The Pope and other religions by Charles J. Chaput.
Pope Francis was recently speaking to an interreligious
group of young people in Singapore, where he left his prepared remarks to offer
some general reflections about religion. In his extemporaneous comments, he stated:
“[Religions] are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is
God for all. Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.”
He then added:
If you start to fight, “My religion is more important than yours; mine is true, and yours isn’t,” where will that lead us? There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].
There was a day when the pope’s statement would have made headlines as faith leaders voiced their disagreement. Jesus was very clear, stating of himself: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He also said of himself, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:18).
After teaching world religions for three decades with four seminaries, I can tell you that Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Orthodox Judaism are similarly convinced that theirs is the right path to salvation, however they understand it. Furthermore, the various religions do not teach the same truth.
For example, while the pope rightly claimed that “there’s only one God,” Hindus recognize millions of deities. While Jews, Muslims, and Christians believe humans live forever as individuals, Buddhists and Hindus believe we ultimately become one with reality. And none but Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to atone for our sins.
Why, then, did the pope’s statement not receive more attention? Because it aligned with the “tolerance” ethic, our secularized society so fully embraces. His words were not at all counter-cultural; to the contrary, he would likely have drawn more scrutiny if he had restated the orthodox Christian doctrine that faith in Christ is essential for salvation.
So, here’s my question:
If we choose tolerance over truth, are we helping or harming those we influence?
If your doctor discovers a malignancy in your body, which do you want her to choose? If your mechanic finds a defect that will cause your brakes to fail at high speed, which do you want him to choose?
Telling people that salvation requires faith in Jesus requires courage on our part. But compassion often does. So, let us pray for the lost people we know to experience the joy of eternal life in Christ. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to open doors to our witnesses and give us the words and courage we need to share with them.
Dr. Duane Brooks, is right: “Jesus Christ did not come into the world, die on the cross, and rise again to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live. Praise God, he is still doing it.”
According to news reports, Pope Francis suggested that, “[Religions] are like different languages in order to arrive at God, but God is God for all. Since God is God for all, then we are all children of God.” He went on to say, “If you start to fight, ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t,’ where will that lead us? There’s only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Sikh, Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and they are different paths [to God].” The Holy Father’s positive intent here was obvious.
Francis then added a call to enter into interreligious dialogue. He spoke about dialogue as if it were an end in itself. “Interreligious dialogue,” he said, “is something that creates a path.” The question then is: a path to where?
That all religions have equal weight is an extraordinarily flawed idea for the Successor of Peter to appear to support. It is true that all of the great religions express a human yearning—often with beauty and wisdom—for something more than this life. Humans have a need to worship. That desire seems to be hardwired into our DNA. But not all religions are equal in their content or consequences. Substantial differences exist among the religions the pope named. They have very different notions of who God is and what that implies for the nature of the human person and society. As St. Paul preached two thousand years ago, the search for God can take many imperfect forms, but they are each an imperfect search for the one, true, triune God of Sacred Scripture. Paul condemns false religions and preaches Jesus Christ as the reality and fulfillment of the unknown God whom the Greeks worship (Acts 17:22–31).
Simply put: Not all religions seek the same God, and some religions are both wrong and potentially dangerous, materially and spiritually.
Which is why Jesus did not say, “Stay on your path, and
let’s talk about it.”
by Charles J. Chaput.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/09/the-pope-and-other-religions
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