Selected Product:
| Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World
Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Author: Alister E. McGrath
Publisher: Zondervan
Release Date: 1996-08-19
ISBN-10: 0310212766
ISBN-13: 0025986212766
List Price: $17.99
Average Customer Rating:
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Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Four views, from salvation in Christ alone to the belief that all ethical religions lead to God, presented by advocates of each, help Christians understand and meet the challenges of our pluralistic culture.
A Debate that Concerns the Identity of God
| Customer Rating: | Is Jesus the only way to God?
What happens to sincere people of other faiths?
What about those who never hear the gospel?
You haven't been in ministry long if you haven't been bombarded with questions like these. Do you ever find yourself struggling to articulate compassionately the exclusivity of Christ for salvation? Are you intrigued by the arguments of inclusivism and pluralism?
The Zondervan Counterpoints series answers the question of "salvation in a pluralistic world" by bringing together a wide spectrum of viewpoints on this sensitive subject. Four views are presented here regarding the fate of the unevangelized.
First, John Hick makes a case for normative pluralism - the view that all ethical religions lead to God. In Hick's chapter, Hick testifies to his abandonment of Christian distinctives and his belief in the unknowable Transcendent which be believes is common to all religions. Pluralism becomes much less attractive upon reading Hick's attack on the most fundamental doctrines of Christianity.
Next, Clark Pinnock makes a case for inclusivism - the view that salvation is found in Christ alone, but that conscious faith in Christ is not necessary for salvation. Pinnock's enthusiasm and optimism for the "goodness" of other religions is too sweeping. His case is emotion-based more than reason-based, but to his credit, he does seek to back up his belief with Scripture. I have written on inclusivism on blog, so I won't repeat my thoughts on the position.
The third position is Alister McGrath's belief that salvation is in Christ alone, but that we cannot know for sure the fate of those who never hear the gospel. McGrath's contribution differs sharply from the others in that he presents his argument by questioning many of the assumptions behind the idea of "salvation" and by seeking to avoid being too influenced by the Enlightenment.
The final contribution comes from R. Douglas Geivett and W. Gary Phillips. These men present the traditional view of salvation in Christ alone and the necessity of conscious faith in Christ.
Upon reading this book, I was struck by how one's view of God seems to determine which side one will takes in this discussion. Hick's "God" is virtually unrecognizable to traditional Christianity. Pinnock's "God" is the all-American, equal-opportunity for everyone Deity that is "fair" according to human standards. McGrath's "God" won't fit in any box. Geivett and Phillips holy "God" has revealed himself in Scripture and calls all people to repentance and faith in His Son.
Pick up Four Views on Salvation. It's a worthwhile read. This book does more than address the question of salvation in our pluralistic world. It leaves you with a firm understanding that the very identity of God himself is at stake in the debate. |
Good book in the Counterpoint Series
| Customer Rating: | | This book is part of the Zondervan Counterpoint Series which I would highly recommend. For the lay person who has a full time job, the various views presented can get you up to speed quickly. What is lacking in depth is made up for in breadth. This book on religious pluralism is just as fresh today as in was when this book was written. All four views are well represented and the format where each author responds to the others is very good. For those who want to dig deeper on this topic, I would recommend Sander's "No Other Name". |
Challenging but worthwhile...
| Customer Rating: | This book offered an expansive and surprisingly lively exchange between four streams of theological thought pertaining to the relationships between Christianity and other religions, specifically in connection with salvation. John Hick represented the pluralism camp, Clark Pinnock represented the inclusivist camp, Alister McGrath represented a more broadly defined camp within particularism, and Douglas Geivett and Gary Phillips jointly represented a narrower branch of particularism.
I found the experience of reading this book to be extremely rewarding. It was a difficult read, probably as philosophical in nature as anything that I've ever read. The language that the authors used was more complicated and intricate than typical (though they would certainly argue that they dumbed-down and truncated their standard arguments to fit within the confines of this particular format). And I was amazed and pleased by the honesty and direct nature of the dialogue. There were no punches pulled, and these great thinkers were perfectly willing to challenge and even insult each other (or at least each other's ideas).
Though I was drawn to Hick's narrative introduction, I was immediately put-off by his aversion to the Bible. I instantly disconnected when he essentially decried the Bible as a series of man-made texts that were culturally/politically/theologically crafted for particular earthly purposes. I was further frustrated by the tenor of his writing throughout the book and found him to be less gracious than his colleagues. And without any foundation in the Bible or traditional Christian thinking, I found his arguments to be disconnected from any truth-source. Though he brought great challenge to my thinking, I remain unconvinced by his arguments.
Pinnock was hard to understand, as he claims to fall within evangelicalism but seems to press very hard against the walls of that distinction. He makes a very compelling case against the notion of a loving God who would choose billions for hell, but I found his argumentation to be rather scattered and unconvincing.
Geivett/Phillips were most closely aligned to my own spiritual upbringing, and they had the advantage of having me in their camp at the start. And though I found their approach to be comfortable for me (very Scripturally-based and well-organized), I was unimpressed by their logic and argumentation. The other authors seemed to be able to poke some significant holes in their reasoning, and I found their responses to be inadequate.
Ultimately, I finished this book most impressed by the case and position of Alister McGrath. This result was somewhat surprising, as I've mentioned that I expected to align most closely with Geivett and Phillips. Instead, I found McGrath to have a very winsome tone through his writing. Though very direct and confrontational when needed, he was never patronizing like Hick, never desperate like Pinnock, and never careless like Geivett/Phillips. I appreciate the clarity of his logic, as I was not lost in his thoughts as I occasionally was with the others. And I found that he struck a helpful balance between commitment to the Scriptures and the history of Christian thinking while honoring God's sovereignty by leaving a few important questions essentially unanswered. He did not bash the Bible (like Hick), he did not insult Augustine and Calvin (like Pinnock), and he did not proof-text (like Geivett/Phillips). He simply made a solid case for the reality that salvation is available in and through Christ, and our job as Christians is to spread that message everywhere, regardless of whether we know for sure what God plans to do with anyone that we miss. This gives us a vital job to do but leaves the final work in God's hands. |
Informative, but limited in scope
| Customer Rating: | This will be brief. Overall I am pleased with the Counterpoints series Zondervan has published, but like the publisher, these works are filtered through a fairly conservative lens. The present volume is a case in point. The editors admit in their introduction they agree with a particularist approach to salvation (i.e., exclusivist, traditional, etc), and while I certainly appreciate this nod towards being transparent in their editorship, as I read through the book it didn't take long to realize I would need to seek out other sources - none evangelical in tone and stance - to inform my understanding of the debates in soteriology and today's church. John Hick and Alister McGrath offer particularly strong arguments in their essays - their writing is cogent and informative. Clark Pinnock is perhaps misrepresented in this volume, because his brand of inclusivism teeters on the edge of particularism. In fact, he sounds like a disillusioned traditional evangelical who doesn't know how to make sense of salvation so he just takes a vague middle road. The Geivett/Phillips article is pretty useless in my opinion - they reiterate nothing new or interesting that you can't hear on a Sunday morning at your local Baptist church. Furthermore, their responses to the other authors are spurious and at best nothing more than piecemeal critiques. Their writing and responses are just as close-minded and tired as is their theology of salvation.
With that said, you should judge the book for yourself. I do recommend it, but with the caveat that it should be read with a critical eye and an understanding that this discussion of salvation is somewhat narrow, but there is value in the book. Again, Hick and McGrath are the highpoints. |
One of the Better Works in Four Views Series
| Customer Rating: | Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World edited by Okholm and Gundry discusses the issue of salvation in light of the multiplicity of contemporary worldviews. This is part of the Four Views series published by Zondervan.
The following four perspectives of salvation are discussed:
* John Hick - Pluralism - all religions lead to God
* Clark Pinnock - Inclusivism - universally available but through Christ
* Douglas Geivett/Gary Philips - Exclusivism - only through acceptance of Christ
* Allister McGgrath - Exclusivism (slightly nuanced)
Although the Four Views series is normally characterized by solid argumentation, it has been criticised for its narrow perspective. This limited scope often makes the texts come of as a bit of an hair splitting exercise between conservative American Protestants. In this regard, the current instalment is notably better - John Hick's extreme liberal if not non-Christian perspective helps to significantly widen the discussion.
With regard to the quality of the contributions, I thought given the limited space they were generally good (McGrath's piece struck me as hastily written and a bit off tone). As one of the most recognizable proponents of religious pluralism, Hick's comments were especially helpful and interesting. Without a doubt he advocates the most politically correct position in the current Western intellectual climate. At the same time, however, it is the most at variance with scripture and tradition - indeed, while hopeful; Hick's position is arguably not truly a Christian one. Pennock's piece and the one by Geivett and Philips were also useful in filling out the spectrum of viewpoints. McGrath while sometimes an able commentator added little to the debate.
Overall this is a good read for those interested in Christian theology. I encourage Zondervan to continue this series, but with a wider range of contributors (Catholic and/or Orthodox might be helpful). As it is Four Views is a good series - with a wider range of perspectives it could be outstanding.
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