Plurality

Why are there so many religions?

I had the privilege to hear John Polkinghorne speak a few months ago. He was in Chicago for the AAAS Conference, and came to the University at the invitation of a half-dozen Lutheran and Anglican groups. Polkinghorne has a dramatic C.V.: he's both a Fellow of the Royal Society (in recognition of his work in quantum mechanics) and an Anglican Priest. But more than anything, he is a thoughtful commentator on religion, science, and their interaction.

One of the questions he posed, but did not answer, concerned the multiplicity of religions in the world. The issue here isn't the relatively minor divisions with Christianity, but the far greater diversity of great religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Zoroastroism, Jainism, Taoism, Sikhism, Bahá'í, and others.

We can try to rationalize the existence of so many different religions by saying that God manifested himself to all nations, and that each nation explained that manifestation in somewhat different ways. The problem with this kind of thinking is that if you restrict yourself to what is common to great religions, it's not much.

Even so, I'd like to float a hypothesis for thoughtful discussion.

Paul uses the metaphor of the body (e.g., 1 Corinthians 12:12-30), and the essential role that different parts of the body play in the functioning of the whole body, as a way to explain why, even as the Spirit grants different gifts to different people, enabling them to serve in different roles, all roles are important, and all of the members of the body of Christ are honorable.

Perhaps this is true of different religions as well. We should have no difficulty with the notion that Judaism continues to prosper because it's part of God's plan. There are copious verses in both the Old Testament and New that support this (e.g., Romans 11:26). Perhaps it is Judaism's place to serve as witness of God's purity. But perhaps other religions have particular roles too.

Remember that Jesus instructed us to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19, NRSV). This, and sayings like it, drive Christian missionary work. But maybe we've come closer to succeeding than we think. We tend to think not, because we haven't made disciples of all people, but maybe that's not the point. Maybe the point is that whatever it is that Christians are specifically intended by God to do, needs to be done in all societies. And maybe this is characteristic of all “true” religions, and so we shouldn't be surprised or offended by the existence of Buddhist Americans, or Islamic Americans. Maybe that's part of God's plan too.

This hypothesis is no excuse for slacking off on Christian missionary work. I don't think that there is any society today that has too many Christians, and certainly in the countries that we tend to think of as the “Christian west,” many have fallen away and have no religion at all. The potential harvest grows larger each year!

But I think that this hypothesis, whether we accept it or not, should give us cause to think hard about the question, “What is the proper role for Christians in society?” Indeed, this blog exists as a vehicle for trying to understand that very question, in more specific contexts. A very nice starting point can be found in the lyrics to the Taizé song, “The Kingdom of God,” which, even though I didn't know of it until a few days ago, is now the de facto theme song of this blog.

The Kingdom of God is justice and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit Come, Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom. (copyright © Ateliers et Presses de Taizé, 71250 Taizé, France)

I gratefully acknowledge permission from Ateliers et Presses de Taizé to quote these lyrics. Their response to my request was prompt and generous, and noted that “the lyrics are based on Rm 14:7 with an echo of Ps 118:19.”

Peace