The Uniqueness of Christ and Committed Pluralism: PART 2
By Knud Jørgensen
September 2010
The Cross of Jesus and the Religions
Let us for a moment return to Lesslie Newbigin. He sees the cross of Jesus as the exposure of our rejection of God and of our sin and as God’s way of meeting this rejection. The power of God is hidden on the cross sub contrarie specie, Luther says (i.e., under its contradiction).
What looked like defeat turned out to be victory. This historic deed, which we confess as the true turning point of history, “stands throughout history as witness against all the claims of religion—including the Christian religion—to be the means of salvation….religion is not the means of salvation.”1 At the same time the cross becomes the master clue in our search for salvation.2
In obedient discipleship with Christ, I find the truth, in faithfulness to the traditions about him, and in openness toward all truth that may come to light in the history of humankind. And it is along the same way that we are forced to wonder whether we who follow Christ can be saved apart from all who have not yet had the opportunity to respond to the gospel. The Church, and we as Christians, should therefore live in dialogue with the world, giving witness to Christ, but also open to whatever riches God may give us through others.
Newbigin’s overall focus is on what he calls the scandal of particularity in the way God relates to the world. It is this scandal of particularity that we meet supremely in the Christ revelation as the master clue.
At the same time we cling to God’s “amazing grace” and the confidence that this grace is sufficient for me and all other creatures. Therefore, we look for and welcome all signs of this grace in the lives of those who do not know Jesus as Lord. We may not set limits to God’s grace, but at the same time we must reject an inclusivism that regards other religions as instruments for salvation in a Christian sense. Perhaps, says Newbigin, we could use a simple sketch, developed by Walter Freytag, to indicate the basis for dialogue between Christians and those of other faiths. On both sides are staircases facing inward. In the middle is a cross.
The staircase represents the many ways by which we learn to walk up toward God’s purpose. Here we find all the ethical and religious achievements of humankind, including the Christian religion. But in the middle of them and at the bottom is placed a symbol that represents something different—the historic place and the historic deed in which God exposed himself. “God comes to meet us at the bottom of our stairways, not at the top—“I came to call not the righteous, but sinners.”3 As I meet my neighbour, I meet him or her at the bottom of the staircase.
At the same time I affirm what scripture says about salvation and perdition. In a number of places the New Testament refers to both (e.g., John 3:16 and Ephesians 2:1-3). Scripture makes it quite clear that it is faith in Jesus that saves. Perdition is therefore a result of the disobedience that says “No!” to the word of the gospel about salvation.
|
Dr. Knud Jørgensen is dean of Tao Fong Shan in Hong Kong and associate professor at the Norwegian School of Theology. |
