THE PROBLEM WITH PLURALISM
The Excellence of the Christian Faith • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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-{Matthew 7}
-Tonight I want to start a new series. I call it THE EXCELLENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH because ultimately I am aiming for us to see why the Christian faith is true and why it alone gives the answers to all of life’s questions in a true and satisfying way. It is more excellent than any other religion, philosophy, or worldview.
-But the angle that I am taking to prove my point is by comparing it to and defending it against the numerous false religions that are out there. So, in a sense the study serves a two-fold purpose. It will warn us away from bad doctrines and beliefs that would lead us astray from the truth. But then this will also force us to dig deeper into what it is that we actually believe so that we have a greater understanding for ourselves what true, biblical Christianity actually entails.
-So, there is definitely an apologetic aspect to this study—defending the faith against false teachings. There is also a theological aspect to this study—we will dig deeper into the truths and doctrines of the Christian faith. There is also an evangelistic aspect to this study—we will be able to share the faith with others by having in our arsenal the tools to tear down their arguments and uphold the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, I see this study as definitely fulfilling the church’s desire to make disciples—equipping ourselves for living out the gospel in all its aspects.
-Tonight is more of an introductory study to show why such a study is necessary, and to maybe to lay the foundation for how this study is going to be conducted.
-Why is such a study necessary? As Biblical Christians we believe that there is only one way to heaven as it is described for us in Scripture—the true gospel message of Jesus Christ. Humans rebelled against God, they were condemned justly by God, they are objects of His wrath. And yet, at the same time they are also objects of God’s love, who sent Jesus (God the Son) to become human, die as their substitute on the cross, and He was raised again. And only by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is someone saved from the wrath of God and adopted as children of God.
-That is a short summary of the most important truth of eternity. However, there are so many other teachings out there that ignore, deny, or pervert that message that everyone needs to be warned about them because they lead people away from the only way of coming back to God and being in His presence for all of eternity. Jesus Himself warned against such people.
15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 “You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles?
17 “Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, in Your name did we not prophesy, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name do many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
-Jesus first tells us of the reality of false teachers and false teachings. He tells people to beware—be on the lookout; watch carefully who you listen to and what you believe. So, Jesus right away lays the groundwork that there is truth (found in Him); and anything and anybody that teaches differently is false. There is one truth, and anything that contradicts that one truth is a bunch of lies.
-This immediately negates a common falsehood found in the world today—what is often referred to as pluralism. Very simply put, pluralism is the belief that every religion is true. One of the more prominent academic works advocating for this comes from a scholar names John Hick. As summarized by Winfried Corduan, Hick:
advocated that all religions are ways of making it possible for people to move from self-centeredness to “Reality-centeredness.” From the outside, religions seem to have little in common, deep underneath their overt beliefs and practices there lies the “Real,” and all of the superficial aspects of the religion actually disguise the fact that in the final analysis the religion does nothing more or nothing less than bringing people into contact with the “Real.”
-So, from his standpoint, there is just one thing called the REAL. The REAL is all that exists. However, there are many ways to get to the REAL. Christians use Jesus Christ to get to the REAL. Buddhists use Buddha, etc. So, the REAL is out there, and everybody’s just finding their own way to get to it.
-But this belief in pluralism comes with a high price. Again, as Corduan says:
In the process of attempting to uphold the truth of all religions, he really demolishes the truth of each religion and forces it to conform to his imaginary pattern. In order to qualify as true under Hick’s criteria, a religion first of all has to give up everything that is distinctive about it and acknowledge that it is actually just an instance of Hick’s model of people relating to the “Real.”
-But the real problem is that the core beliefs of the various religions are so different, there is no way that they can all lead to the same place. So, to give examples that Corduan gives with regard to Christianity and Hinduism:
• Insofar as religions attempt to deal with some kind of a problem that is besetting humanity, Hinduism addresses the idea that human beings must suffer through uncountable numbers of reincarnations, while Christianity sees the main issue as our alienation from God due to our sinfulness.
• The goal for Christianity is to be reconciled to God and to spend eternity in heaven with him, while in Hinduism the goal is to escape from this p 7 world and escape from the cycle of reincarnation.
• In Christianity the means of salvation are by grace through faith, whereas in Hinduism there are many ways of attaining release, including some based on works and some based on mystical realization.
-And those differences are just the tip of the iceberg. These beliefs and doctrines are so different, they would never cross paths with one another. In fact, as we find, all these different religions have such contradictory claims that it is impossible for them to both be true. The law of non-contradiction says that two contradictory beliefs (two contradictory propositions) cannot both be true at the same time and in the same sense. And no matter what fancy language Hick or others would want to dress it with, it will never get over this obstacle. Many times the problems, goals, and means in religions are not only different, but are mutually exclusive.
-Christianity and other religions and worldviews and philosophies cannot all be true. As from the old Highlander movies and TV shows says: there can be only one. And we believe and know that biblical Christianity is the only religion to tell the truth.
-So, as Ken Hamm and Bodie Hodge state it, there really are only two worldviews/religions/philosophies in the world. There is God’s and not-God’s. There is the way that is based on God’s Word, and then there is the way based on Man’s word. The way that is not-God’s, based on Man’s word, can come in many different flavors, but it is built on man’s fallible ideas.
-So, once we get into the various comparisons that we are going to do in the months ahead, there is one way of God, based on the Word of God, and everything else we look at came from man’s own imagination. Sure, there may have been some supernatural influence from the powers of darkness, but all-in-all they are manmade. Buddhism is manmade. Hinduism is manmade. Atheism is manmade.
-Now, I better define my terms so that we are all on the same wavelength. Although I have been using some terms interchangeably, I think it is important to be precise.
-The term WORLDVIEW is the broad, general term for everything that we are looking at. We can define worldview:
A worldview is a comprehensive set of basic beliefs, assumptions, and values that shape how an individual or group interprets and interacts with reality. It arises from a broader narrative about the world and influences human behavior and culture. Worldviews serve as a framework for understanding existence, addressing fundamental questions about the nature of reality, human beings, knowledge, ethics, and the meaning of life.
-Worldview is the way that someone looks at the reality of the world. This comes in different forms, so it is the umbrella term for all belief systems. Under that umbrella we might say comes the categories of philosophies and religions. We might say that philosophy is the science that examines the totality of reality, attempting to give a comprehensive explanation or understanding of all things through their simplest, most general, or ultimate reasons.
-Religion, while we might recognize what it is, is harder to define. Winfried Corduan defines it:
Neighboring Faiths: A Christian Introduction to World Religions, 3rd ed. What Is Religion?
A religion is a system of beliefs that by practicing its cultus directs a person toward transcendence and, thus, provides meaning and coherence to a person’s life.
-Cultus just means the practices involved in giving honor or worship or adoration. While philosophies look in and around, religions look up to something higher than what is seen. It transcends—it looks up and out. So, Stoicism is a philosophy, Islam is a religion.
-Within the realm of religion there are what we call cults. Walter Martin defines the term this way:
A cult…is any religious group which differs significantly in one or more respects as to belief or practice from those religious groups which are regarded as the normative expressions of religion in our total culture.
-So, a cult claims to be part of the bigger umbrella of a religion, but its actual teachings differ from the norm of that religion. While biblical Christianity is the norm, Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are the cults. And in actuality every religion has their cults.
-So, what we’re going to do is look at worldviews that differ from Biblical Christianity, whether they are philosophies, religions, or cults, but have major emphasis on false religions and cults.
-But, whatever terms we might want to use, Jesus says in our passage that these are false ideas coming from false prophets. And he says that they come in sheep’s clothing but are inwardly ravenous wolves. The adherents to these false worldviews come to people claiming to be the truth and they are good at making it look like the truth, but in reality their false teachings will keep people from the truth.
-These false teachings will lead people away from the true gospel and will lead their souls to hell. No matter how good they claim that their fruit is in their worldview they are rotten to the core. Whether they actually believe their false worldview and are deluded, or they knowingly spread their lies, it all ends up in the same place.
-So, you not only look at the fruit of the false teachers you look at the fruit of the false teaching, and it does not lead to Christ and to heaven and to God. No matter how warm and fuzzy something might seem, no matter how kind and nice something might seem, if it deviates from the truth it is false and is to be avoided.
-And Jesus says that anything leading away from the truth is a tree that is to be cut down and thrown in the fire. It is to be opposed by us and its effects are to be counteracted by us. Yes, the adherents to a certain philosophy or religion or cult are nice and sweet, but they are lost and deluded and are to be treated as such.
-And so Jesus warns that not everyone who claims to know truth, or to even know Him, will enter into the kingdom of heaven. But it is the one who does the will of the Father—have faith in Jesus that leads to a new life.
-This is why we have a series like this. So we ourselves are not deluded, so we know what the truth is, so we live in the truth, and we can efficiently and effectively share the truth of the gospel with those who are deluded.
-So, we need to pray that we stand strong in the truth and that those who are caught in lies will see the light...
