A survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life sought responses to two provocative statements:
The first: My religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life.
The second: Many religions can lead to eternal life.
The results proved equally intriguing: 80 percent of Jehovah’s Witness, 57 percent of Mormons, 36 percent of evangelicals, 33 percent of Muslims and 5 percent each of Jews, Buddhists and Hindus believe their religion is the only true faith.
Nearly 90 percent of Hindus, 86 percent of Buddhists, 82 percent of Jews, 57 percent of evangelicals, 56 percent of Muslims, 39 percent of Mormons and 16 percent of Jehovah’s Witness disagree. (Some respondents refused to answer or did not know).
A religiously pluralistic society is one in which numerous faiths exist and are tolerated. Tolerance — be it ethnic, religious or cultural — is required for any pluralistic society to function. But the Pew survey suggests that some believe religious pluralism also requires acceptance of other religious truths.
To be sure, not all religious truths are mutually exclusive. Many faiths believe in a supernatural deity and teach their followers to respect and love others, do good deeds and help the needy. These principles also are in the Bible.
However, evangelicals do not believe the Scriptures teach that this is the way to salvation, but rather that these precepts should be exercised by those who already have obtained salvation.The fact that 57 percent of evangelicals believe that other religious teachings can lead to eternal life is surprising. In John 14:6, Jesus asserts, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” This statement is dogmatic and emphatic. But in a pluralistic society such exclusivity sometimes is equated with bigotry. Thus some feel they must compromise their beliefs to accommodate other faiths.
I routinely get complaints from people of other religions who visit our congregation. The most common criticism is that our church teaches biblical truths that diverge from their own beliefs.
As a Christian minister, I am obligated to preach biblical truths even if it makes others uncomfortable. If I visit a mosque, I will remove my shoes and anticipate that I will encounter theological differences. It is unrealistic for me to expect the imam or mullah to change his ideology for me.
There are spiritual leaders who preach hate and intolerance. This is not only wrong but also probably goes against their spiritual text. However, it is possible to simply state one’s religious beliefs in a cordial manner and still find differences that might offend some people.
Religious pluralism should not preclude a society from having distinct and divergent beliefs. Tolerance and disagreement are not opposing values.
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