A-Level Christianity

Christianity has almost always existed alongside other religions.

However, Christians have adopted a range of perspectives on the truth of these other religions, and their ability to save.

Here, we examine three positions Christians might take with respect to other religions.

Exclusivism

Some Calvinist Christians argue that ONLY Christianity saves, and ONLY Christianity is true.

The Heidelberg Catechism says

are we so corrupt that we are totally unable to do any good and inclined to all evil? Yes, unless we are regenerated by the Spirit of God. (1563: Q. 8.)

This means that not only is there NO POSSIBILITY of salvation except by putting your faith in Jesus, other religions are NOT EVEN ACCIDENTALLY CORRECT on moral or spiritual matters.

Inclusivism

However, Catholic Christians argue that while ONLY Christianity saves, SOME other religions are PARTLY true.

For example, in Nostra Aetate we read

The Church [...] exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions [...] they recognise, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men. (1965: sec. 2)

This means that other religions MAY have a correct, and even valuable, perspective on God, and this should be respected and shared.

Pluralism

However, some Liberal Christians claim that not only CAN non-Christian religions be true, but they CAN even be paths to salvation.

For example, John Hick writes

The function of religion in each case is to provide contexts for salvation/liberation, which consists in various forms of the transformation of human existence from self-centredness to Reality-centredness. (1989: 14)

He argues that SOME religions do fundamentally the same thing, but they are simply adapted for different human cultures and contexts.