Week 12

Chapter 10 - Is Jesus the Only Way to God?

Class Date: November 5, 2025

Outline

Introduction
Religious Pluralism
Arguments for Religious Pluralism
Arguments Against Religious Pluralism
How Do We Know Christianity is the Only True Religion?

Introduction

In 2025, a survey titled "The State of Theology" was conducted in which US adults were asked whether they agreed or disagreed to a number of statements related to theology. Among the many demographic data collected about the respondents was their church affiliation. Statement 3 was "God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The results of the survey show that 47% of Evangelicals Believe All Religions Lead to God (link to video). (Link to survey result for this statement - Statement 3 - Evangelicals).

Link: 47% of Evangelicals Believe All Religions Lead to God: The State of Theology - YouTube

Similarly, the “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey — Religious Beliefs and Practices” conducted by Pew Research in 2008 (See report2-religious-landscape-study-full.pdf) showed that 57% of individuals polled who attended Evangelical churches agreed with the statement, "Many religions can lead to eternal life" (p.58).

Religious Pluralism

Dr. Craig states that religious pluralism "is the view that many religions are means of salvation" and that religious particularism "is the view that only one religion is a means of salvation" (p.268, On Guard). (A formal academic term used in place of religious particularism is religious exclusivism.)

What is Religious Pluralism?

As mentioned above, religious pluralism is the view that "many religions are means of salvation" (p.268, On Guard).

According to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Religious pluralism, broadly construed, is a response to the diversity of religious beliefs, practices, and traditions that exist both in the contemporary world and throughout history."

Forms of Religious Pluralism

There are three different forms of religious pluralism: sociological, philosophical, and theological.

Sociological Religious Pluralism

Sociological religious pluralism refers to how different religions exist, interact, and influence each other within a single society. It describes both the fact that many religions coexist and the ways societies manage and respond to this diversity.

Philosophical Religious Pluralism

The study of philosophical religious pluralism involves philosophy's focus on the use of reason in comparing different religions. It asks whether different religions might all be valid responses to the same ultimate reality. Philosophical religious pluralism doesn't start with belief in any one religion, and it involves looking for logical ways to understand religious diversity. It asks the question, "Are all religions valid paths to truth?"

Theological Religious Pluralism

Theological religious pluralism begins with a specific religion and asks how that religion should view others. It assumes a belief in a divine being or revelation and seeks to understand how other religions might also reflect parts of divine truth. The goal of theological religious pluralism is interfaith cooperation while still affirming one's own faith tradition. It asks how does my religion relate to other religions, but also asks what God's plan for salvation might look like with other religions and whether other religions might provide people to the same truth.

Arguments for Religious Pluralism

It has been argued that various faith traditions have incompatible beliefs about such things as the nature of God and salvation and there doesn't seem to be any neutral criteria that can be used to resolve this issue. This demonstrates that humans lack full access to ultimate truth and therefore humility is needed rather than dogmatism. Therefore, pluralism argues that we should accept multiple valid beliefs.

Another argument is that which religion a person chooses is influenced by their culture, language, and historical context. As an example, Abrahamic faiths have a personal God, while in some Eastern traditions, an impersonal ultimate reality exists, but it is argued that these different traditions may be describing the same transcendent "Real" through different lenses.

There is also the argument for religious pluralism that points out that many religions are able to transform individuals from self-centeredness to ethical, compassionate, reality-centered individuals. Therefore, no single pathway is uniquely effective; rather, they all facilitate moral and spiritual growth.

Pluralism promotes tolerance, dialogue, and cooperation in diverse societies and therefore reduces hate and conflict fueled by exclusivism.

Through dialogue with other traditions, a person can revise their own perspectives, which will reveal truths in diversity. Through continuous dialogue, religious claims will be considered provisional and will result in mutual enrichment without abandoning one's own faith.

Embracing pluralism allows one to reject the flaws of exclusivism. Exclusivism claims that only one religion is true and therefore regards the religious experiences found throughout the world as being illusory. In other words, exclusivism suggests that the religious experiences of others are not true and are possibly due to deception or being influenced by emotions.

Arguments Against Religious Pluralism

Link: Don't All Religions Lead to God? - J. Warner Wallace - YouTube

Major religions differ significantly on teachings about God, salvation, the afterlife, and ultimate reality.

For instance, Christianity declares that Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6), Islam claims that only Islam is true, and Hinduism is open to many deities.