The Pilgrim's Way
I've found that over the years there's nothing better than to have a venue to share your thoughts and feelings about life-all of its ups and downs-the vicissitudes of a life full of love, loss, grief, and, ultimately, joy. It's my hope that through the exchange of stories and experiences, we, as human beings, will realize how connected to one another we truly are...to see the value in one another is the pilgrim's way.
Love Wins comes out later this month. Love Wins has become the target of much debate between universalism (God loves and wills to save all people) and particularism (God saves through Jesus only). I imagine most of us have struggled with this issue, especially within our very own neighborhoods where a myriad of religions and belief systems are represented.
ReplyDeleteI would subscribe (though you may not) that theologian Mark Heim's framework of an "acceptance model" would bode well for most of us when we consider what it means to be a Christian in a religiously diverse world. The acceptance model begins with the thought that all religions do provide some truth about who God is, but that a fuller or more complete expression or picture of God would eventually be found within the God of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit--the Christian God. Heim would take that a step further and challenge us to consider the possibility that God in heaven provides many mansions as well (Knitter, 2005; Heim, 1985). Just consider the parable of the woman at the well (A Samaritan woman-another religious representative with her own, unique Torah-is befriended by Jesus), or the fact that the wise men (pagans) in the Jesus birth narrative are intricately woven into the revelation of God in Christ as part of God's will for Jesus' safety.
It definitely seems that other religions have a place among ours, though, I truly believe that "there's no other name under heaven, given among mortals by whom we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Although we, as Christians, find God in his fullest expression through Jesus the Christ, other devotees of other religions may find their fullest understandings and expressions through their god(s) (Knitter, 2005). In other words I'm reminded that as we begin to dive into these issues, Joshua, Moses' successor, kept it "real" by restating this issue anew, "Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). In the end, it becomes a choice.
But is it a choice to live or die, or is it a choice to be fully known as we choose to know more fully?
Something to ponder…
Suggested Readings:
Introducing Theologies of Religions (2005); Paul F. Knitter
Is Christ the Only Way? Christian Faith in a Pluralistic World (1985); S. Mark Heim
Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation (2007); Eboo Patel
Beyond the Passion: Rethinking the Death and Life of Jesus (2004); Stephen J. Patterson
Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross (2006); S. Mark Heim