways from mainstream religions or have been set up by an individual or groups from scratch in order that they can practice their particular beliefs. These are generally known as CULTS or SECTS. One of the marks of a cult is where the Bible is 'replaced' by other writings and is not considered as important. For example, the 'Book of Mormon' used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or the 'New World Bible' used by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society a.k.a. 'Jehovah's Witnesses' and the book 'Science and Health' used by the Church of Christ, Scientist. The news has regularly brought to light disturbing reports that some religious sects have committed mass suicides or motivated their followers to commit atrocities such as attacking the Japanese underground rail system with chemical gas.
Whatever we think and however we describe them, all these belief systems are held by human beings with as much, and in many cases more, sincerity and faith than our own.
It is my sincerely held view that ALL RELIGIONS, including Christianity, are
INCOMPLETE without JESUS.
If we hold scripture in high regard and if we believe that the words within
scripture tell us the truth, then we surely conclude that Jesus is the way to God
because that is what he told us.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me" (John 14:6).
It has been suggested to me that there are many ways to God and the analogy of a mountain has been used to support the claim. OK lets imagine a mountain; imagine looking up at the peak, the peak is at the top, that's where God is. We are at the bottom, and we're all at different places around the base of the mountain and therefore we all view the peak from different angles and perspectives, but without doubt it is the same peak. Sometimes the peak is obscured by cloud and we can't see it, although that's not the point of this analogy it is a useful one to think about for future reference. The point is, the paths up the slopes are all different and come from different angles, we travel up by very different routes but all going to the same place, the peak. The person standing at the North side of the mountain sees a very different mountain to the person standing on the Southern side, however they both see the same peak. I have to say I do like this analogy but it is incomplete - imagine now, the mist clears at the peak and the sun rises over it. Silhouetted against the bright light is a cross. The cross can be viewed from all perspectives. This symbolises for me the truth that we all may come from entirely different cultures, from economic, educational, ethnic backgrounds from what on the surface are totally conflicting perspectives; however Jesus embraces all of that because we are all created in the image of God. We all have the in-coded ability to relate to the God who created the mind blowing universe, the God who was a man 2000 years ago and died on the cross and rose again.
"The fact that Jesus is the only way to God does not mean that we simply write off all other religions as misguided or demonic. Jesus said, "I am the Truth". In him, ultimate truth is to be found and he is the standard by which all truth claims are to be tested. But this does not mean that parts of the truth cannot be found in other religions. Indeed, we would expect to find truth in other religions." Nicky Gumbel goes on to give three reasons for this in his little book "What About Other Religions" Kingsway Publications 1994. Please read this, particularly pages 11 - 15, it certainly helped me get a handle on this important issue. For further, more in-depth reading on this question may I recommend Alister McGrath Christian Theology - An Introduction Chapter 15 "Christianity and the World Religions".