Is the Christian Faith Superior to Other Religions?
by Terry C. Muck
Austin Theological Seminary
Austin, Texas
The first question to ask is, What is meant by “superior”? If it means better people or a better historical track record in terms of peace and justice, then the answer to the question is, “Of course not.”
Karl Barth made it quite clear that even theologically speaking`“religions” are human-made constructs. The historical doings of us Christians are blighted by such events as the Crusades, the Inquisition, the colonization of Africa and Asia, and the conquest of the Americas. And I imagine that social scientists would be quite suspicious of any attempts to add up the relative “goods” done by the major religious traditions of the world to prove one or another superior in this sense.
Actually, my gut feeling is that the overall track record of the Christian church is not that bad. The figures would be very difficult to come by, but the facts of the case — such as the single-handed raising of the world’s health quotient and life span by Christian medical missions, and the comparative freedom and level of justice enjoyed by people living in countries that have a majority of Christian people — are enormously satisfying to those of us who passionately believe in the health and growth of the Christian church.
I know that the other major world religions — Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and others — have their share of civilizing successes, and failures, too. Buddhist missionaries to China, Japan, and Tibet provided social stability and meditative practices that positively influence those cultures to this day. Muslim contributions to science, philosophy, and medicine are evident worldwide.
If “superior” means more effective, then the answer would have to be, “Maybe, maybe not.”
As a former Baptist who grew up on a steady and nutritious diet of Sunday evening testimony meetings, I have no doubt as to the extraordinarily satisfying effects of a healthy Christian life. God answers prayer and cares for not only the sheep in the fold but those who occasionally stray. But I have also read the Psalms and as a seminary professor have done my share of spiritual counseling with people for whom the Christian life has become something of a cipher.
I also know from living overseas for two years in a dominantly Buddhist culture that Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka find an enormous amount of satisfaction in the effectiveness of their religious tradition. And — here’s the frustrating part — I like many of my Buddhist friends as well if not better than many of my Christian friends.
The trouble with these two measures — betterness and effectiveness — is they are the measures we use to evaluate everything else in life — laundry detergents, bank accounts, gelatin desserts. They are inadequate when it comes to measuring the “superiority” of a religion. They inevitably lead us to one-up-man-ship and delude us into thinking we actually have something to say about the whole matter. They lead to the twin terrors of triumphalism and arrogance.
The measure that has the best chance of circumventing triumphalism and arrogance is truth.
Commitment to truth is universal. Everyone takes a crack at the truth game. Even modern relativists, dead set on showing us all that there is no single truth, will die in defense of that primary truth principle of relativism — that there is no truth. Some of the most effective and committed evangelizers/proselytizers in the world are those who message is that religions should not evangelize. All religions, all non-religions, all people actually, are convinced of the truth of their description of reality.
But truth can be as susceptible to arrogance and triumphalism as betterness and effectiveness. Two dangers stand out:
First, we think we know more than we can. Because truth seems at first glance to be such a tangible thing the human tendency is to fasten on and possess one particular version of truth — say, a brand of theology — and pronounce it normative for all. All truth systems, all theologies, need heavy doses of humility and provisionality to avoid becoming systems of hate rather than gospel love.
Second, we tend to restrict truth to human-made containers — philosophy, culture, institutions — in the process forgetting the great mysteries of all faith that go beyond our understanding completely. For Christians the mysteries of grace, the Trinity, the Incarnation should create in us a spirit of gratitude. Instead, in our zeal to articulate them in final form we often use our inadequate descriptions of them to test the “orthodoxy” of others.
Is Christianity superior to other religions? Yes, in that insofar as we can know truth, it is a better description of truth than other religious systems. We may not know this in any final, objective sense, but we know it confessionally.
This ”confessional knowledge” consists of many things, but the two most commonly asked questions are about truth and salvation. Is there truth in other religions, and are people of other religions “saved” in the Christian sense? Briefly my answers consist of five points:
1. Since God made the whole world and everything in it, and since God was pleased with the creation (Genesis 1:10ff.), I look for God’s truth everywhere in the world. That means I look for and find some of God’s truth in other religions. This means that relationships with other religions involve both witnessing and being witnessed to.
2. Since human beings chose not to fully follow God’s advice in relating to God and God’s world, and evil entered the world, I look for evil everywhere in the world. This means I look for and find evil in other religions (and in Christianity). The parable of the wheat and the tares (Matthew 13) sums up the teaching of these first two points. It is the reason I am adamantly in favor of both evangelism and interreligious dialogue.
3. I believe Jesus Christ is the one, unique way of salvation. God acted through Jesus Christ in a sui generis way. That is the reason Jesus gave so many encouragements for us to do evangelism, the most famous being the Great Commission in Matthew 28. All people need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. Everyone needs to know and hear the message: “I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Without God’s gracious action through Jesus Christ, all of us would be doomed.
4. I believe Jesus Christ taught us we are to love other people unconditionally, whether Christian or not. This dramatically affects the way we do evangelism. Love means full respect for the integrity and freedom of other human beings, including members of other religions. I do not believe the “Love your enemies” passage (Matthew 5:44) is to be taken metaphorically. I believe witnessing to the perfect love of Jesus Christ through our imperfect attempts to love everyone is the goal we constantly seek.
5. I do not know who is saved and who is not saved. According to Matthew 7, judgment regarding our final destination is God’s to make. I feel wonderful about that. It frees me to witness to what Jesus Christ means to me and can mean to others without feeling I must “save” them. According to Paul, God through the Holy Spirit does the saving (2 Corinthians 1:21-22; Titus 3:4-7). It is one more evidence of God’s wisdom and love for all that God doesn’t let us determine or make us privy to other individuals’ final destinations.
But this does not mean we can ever quit studying and learning from non-Christian religions and from loving, respecting, and enfolding adherents of those systems into the communities in which we live. The truth" of Christianity (or any other religion or philosophy) ceases to be “true” the minute it is used in service of hate, exclusion, and parochialism.
Dr. Terry Muck is now a professor at Asbury Seminary in Kentucky.
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