So yes, a case can certainly be made that there's a kind of exclusivist strain in scripture. I certainly feel the tension between exclusivism and a wider embrace of God. But I think that strain is much less evident in the actual teachings and presence and work and life of Jesus, which point me toward the wider embrace. So I'm more persuaded by Jesus' presence than by the scriptural expressions of Jesus' presence. I do take seriously the authority of scriptures, but to me the Word of God made flesh is far more the ultimate Word.
We're nearing the tenth anniversary of 9/11. What can we do as people of faith to prevent religiously motivated attacks in the future?
The world has grown smaller. The need to live together with respect and civility and earnest understanding is critical. It's a great challenge—and we're coming to it late.
To prevent future tragedies, we need to reach out and embrace people of other faiths in our own small communities, particularly so that our children can begin to see other people as valuable and worthy of respect, not as objects of fear or hostility.
These conversations cannot take place only among the clergy. They need to be among ordinary people of faith. So while there are actions we need to take as governments and nation-states, as a practical matter what we can do is open up conversations amongst peoples of faith in our own communities. That reduces the fear which is, in my judgment, at the root of so much hostility.
If we could overcome the strangeness, if we could overcome the anxiety over being with people who look different, people who have different religious practices, and actually understand who they are and what their histories are, those would be the most important steps that we could take in our smaller communities to help prevent horrendous episodes like 9/11.
For more information, see the conversation on "Is God a Christian?" at the Patheos Book Club.
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