Sunday, November 19, 2006

"A conversation on religion"

At the Washington Post website Albert Mohler states an Evangelical position about the possibility of dialogue among people of various faiths [and people of none]. Part of his statement:
No human (or humans) should claim a monopoly on truth. Indeed, evangelical Christians should be the very first to insist that only God holds a "monopoly" on truth. As for we mortals? No monopoly. What the philosophers call "epistemic humility" is incumbent on us all. With our finite minds, social limitations, and limited intelligence, we know less than the sum total of what we do not know. Confession of that fact is, as they say, good for the soul.

On the other hand, evangelical Christians must make clear our belief that God has in fact revealed himself to us through the gift of his self-revelation. Thus, we now know what we otherwise never could have known. Our knowledge of God and all things He has revealed are no tribute to our intelligence, but rather to God's love for us.

So, when evangelical Christians show up for conversation about the things that matter most, we show up as the people who believe that God has spoken truthfully to us in the Bible - and supremely in Jesus Christ. Do we believe that we possess a monopoly on truth? No. But we do believe that God has spoken, and that we must be faithful to his Word. In other words, we are making a claim that God has revealed himself in a way that gives us access to absolute truth. Furthermore - and here again we must be very honest - we believe that God has revealed himself in the Bible and in Jesus Christ in a way that is unique, definitive, particular, and universal in claim.
Mark Dever at Together for the Gospel remarks:
If you haven't had a conversation with a non-Christian lately, the various, largely hostile, responses to Al's simple statements will remind you of the climate we are in.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comments are moderated. I will gladly approve any comment that responds directly and politely to what has been posted.