Table Of ContentDIVINITY
& DIVERSITY
A CHRISTIAN AFFIRMATION
OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
MARJORIE HEWITT SUCHOCKI
Abingdon Press
Nashville
DIVINITY AND DIVERSITY
A CHRISTIAN AFFIRMATION OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
Copyright © 2003 by Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechan-
ical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may
be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission
should be addressed to Abingdon Press, 201 Eighth Avenue South, P.O. Box 801, Nashville, TN 37202-
0801.
This book is printed on recycled, acid-free, elemental-chlorine-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Suchocki, Marjorie.
Divinity and diversity : a Christian affirmation of religious pluralism / Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-687-02194-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Christianity and other religions. 2. Religious pluralism—Christianity. I. Title.
BR127.S88 2003
261.2—dc21
2003001114
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman
Foundation. Used by permission.
Scripture marked ASV is from the American Standard Version of the Bible.
Scripture marked KJV is from the King James Version of the Bible.
Scripture marked TANAKH is from The TANAKH: The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional
Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. Used by permission.
Portions of chapter 3 were originally published in Religion in a Pluralistic Age: Proceedings of the Third
International Conference on Philosophical Theology, edited by Donald A. Crosby and Charley D. Hardwick.
Copyright 2001, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York. Material is used with permission of the publisher.
03 04 05 06 07 - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Dedicated with Grateful Appreciation
to
The Credo Group
of Marvin United Methodist Church
Tyler, Texas
CONTENTS
Preface ' 9
Acknowledgments ^
1. I IK- Task 15
1 • 25
2. Creation
3. Radical Incarnation
4. The Image of God ^
5. The Reign of God ^5
6. Saving Grace
7. Mission in a Pluralistic World 109
Notes ' 123
PREFACE
I
n the not-so-distant American past, small-town Protestants might
have defined religious pluralism as Methodist, Baptist, and
Presbyterian churches all in the same town. At the edges of con-
sciousness (if not the edges of town) there were Roman Catholics, too—
and perhaps Jews. Urban Protestants might have been more forthright in
their recognition of a common Christianity that included Protestants and
Catholics together, but a major issue in pluralism was how Christian
churches related to one another. Ecumenism was the growing edge of reli-
gious practice, and ministerial associations developed as ways to under-
stand one another and cooperate with one another. Insofar as Christians
recognized pluralism as involving religions other than Christianity,
Judaism was often the only candidate in town—and often Judaism was
swept into the Christian circle as a distant older sibling of Christianity.
Religious pluralism as we know it today radically undercuts those
assumptions, for virtually every town in America is living space for a vari-
ety of religions. Hindu temples are raised, Buddhists meet in sanghas,
Muslims build mosques. Worldwide immigration and emigration patterns
mean that persons from religions other than one's own are now neigh-
bors. Furthermore, through marriage or conversion, persons from reli-
gions other than one's own are often family!
How do Christians deal with this phenomenon? Our Christian past has
traditionally taught us that there is only one way to God, and that is
through CI irist. But we are uneasy. Our neighborliness teaches us that
9
Preface
these others are good and decent people, good neighbors, or loved family
members! Surely God is with them as well as with us. Our hearts reach
out, but our intellectual understanding draws back. We have been given
little theological foundation for affirming these others—and conse-
quently, we wonder if our feelings of acceptance are perhaps against the
will of God, who has uniquely revealed to us just what is required for sal-
vation.
"New occasions teach new duties," is a line from a hymn. But new
occasions may also teach new ways of thinking. This book explores new
ways of thinking about old Christian doctrines, exploring them for new
insights into religious pluralism. In the first chapter I set out the problem
of religious pluralism. The second chapter, "Creation," is based on God's
transcendence, especially as witnessed in Genesis 1. God creates through
"call and response," with each new call being based on the world's previ-
ous response. Such a creation, I argue, requires pluralism as a witness to
God's work with the world, rather than somehow on the world indepen-
dent of its response.
The third chapter, "Radical Incarnation," is based on God's imma-
nence. Insofar as God's call is taken into the becoming world, God is
incarnate in the world. God is at work within religions—all religions, not
just our own. The fourth chapter, "The Image of God," is based on
Trinitarian theology. "Trinity" names God as an irreducible diversity
existing in the unity of divine love. Further, the internal love of God is
expressed externally through calling into being that which is most deeply
other to God, the creature. If God calls us to be God's own image, then
we too must learn to love not only within the internal diversity of our
various modes of Christianity, but beyond ourselves toward the deeper
diversity of religious pluralism. The Reign of God provides my fourth
symbol. A mark of God's reign is our treatment of the "stranger within our
gates." We are to care for the well-being of the stranger. In today's world,
the "strangers within our gates" are the persons from different religious
traditions.
To call upon these four Christian doctrines/symbols to justify an affir-
mation of religions other than Christianity calls for exploration of what
we mean by salvation in Jesus Christ. This topic is explored in chapter 6,
"Saving Grace." And finally, the issue of mission is considered in chapter
7. It may seem paradoxical to say that mission is more important, not less
important, in a religiously diverse world. But if God is callin^us to new
modes of friendship, this cannot be accomplished apart from mission.
10
Preface
Friendship requires forthrightness about who we are, and an eagerness to
listen to who the other is. Friendship requires knowing one another,
which requires witnessing to one another about our experiences, our
beliefs. And friendship involves us in working together for the common
good of a world of peace, of sustainable lifestyles, of care for the planet
and all its inhabitants. Friendship cannot happen by withdrawal into our
tightly drawn circles; we must go forth, reach out, in love of God and
neighbor.
My conviction in writing this book is that God is calling religious peo-
ples in particular to model new ways of friendship in today's world. We
can no longer afford our wars—if ever we could!—and we only increase
the horror and shame when we name our religions as reasons for war. I
believe God calls us to a "peaceable kingdom" of God's reign in this
world. That reign will be a reflection of God's image through the emerg-
ing creation of the world as a community of many communities, where we
each learn to respect one another and work with one another in friend-
ship.
11
