Hi! Im not registered but was wondering about peoples thoughts on the evangelical argument that Christianity is the only "truth" precisely because of the saying "I am the Way, the Truth and the life ..." ? Some of the comments in Why Christianity have been v enlightening...
Imogen, I hope you will register and follow-up on your question. It is certainly a "big one," and a topic around which much discussion and controversy has arisen, especially as Christianity continues to encounter other world religions.
I think a good way to sort things out is by examining what seems to be the "three positions" most commonly asserted with regard to other religions and Jesus' role in salvation. These have been called the exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist views. A brief summary of them can be found on this web page. We also touch on this in the "Why Christianity?" thread on this forum, but not so much in terms of salvation.
Give the hyperlinked page a reading and let us know what you think about it.
I would tend toward the inclusivist view as well except that the inclusivist view doesn't include the exclusivist one. That doesn't seem very inclusive to me.
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001
Sorry, Phil. It's so easy to miss these posts sometimes. If you're not sure if it was a joke then, prima facie, it must not have been a joke. Or at least it was a poor one. I concede the point.
But�I was also making the point that things that are considered "inclusivist" are usually thought to be so specifically because they exclude other notions (notions which are somehow determined to be intolerant or "exclusive"). This is a game that can be played underhandedly, but perhaps this has no relation to the meaning of the three Christian positions which are "exclusivist, inclusivist, and pluralist". But ya never know. It's something I'd keep an eye on in a discussion nowadays just to make sure that perhaps an old term wasn't thought to mean something else today by those who perhaps haven't studied enough of yesterday. I plan to do the same myself tomorrow. (Sort of a joke at the end. Definitely a small one at best but not one with any meant traces of sarcasm I assure you.)
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001
Actually, I thought you *were* just pulling our legs
Sometime�s I�m not even sure. That�s why it�s so therapeutic.
But I�m aware that it can be daunting and disorienting to have to run the gauntlet of all this clowning around. It can be maddening particularly since humor can be a technique to avoid saying what ought to be said forthrightly and plainly. How does one ever know if the other is being playful or is being sarcastic and nasty?
Posts: 5413 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 21 September 2001
That is an awesome article. That's what I like about Merton. He was human. Very much so. One time he was meeting with D.T. Suzuki and remarked, "We are not GOOD people," to which Suzuki replied, "This is SO IMPORTANT!"
You can read his journals and here he is sneaking a six-pack up to the hermitage or having the cellerar bring him a bottle of brandy. Great fun!
"What is most interesting about Thomas Merton was that the older he got, the more eccentric he became, "off center," not meeting all the expectations of people, and given to paradox. In 1962, he was told to stop practicing yoga in the monastery when he and Fr. Augustine were found one day meditating upside down, standing on their heads. What made the discovery of the two jokers even more disconcerting was that Fr. Augustine had taken off his artificial leg for the occasion."
Or at least it was a poor one. I concede the point.