Theology • Difficult Questions • Advanced
Religious Diversity
Primary question: If Christianity is true, why are there so many other religions, and what should we make of their sincerity, moral seriousness, and internal diversity?
Argument map
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Common mistakes
Don't say
Treating the sheer number of religions as itself a knockdown argument against any one being true.
Instead
Recognize that quantity of disagreement is a separate question from quality of evidence; evaluate the actual historical and philosophical case for each tradition's central claims.
Don't say
Assuming Christian exclusivism requires denying any truth, virtue, or genuine religious longing in other traditions.
Instead
Use the historic distinction between general and special revelation to affirm partial truth and real moral seriousness elsewhere while still maintaining Christianity's unique claims.
Don't say
Treating John Hick's pluralism as a neutral 'view from nowhere' above the traditions.
Instead
Recognize pluralism as its own substantive metaphysical position that itself needs to be defended against the traditions' own self-understanding.
What would change my mind? — Christian position
Discovering that the historical case for the resurrection collapses under scrutiny, or that Scripture's account of general revelation and human suppression of it is historically or psychologically untenable, would significantly weaken confidence in Christian exclusivism.
What would change my mind? — Skeptical position
A rigorous, non-question-begging philosophical demonstration that pluralism is coherent with what the traditions themselves actually claim (rather than requiring reinterpretation of them), or independent historical evidence undermining the distinctiveness of the resurrection claim, would move a skeptic toward taking exclusivism less seriously.
Why does this matter?
How Christians think about religious diversity shapes both apologetic credibility and pastoral practice toward friends, family, and neighbors of other faiths. Handled poorly, exclusivism can slide into arrogance or caricature; handled well, it allows genuine respect for others' sincerity and insight while still making a substantive truth claim that can be examined on its merits. The question also bears directly on missions, interfaith dialogue, and how churches prepare members to engage a religiously plural world without either capitulating to relativism or retreating into dismissiveness.
For further study
Primary and secondary sources on both sides of this question. Reading the strongest opposing case is part of the work, not a concession.
Warranted Christian Belief — Alvin Plantinga
Contains an extended, careful treatment of religious diversity as an epistemic and pastoral challenge to Christian belief.
An Interpretation of Religion — John Hick
The definitive statement of the pluralist hypothesis and the most important text for understanding, and critiquing, philosophical pluralism.
Philosophy of Religion: A Contemporary Introduction — Keith Yandell
Includes a rigorous philosophical critique of religious pluralism and its Kantian epistemological foundations.
Salvations: Truth and Difference in Religion — S. Mark Heim
Argues that religions may pursue genuinely different ultimate ends, complicating both simple pluralism and simple exclusivism.
Encountering Religious Pluralism — Harold Netland
A thorough missiological and philosophical treatment of how Christians can engage religious diversity with intellectual seriousness and respect.