In this article, I will be engaging with Religious Relativism as a cultural religious element versus the Uniqueness of Christ as a Christian worldview. Obviously, we live in a culture where many people are embracing the worldview that ‘everything is relative’, and there is no absolute truth. Part of this essay will point to the fact that security comes from knowing the truth. At the hub of this article is the theological argument that everything isn’t relative – there is absolute truth.
In order to establish that there is an absolute truth, the discussion will border on The Inerrancy of the Bible (i.e., the Bible is true in all it affirms). So, I will answer the controlling question, “Is the Bible Relevant in the 21st Century?” Also, I will attempt a contrastive analysis between inclusivism and exclusivism.
Surely, the emergent Church is very liberal, they raise questions without providing answers, they are moving away from the orthodoxy of Scriptures thereby raising such questions as, “Do we hold on to the account of the virgin birth of Jesus?” “Is homosexuality wrong?” Like Lee Strobel or Ravi Zacharias, I am presenting an argument for the credibility of the Christian world-view in a way that is free from arrogance, and sympathetic to the world-views of others.
On one hand, I agree with the argument of the emerging Church (not emergent Church) that there is a prophetic calling for the Church to change. On the other hand, I will emphatically say NO, NO, NO, to those who are clamoring for reforming the core principles of Christianity. Backers of such reform posit lots of arguments that I will not buy. Do I believe in a humble hermeneutic versus a fixation with propositional truth? Yes. I certainly believe in a critical realist epistemology. I also concur that we can go in search of a new ecclesiology (the theological study of the Christian Church) in a way that is positive, creative, and effective.
I do not necessarily kick against a tendency towards a particular kind of inclusivism that gears towards an openness to discovering God in the midst of others. This does not necessarily suggest that anything goes – which is at the heart of this article. Many aspects of postmodern culture try to push the church to make reforms – reforms that are not foundational to Biblical Christianity.
Western culture is becoming post-Christian. This means that the barriers erected out of the world-views of naturalism, universalism, and humanism are very real. Unless we take these barriers into account our evangelistic communication will be understood by an ever-decreasing number of people in the West. That is, even though many people have geographical and cultural access to existing churches, they cannot enter because they are confronted and prevented by the barriers of naturalistic, universalistic, and humanistic world-views.
There are many pieces of evidence exposing the theological confusion that plagues the minds of millions of young people.
The devil does not exist – Satan is just a symbol of evil.
A good person earns entry into heaven by doing enough good works.
People are born morally neutral and make a choice as to become good or bad.
All of the sacred books from different religious traditions (i.e., the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, and so forth) are merely different forms of expression of the same spiritual truths and principles.
Spiritual and moral truth can truth can only be discovered through logic, human reasoning, and personal experience.
Praying to deceased saints can have a positive effect on your life.
The Bible discourages sin but never describes it as an innate behavior.
Life either has no meaning or the meaning is realized through hard work, which produces the resources to enjoy comfort, and security.
There are no absolute standards for morals and ethics.
Life is either a random series of acts or predetermined, but we have no real say in how our lives unfold.
When Jesus Christ lived on earth, He committed sins.
The Bible does not specifically condemn homosexuality.
Placing the above views into context helps us to realize that a very small percentage of people in this culture have a biblical worldview which serves as the foundation for their decision-making. I believe that that there is hope, because God is still in the business of raising gifted and inspiring communicators or preachers who will be strategic in winning people that are skeptical of faith!
I strongly believe that there is something wrong when a great percentage of a given population don’t know what to believe in by the time they are twenty-five years of age. I strongly agree with the proposition that the ‘new morality’ of permissiveness is no morality at all. Inclusivists basically argue that all that one needs to do in order to gain salvation is to be a moralist. They further argue that one does not necessarily need to be a Christian; if a person belongs to another religious faith, he or she only needs to be a good person. The point at issue is that, WE CANNOT SUBSTITUTE MORALITY FOR SALVATION.
Einstein showed us that time and space are not absolutes but relative to each other, that matter and energy are interchange-able, that space is curved, and that what you see depends on your frame of reference. So, scientific truth is relative to the frame of reference of the observer. So is any other sort of truth, in my thinking. Thus your evidence for the resurrection of Jesus is evidence you can see from your frame of reference. That’s all it is.
Neils Bohr, Max Planch, and Werner Heisenberg are quantum theorists, scientists, who have mapped out a whole new vision of reality. They and others have shown that there is a lower limit to our abilities to measure things. They have shown us that when we measure reality to the smallest level, there is only probability.
Quantum theory has immense consequence for our view of reality. First, logic can no longer be seen as either-or. Either Christianity is true or false. Reality is also-and. Light is a wave, and it’s also a particle. So, when you give me your arguments, you’re operating with old-time dichotomizing logic that went out with the downfall of Isaac Newton’s world of simple, certain scientific truth. Logic is synthetic. It creates contradiction in order to achieve a new and greater synthesis.
Second, all reality is participant reality. There is no such thing as an independent, objective world that you can observe without changing. You can’t measure light particles without changing them, without creating the reality you observe. You probably want to make me think that early Christians just reported the historical facts. They helped create facts they observed, and then reported them out of their interpretation of reality. Scientists do that. Writers do that. Religious people like you do that.
Third, uncertainty and chaos rule the behavior of life at small and individual level. Patterns only emerge at the macro level, and those patterns are complicated and beautiful. Your simple explanation of life in black and white is too easy. It erases the complexity and imposes authority on life that is fundamentally spontaneous, a world of probability and playfulness.
Jesus professes Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life in John 14:6-15. “I am the way….” A ‘way’ or ‘guide’ is most often understood as a person or thing that conducts strangers through a region or serves as a model for conduct. ‘Guide’ is also associated with an old English word for being wise. The meaning of that word suggests that Jesus’ intention is to provide us wisdom necessary to conduct our lives.
There are more than three hundred portions of Scripture that elucidate the point that salvation is only found in Christ Jesus. Indeed, Jesus is the way! Salvation is facilitated with the blood of Jesus. Obviously, ‘intelligent design’ necessitates a Designer. Christians can be sure that that the Holy Spirit is guiding us. In the face of the daunting dilemmas of life, we will always have Him to turn to, when we are not sure of the way!
Jesus is the messiah. “We have found the messiah”, said Andrew to Simon. Every Israelite knew what that meant. The messiah represented the Jewish hope, as El-Hady does that of Druce, and El-Mahdy that of Islam, both being from the same root, meaning “guide” – He who shall guide His followers to final triumph. Even so, but with greater eagerness did Israel hope for “the Anointed’s” coming. Having once met Him, ordinary avocations might be resumed for a time but His final call found them ready to leave all and follow Him.
Matthew 9-2-7 clearly sets Christ above all the Old Testament order, and commands us to hear Christ above them (Hebrews 1:1; Acts 3:22,23; Matthew 28:18-20; Hebrews 2:1-4; Ephesians 2:19-22. The Old Testament, a valid revelation needs the Head Stone, Romans 16:25,26; Acts 26:22; Galatians 1:8-12; Hebrews 2:1-1,3,4; Colossians 1:13-19; and in type Genesis 41:37-46. “This is my Son, the Beloved, hear Him” Mark 9:7. Who will reject these words?
At the end of this piece, is my personal testimony about how a literal dream about the veracity of the Word of God impacted my conversion from Islamic faith to Christianity. Currently, there is a rising number of testimonies about many Muslims coming to faith in Christ through dreams. The circumstances that led to my acceptance of Jesus Christ as my personal Savior (about a couple of decades ago), evolved around a supernatural change from an uncreative and negative attitude towards the Bible to a very deep sense of value for the Bible. While I was in high school, a classmate called Ernest befriended, but I did not know his motive at that time. Ernest quickly realized that I was a voracious reader. Therefore, he started suggesting certain portions of Scripture that I can read when I am at home!
On a certain day, he suggested that I read II Kings Chapter 2 at home. That evening, I read the story about Elijah taken up to heaven by a by a fiery chariot and it was thrilling. Some thoughts started flooding my mind about the era in which Bible events took place as opposed to the times in which we live. I doubted the relevance of the Bible to me as a modern man. I concluded that the Bible was an obsolete anthology and it cannot be used to influence my generation. I went to bed that night with the persuasion that Economics, Accounting Business Methods and other courses that I was taking can better educate me than the Bible. Also, I decided that whenever anybody discusses the Bible with me, I must dismiss him or her with the argument that the Bible is irrelevant.
In a dream that night, I found myself at the school campus with my friend, Ernest and I told him about the ‘irrelevance’ of the Bible. In our discussion in the dream, he referred me to Romans 15:4. When I woke up, the dream was fresh in my mind, and I read Romans 15:4, KJV, quoted as, “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have HOPE.” You see where I got the ‘HOPE’ thing from! That Scripture grabbed my heart, changed my perspective about the Bible; and I developed reverence for God and His Word.
I started honoring Ernest’s invitation to go to church. I was led to Christ in one of the Bible Study meetings on a glorious Tuesday evening! My life is forever changed.
Sometimes the sermons or messages that I heard in Church hit me hard and I did not want to attend another service, but the Holy Spirit kept reminding me of Romans 15:4, “… that we (I) through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” The Bible was written for our learning. This presupposes that it is relevant. It is not out-dated. It is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago. God uses Paul to educate his generation that even the Old Testament stories as old as they seemed, were written for people of all time so that it will influence everything that concerns humankind. Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord! Free at last! This is my story. Alleluia to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world with His precious blood!
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