Event Type
Papers Read
Start Date
15-5-2018 11:00 AM
End Date
15-5-2018 11:45 AM
Description
At least in the West, many call rightly for inter-religious respect and believe a pluralism that frowns on any religion’s claims to be exclusive promotes international peace. These desiderata are thought to accord with alleged benefits for the international common good of postmodernity, which usually entails moving beyond the hard-edged claims of universal truths to the softer edges of “live and let live” relativism. Some advocates of this view think our contemporary moment poses a new challenge to Christianity, believing that only recently has Christendom considered adequately the enduring claims of rival faiths and the good they generate. Recognizing the endurance and contribution of non-Christian faiths and acknowledging a sociological – if not an epistemological – pluralism, these call for a new theodicy in which the wideness of God’s mercy cannot be contained within the banks of confessing Jesus uniquely and exclusively as Savior and Lord of all. But a careful reading of the New Testament and a surveying of the existence of other influential religions during the New Testament era justifies a different conclusion: first followers of Jesus lived within a religious pluralism – both sociological and epistemological -- as vigorous then as ours is now. They encountered the beliefs and behaviors of other religions regularly but claimed with a united voice that God -- and his salvation through Jesus of Nazareth -- is one. This presentation sketches first-century Hellenistic religious pluralism and the ways New Testament writers acknowledge and respond to that pluralism with their ultimate confession: Jesus is Lord, uniquely and exclusively. It concludes by drawing out implications for confessing Christ, his uniqueness, and the exclusivity of salvation through him, amid today’s religious pluralism.
Mark E. Roberts is Dean & Professor of Learning Resources at Oral Roberts University. A New Testament scholar by training (PhD, Vanderbilt), he explores the literary-rhetorical composition of Luke-Acts and Paul’s letters and a related dramatistic approach to biblical interpretation. He has worked also as a pastor, editor and publisher, and musician. He and his wife Carol are grateful for their four adult children and (soon-to-be five) grandchildren.
Study 11: "Only Jesus? How the New Testament Answers Hellenistic (and Contemporary) Pluralism"
At least in the West, many call rightly for inter-religious respect and believe a pluralism that frowns on any religion’s claims to be exclusive promotes international peace. These desiderata are thought to accord with alleged benefits for the international common good of postmodernity, which usually entails moving beyond the hard-edged claims of universal truths to the softer edges of “live and let live” relativism. Some advocates of this view think our contemporary moment poses a new challenge to Christianity, believing that only recently has Christendom considered adequately the enduring claims of rival faiths and the good they generate. Recognizing the endurance and contribution of non-Christian faiths and acknowledging a sociological – if not an epistemological – pluralism, these call for a new theodicy in which the wideness of God’s mercy cannot be contained within the banks of confessing Jesus uniquely and exclusively as Savior and Lord of all. But a careful reading of the New Testament and a surveying of the existence of other influential religions during the New Testament era justifies a different conclusion: first followers of Jesus lived within a religious pluralism – both sociological and epistemological -- as vigorous then as ours is now. They encountered the beliefs and behaviors of other religions regularly but claimed with a united voice that God -- and his salvation through Jesus of Nazareth -- is one. This presentation sketches first-century Hellenistic religious pluralism and the ways New Testament writers acknowledge and respond to that pluralism with their ultimate confession: Jesus is Lord, uniquely and exclusively. It concludes by drawing out implications for confessing Christ, his uniqueness, and the exclusivity of salvation through him, amid today’s religious pluralism.
Mark E. Roberts is Dean & Professor of Learning Resources at Oral Roberts University. A New Testament scholar by training (PhD, Vanderbilt), he explores the literary-rhetorical composition of Luke-Acts and Paul’s letters and a related dramatistic approach to biblical interpretation. He has worked also as a pastor, editor and publisher, and musician. He and his wife Carol are grateful for their four adult children and (soon-to-be five) grandchildren.
