Evangelical fundamentalists are the ones who usually pose the question in these terms, “Is Jesus the only way?” and then they will say “Let’s see what the Bible says” and then read John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.”
There are two problems with this approach. First, the assumption is that one simply has to find the right verse and read it, and one will have “the Bible’s answer”. But the Bible has more than one thing to say on the subject, and the old canard of “allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture” is simply a way of saying “If I’ve found a verse that supports my view, I can dismiss any others that do not”.
The second problem is that even the Gospel of John itself has more to say on the subject. The one who speaks in John 14:6 has been presented since the first chapter as the incarnation of the Light that “gives light to every human being” (John 1:9).
The Gospel of John is idiosyncratic in a number of ways. There is no real way to justify using the Gospel of John’s statements to ignore others. In the other three Gospels, Jesus praises Gentiles for their faith and sends them on their way, with no attempt to ensure that they understand about monotheism, much less about who he is. The Bible simply cannot bear the weight of the exclusivist system fundamentalists place on it. Nor can it, when one seeks to do justice to the various things the Bible says on the subject, be used to support the idea that “believing in Jesus” alone matters or even matters more than (or apart from) what one does.
Apparently even Evangelicals are realizing this. What they need to be reassured of is that, contrary to the accusations that will be made (and which will be partly true, I suspect), this is not merely a case of Christians following a more general cultural trend. It is more a case of Christians allowing the surrounding culture not merely to put them on the defensive, but also lead them to rediscover neglected truths within their own traditions and Scriptures. And that is not simply about the wideness of God’s mercy, but also the need for humility about our own beliefs. I suspect that if one followed through Christian reasoning to its logical end, we might find ourselves concluding that God alone has the right to feel certain.
Ben Witherington has the most detailed summary of the Pew Forums data that sparked this subject being prominent in the news and on blog today. There is more on this subject at Think Christian, Debunking Christianity (plus a second article on Billy Graham’s views), Mystical Seeker, Biblische Ausbildung, Iyov, Irenic Thoughts, Street Prophets, The Lead, Threads from Henry’s Web, Scotteriology, Blogging Faith, Hyphoid Logic, Unorthodoxology, Canadian Centre for Progressive Christianity, and First Things, as well as somewhat-related posts at Nouslife, Ponderings on a Faith Journey, and Ken Schenck.
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