Secular Worldviews: Religious Pluralism

Abolute Truth vs. Relative Truth (The Problem with Religious Pluralism)

This is the last lesson on World Religions—this one is a supplement to my lesson on Secular Worldviews. These are the slides that my friend Jamie  provided, with some slight revisions; I used these as a conclusion to the series. It asks some very important questions that people contemplate and often struggle with in  forming their worldview.

• Do all religions lead to the same place?
• Aren’t all religions fundamentally the same?
• Can’t they all be true?

What Many People Think About Religion Today

“Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves.  We believe he was a good teacher of morals but we believe that his good morals are really bad.  We believe that all religions are basically the same, at least the one we read was.  They all believe in love and goodness; they only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.” – Steve Turner (poet)

Basic Definitions

Absolute truth – Unchangeable, fixed reality; inflexible, invariable, unalterable facts

Relativism – The philosophical position that all points of view are equally valid and that the individual is the measure of what is true for that person

OBJECTIVE relativism is the view that the beliefs of a person or group of persons are “true” for them, but not necessarily for others.  No truth is universally, objectively true or false.  One person’s “truth” (or ultimately, their opinion), can conflict with another’s “truth” and still be valid.  However, this type of relativism challenges the very existence of truth.

RELIGIOUS relativism maintains that one religion can be true for one person or culture but not for another.  No religion, therefore, is universally or exclusively true.  Religious beliefs are simply an accident of birth location.

MORAL relativism maintains that there are no moral absolutes, no objective ethical right and wrong.  Moral values are true – or “genuine” – for some, but not for others.  Statements of value (for example, “adultery is morally wrong”) can be true for some but false for others.  Something is wrong only if you think or feel it is wrong.

CULTURAL relativism says that what is immoral in our culture is not necessarily immoral in another.  No one, therefore, can judge another culture’s moral values.  i.e. the once widespread Indian practice of suttee (burning a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre), slavery in other countries, genocide in Africa, female infanticide in China -- We cannot judge these as “bad” things because it is not our culture.

“Whenever you find a man who says he doesn't believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later."- C.S. Lewis, The Case for Christianity

“Belief determines truth.”

What if relativism were true?  An illustration --

 A thief robbing a jewelry store—why should he be bound by the belief  of others that stealing is wrong, if he feels it is not wrong for him?

                                                                 

Why do we make the error in our thinking that all religions are right and that it does not matter whether the claims they make are objectively true?

i.e. Jesus is God vs. Jesus is a good teacher – the Lord, Lunatic, or Liar dilemma

Most Popular Relativist Statements

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER THESE STATEMENTS/QUESTIONS?

What is true for you is not true for me. All truth is relative.  There are no absolute truths.

So many people disagree, relativism must be true.

You're just using Western logic.

Christians are arrogant and intolerant of other viewpoints. Who are you to say another culture's values are wrong? What right do you have to convert others to your views?

You have the right to choose your own values.

That is your reality, not mine.

No one can know anything for sure.

If you grew up in India, you’d be a Hindu.

Jesus is just like any other great religious leader.

It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re sincere. 

No one can know anything for sure.

We are only perceiving different aspects of the same reality.

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?

All Religions Cannot Be True

• Some beliefs are false, and we know them to be false.  So it does no good to pretend to be “tolerant” as if everything could be equally true.

• To say that all beliefs are equally true does not make sense for the simple reason that if everyone believes something different, someone must be believing a lie! For instance, can Islam and Christianity both be true if they both believe totally different things about who Jesus is?

Are they the same?

·        All religions are not the same.

·        All religions do not point to God.

·        All religions do not say that all religions are the same.  i.e. Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism

·        Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a distorted view of even the best-known ones. 

EVERY RELIGION AT ITS CORE IS EXCLUSIVE.

SO, in the end, the question is: Can truth contradict itself? NO.

Truth is true – even if no one knows it.

Truth is true – even if no one admits it.

Truth is true – even if no one agrees what it is.

Truth is true – even if no one follows it.

Truth is true – even if no one but God grasps it fully.

Conclusion:  

• Man wants to find some other way than God’s way to lead his life.
• Anything we do which separates us from God is sin. This includes finding our own way apart from Him.
•  Making up our own rules, making up our own concept of god, compromising between what is truly right (absolute truth) and what we tell ourselves is okay…

But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them.  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.   Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship Him as God or even give Him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. [“with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations”- Amplified Bible] Romans 1:17-21