PY1102 Philosophy of Religion Religious Plurality and Religious Pluralism Visit For 100’s of free powerpoints

Mr Thwackum, from Henry Fielding’s novel Tom Jones: “When I mention religion, I mean the Christian religion; and not only the Christian religion, but the Protestant religion; and not only the Protestant religion, but the Church of England”

There are vast amounts of disagreement in belief, between different religious believers  Disagreement within religions  Protestants and Catholics will disagree over what kind of priesthood is required for valid sacraments  Theravadin and Mahayanin Buddhists will disagree over the existence of buddha nature

There are vast amounts of disagreement in belief, between different religious believers  Disagreement between related religions  Christians and Muslims will disagree over whether God could be incarnate  Dvaita and Advaita Hindus will disagree over whether there is a God

There are vast amounts of disagreement in belief, between different religious believers  Disagreement between very different kinds of religion  Muslims accept the existence of God, Buddhists do not  Jains hold to the existence of an immortal soul or self, Buddhists reject this

Does the existence of this disagreement (the fact of plurality) raise problems for whether any religious believer is justified in her beliefs?

Common responses to the fact of plurality: 1. Dogmatism (exclusivism) Believing that one’s own religion has things right, and that others (if contrary) are wrong. When religious believers disagree, one of them is wrong. To continue to hold one’s religious beliefs is to reject the truth of the other’s beliefs.

Common responses to the fact of plurality: 2. Scepticism Believing that the fact of pluralism just shows that all religious beliefs are false Any decision in favour of one particular religion being true, would just be an arbitrary decision

3. Inclusivism Inclusivists agree with exclusivists that one religion (one’s own) has things right, but allow that other religions may contain elements of the same grace, allowing salvation for those believers

Common responses to the fact of plurality: 4. Pluralism The view that all religions are distinct ways of experiencing the same thing, ultimate reality (or, the Real) As people can experience the same thing in different ways without contradicting each other, different religions experience the Real in different ways, without contradiction

Religious Pluralism  RP comes in many varieties (but is not the same thing as religious tolerance or religious relativism)  Most well-known is that expressed by John Hick. On Hick’s view, all religions are “equally valid”  RP holds that no single religion can claim absolute authority to teach absolute truth. It is thus opposed to religious evangelism

Religious Pluralism  Benefit of pluralism is that it allows us to avoid both dogmatism and scepticism  The cost is that, according to pluralism, no religion gives us an ultimate explanation of anything, but just records a particular experience of the Real

Resources:  See Yandell, Ch. 6; Peterson et al., Part 11  Online: pluralism