Cntrpnts Four Views Salvation (Paperback)

John Hick shines brilliantly. I can think of no other theologian anywhere who is better qualified to explain the pluralist view. His argument is delivered with great equanimity, and is absolutely devastating to the "Christ is the only way" argument in all its guises. Hick reveals that the only way one can continue to hold that view is by remaining ignorant of the history of the world's great religions (including Christianity).

It is important to remember that Christianity itself stands on the shoulders of Judaism. That is, Christian belief in the uniqueness of the Incarnation relies on the belief that God originally revealed himself in full only to Israel.

The more one learns about world history, however, the more it stretches the bounds of credibility to believe that God, the creative source of the entire universe and all who dwell here, chose to fully reveal himself only to the tiny nation of Israel, effectively ignoring the peoples of India, China, Egypt, etc. (not to mention indigenous tribes everywhere), all of whom were seeking the Divine just as surely as were the Israelis. Indeed, to believe that God has a "favorite" people is to take the anthropomorphism of God a bit too far.

Although this book deals primarily with theological issues, I will add that the ultimate arena in which all religions converge is that of experience, not theology. That is, in reading the mystics within each tradition, one is struck by the similarities in the language they use to describe their experiences of the Divine. Christianity also has a very strong mystical tradition. The Medieval mystics such as John of the Cross and Meister Eckhart are fairly well known. However, there are also a number of modern Christian mystics who mostly share Hick's theology, but who place a great emphasis on the experience of the Divine in prayer. For more info on that, read anything by Bede Griffiths, John Main, or Thomas Keating. Also check out Wayne Teasdale's book _The Mystic Heart_.

Without a good understanding of the meaning of salvation, it is hard to be confident about who it may or may not apply to. However, the WHO question seems to be of more concern than the WHAT, WHY and HOW questions to most people interested in questions of salvation.

As is often the case with this series, the book suffers from poor editing. All of the essays are worth reading, but they generally don't deal with the alleged topic of the book. For example, Prof. Hick tells us that he believes in universal salvation and that he has written a book arguing for this position, but he doesn't give his reasons in the essay. Prof. McGrath touches on the issue, but not in any great detail. Prof. Pinnock deals with the topic in a limited manner. It is only Profs. Geivett & Philips who actually go into the question in some detail. They provide an exegesis of Acts 4:12 and some other passages. However, none of the other contributors responds with any detailed exegesis. What is often seen as the key passage concerning the salvation of non-believers -- Romans 2 -- is only mentioned in passing. So, this book is really a discussion of religious pluralism, not salvation.

In spite of my criticism, I think this book is helpful to anyone who wants a background on the general issue of religious pluralism. If you are looking for a discussion of evangelical views of the salvation of non-believers, then this isn't the place to look.