A lot of modern people are(or claim to be) averse to the exclusivism of "Christianity".
By "exclusivism" they usually refer to some particular self-identified Christian church, or denomination, or a selection of such churches.
And by exclusivism is meant a collection of various ideas that limit salvation: for examples that Christianity is the only true religion; that church instructions and/or sacraments provide the only valid path to salvation; that those who are not Christian are doomed to eternal torment, and so forth.
Various alternatives may then be proposed for these and other various exclusivisms (for instance; that all religions are true, or equally-true; that Heaven is for everyone, eventually; that Heaven is for good people, and others).
All of these miss the point.
Christianity is indeed exclusive; and exclusive in the sense that for those who want salvation - which is resurrected eternal life in Heaven - there is only one way of attaining this goal.
And that one way is by following Jesus Christ.
In other words: Jesus Christ is necessary for salvation - meaning that if Jesus had not existed, and was not still alive and active; then there would be no salvation for any of Mankind.
Such a brief definition may be true and perhaps acknowledged by many or most Christians; yet it leaves some key terms undefined, in particular what it means to "follow" Jesus Christ.
But the answer to that should, I believe, be regarded as secondary to the first step: which is:
To want what Jesus offers; to desire salvation for oneself, and to want it as the priority of life.
I would say that anyone who wants salvation as the priority Is A Christian: by that commitment is a Christian defined.
The secondary question of what "follow" means in this context; and how, exactly, I personally (here and now) should follow Jesus Christ; well, such matters are surely more the subject for a life quest, than a thing that can be pre-decided by any act of faith and resolution.
(Even joining a church and obeying it does not decide what "follow" means in practice; since the Church opinion must be learned, acted on; and anyway there is always dispute on such matters within all churches.)
Anyone who sincerely desires to attain eternal resurrected life in Heaven will, presumably, do whatever is necessary for him to attain this goal (as and when this becomes evident); and will do so according to his own best attainable knowledge and understanding...
"Following Jesus" is a matter about which it would seem foolish to expect unanimous agreement.
The core of "what Christianity is may, nonetheless, be a matter of shared consensus among Christians of many types - but only among Christians!
Because, it seems that plenty of other people (apparently a large majority) do not want salvation but want... something else instead, and there are many such possibilities...
Therefore; it seems to me that almost all of the people who object to the real exclusivism of Christianity do not themselves want salvation...
But, for instance, they might deny the real possibility of post-mortal life; or prefer some other post-mortal outcome than everlasting life in Heaven Perhaps they want reincarnation? Or not to die at all? Or for death to be annihilation of the self? Or they prefer eternal life as a spirit rather than to be resurrected bodily. Or they want a post-mortal pleasure-paradise of themselves reborn, but not resurrected.
Many possibilities exist - including the desire to become a ghost, or a demon - common enough wishes nowadays.
So the exclusivism of Christianity is seldom a real problem!
Those who themselves do not desire Christ's salvation, or who regard it as an unpleasant, bad or evil thing - can hardly object that such salvation is exclusive!
And, although theoretically a possibility and a genuine problem; whether people actually exist who sincerely desire salvation (i.e. desire for themselves resurrected eternal life in Heaven), and who also deny that Jesus is truly necessary to attain this salvation, is not clear to me.
I guess that (if they indeed exist) such people would need to believe that:
1. They wanted salvation
2. There is a path to salvation
3. But a path that does not require Men to "follow" Jesus - in any sense of "follow" - i.e. that (contrary to what Christians assert) Jesus is not-really necessary to salvation.
Only if such people exist, then I can see that such would indeed have a legitimate grievance against the exclusivism of Christianity!
2 comments:
I heard a sermon yesterday where the priest pointed out that "follow me" is the first thing he says to his disciples, before anything else.
@Mal - A good point.
It makes sense of the rather strange repeated emphasis of those passages. John 1; as if something more is being implied than the obvious:
[35] Again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples;
[36] And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
[37] And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
[38] Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?
[39] He saith unto them, Come and see. They came and saw where he dwelt, and abode with him that day: for it was about the tenth hour.
[40] One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
[41] He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.
[42] And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.
[43] The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.
And what this means is later made clearer in John 10, with the long section on the Good Shepherd.
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