The Pluralism Venom

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life;
no one comes to the Father but through me’” (John 14:6).

With two kids in the house, only a year apart, yelling and fighting is commonplace (especially from me). One thing I have learned as a parent is how confusing it can be to know whether or not your children are telling the truth. Both of my kids can look me right in the eyes and tell me that the other one “started it.” They each cling desperately to their own versions of truth, making it very difficult as a parent.

In a way this is a bit like our next poison the devil uses—pluralism.

Pluralism Defined

I guess you can say that pluralism is a close cousin to relativism. Rather than saying there are pieces of truth in a couple or in multiple philosophies, like relativism, pluralism says various belief systems can be equally valid or true as a whole. This belief declares that God has miraculously revealed Himself to all of the world’s religions, such as Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and others.

John Hick, a notable modern-day pluralist, has said that all religions are effective in that they can transform individuals into compassionate Reality-centered people. Because of this change that the religions can bring, the pluralists declare that they must all be truth.

Types of Pluralism

There are four major varieties of religious pluralism when we look across our modern cultural landscape.

1.  The extreme form of pluralism says basically that all religions are true. As strange as it may sound, this person would approach my fighting kids and say that both speak the truth. Extreme pluralism looks at Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity and equates all of them to truth.

2.  Fundamental teachings pluralism is a slightly less severe than the extreme form. It holds that religions are true in their most essential teachings. This form of pluralism does not make the outrageous claim that all religions are completely true, but it still errs more on the side of extreme than moderate. It takes all the most essential elements of the religions and claims that those teaching are true, therefore all religions are truth.

3.  Transcendental pluralism is a belief that all religions are ultimately in contact with the same reality. They only differ because their reality is experienced differently because of their various traditions. In other words, all religions are seen to be true in a certain sense because they will all lead to salvation. According to this view, no single religion can claim authority to teach absolute truth.

4.  Cafeteria style pluralism, which is probably the one most accepted today, means that we find religious truth by mixing a hodgepodge of beliefs from many different religions. Basically, you just pick and choose what you prefer to believe like you choose food from the buffet line. An excellent example of this form of pluralism can be found in the Matrix movies, which takes a bit of Christianity, a bit of Hinduism, along with other beliefs and creates a new world.

Pluralism Refuted

Pluralism does not stand when compared to the truths of the Bible. In fact, you don’t have to try very hard to disprove pluralism—it is self-refuting. For instance, how can you say that you are right in your pluralism, an exclusivist Christian is wrong, and still be a pluralist? You cannot truly be all-inclusive because of the mere exclusivity that comes with Christianity which is difficult to accept.

Examining the specific branches of pluralism mentioned above, we can see that they do not make sense. The extremists, who claim all religions are true, fail to see the obvious incompatibilities between religions, especially when Jesus claimed to be the only way to Heaven. How do you reconcile Jesus’ words to any other belief?

To the branch that says only the fundamental teachings of the religions are truth I ask, “How do you possibly determine which parts of the religions contain truth?” Similarly, if cafeteria style pluralism finds truth in a mix of religions, how on earth do you hope to find that right mix, let alone finding beliefs that are compatible? The simple answer is you can’t.

Finally, transcendental pluralism claims that religions are in contact with the true God, so they are true in a certain sense, even if some of the details are false. Well, how can you believe the tenets of Christianity, knowing the teachings are literally false? What can you hold to be true? What do we trust?

The only logical idea is to accept the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ—that He is the way, the truth, and the life.

The Danger for Christians

Pluralism is a subtle poison, because there are bits of truth that can be found in certain religions, especially in the ways that many of them teach us to relate to others. Some of the tenets found in the Koran or Buddhist writings contain wisdom. If we heard someone quoting some passages, without knowing where they come from, we would no doubt nod our heads in agreement.

The devil works in the extremes, though. Satan magnifies this, saying all religions have truth, therefore all religions are truth. It is so subtle that many times we miss this important transition. Jesus declared exclusivity when He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). No other religions are truth but Christianity.

Just because we thankfully live in a country that offers freedom of religion, does not mean that we should hold them all to be true. There are stark differences between our belief systems which cannot be ignored. Only one religion can be true and I choose to belief the one that has been proven to me by the Holy Spirit time and time again.

My humble advice to everyone is to truly love others who hold other beliefs, but never compromise your beliefs. Do not apologize for being a Christian.

Next month our poisonous topic will be another popular belief held today: universalism. Until then, my prayer is that God may richly bless you in ways that further His Kingdom.