extra ecclesiam nulla salus<\/em>). But a string of important theologians thought differently: Abelard, Pope Gregory VII, St. Francis, Thomas Aquinas, Dante, some Anabaptists, Richard Baxter and then Pius IX said that \u201cno salvation outside the church\u201d referred only to those \u201cculpably\u201d outside of the church.
\nMcDermott dismantles the typical taxonomy: exclusivism (Jesus is the only Savior), pluralists (many saviors), and inclusivism (Christ is sole means but knowledge of him may\/is not required). McDermott shows that many scholars today believe inclusivism captures other religions by (1) one religion \u2014 say Christians contending that righteous non-Christians will find union with the Christian God \u2014 or (2) annihilates the fabric of other religions \u2014 many don\u2019t want to be united with God since they don\u2019t think there is such a God (say a classic Buddhist) or the view advocates a kind of religious dynamic that advocates of one particular faith don\u2019t believe. Furthermore, religions each are inherently exclusivist.
\nSome today are arguing, not for a pluralist capturing of other religions but for different salvations. Some Buddhists find nirvana, some Muslims Paradise, and some Christians find union with the Triune God.
\nMcDermott argues that the theologians who advocate for different salvations, which strikes me ultimately as a modified pluralism, don\u2019t cite Scripture to support their view and, in fact, find too much in Scripture against such a view.
\nMcDermott shows that the Bible itself began to struggle with the scandal of particularity and that some major early theologians had diverse and profound answers for the scandal. Next post \u2026 Surprising knowledge of God among Bible people outside Israel and the church.
\nBecause we are visiting with family this week and early next, I will be here sporadically so some comments could take a little longer to approve.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our day needs its best theologians, historians, biblical scholars, missiologists and pastors to sit down at table to discuss world religions. The issues pressing for answers are enormous in significance, and that is why I\u2019d like to open a series on why God has allowed different religions? And, of course, the very question assumes the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\n
God's Rivals 1<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Our day needs its best theologians, historians, biblical scholars, missiologists and pastors to sit down at table to discuss world religions. The issues\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2007\/12\/27\/gods-rivals-1\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Rivals 1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Our day needs its best theologians, historians, biblical scholars, missiologists and pastors to sit down at table to discuss world religions. 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<\/em>. Here is his question: