Introduction
Ronald Nash’s book Is Jesus the Only Savior? seeks to explain or shed light on this question that has puzzled many in previous generations as well as ours. The resounding answer that comes forth from his arguments is “yes,” Jesus is the only savior of humankind. He starts by taking into account the three schools of thought associated with this controversial question. These are Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism. The first six chapters of the book deals with Pluralism, which can be said to be the belief that all major world religions are equal and there is no religion that is superior to the other. Pluralism also emphasizes that all these religions lead to salvation and to God. In the last five chapters of the book, Nash deals with Inclusivism, which entails the belief that one religion is paramount but salvation is possible through other religions. However, all through the book, Nash sets up a strong argument in favor of Exclusivism, which is the belief that salvation can only be found through one religion. It states that one religion is superior to the others . The religion that exclusivists mostly refer to is Christianity, and they base their arguments on Christ’s statement that “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life” found in John 14:6.
In the second half or the last five chapters of the book, Nash starts by pinpointing the many false assertions that are characteristic with Inclusivism.
Strengths
Nash did not support Inclusivism but he still was able to point out the following strengths in the Inclusivism argument. Even with these strengths me maintained his stand for exclusivism.
1) The Old Testament Saints
The time in the bible, when God was seen to be talking to people the most, was in the old test...
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...as caused by the divine and perfect plan of God who perceives the “end from the beginning” and performs “all things in accordance with the counsel of His will.”
Christian Exclusivism does not have to be confirmed to be perfectly rational, but only more rational than any other is and when compare with inclusivism, Christian Exclusivism gives the stronger argument. The blue print for religion was given in the Bible. It is seen the bible that God is sovereign no one can question Him. We may not understand many things, but we must follow His way of doing things, not just go with emotions like Inclusivists. The bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. In my opinion, If that is what it says, then it is the truth, and he should embrace that truth as it is.
Works Cited
Nash, Ronald. Is Jesus the Only Savior? (Michigan: Zondervan, July 24, 1994)
One of the main principles of Christianity is the belief in both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, that these two natures are combined harmoniously in one being. In general, all modern Christians believe that Jesus was human, he was considered to be “The Word was made flesh” (John, I: 14). However, Jesus was more than just a human, despite being subjected to pain, suffering and death like all other human beings, he was sinless and also possessed the power to heal and to defy death in order to ascend, both body and spirit, into heaven. He was all man and all God, a combination of these two elements, remaining distinct but united in one being. The deity of Jesus is a non-negotiable belief in Christianity, which is referred to in many parts of scripture, “God was revealed in the flesh” (I Timothy, 3:16). The Christian faith does not perceive Jesus as God but rather a reincarnation of God, a mysterious deity who is the second person of the Holy Trinity. Throughout history, controversy has surrounded the issue of the humanity and divinity of Jesus, leading to the formation of Docetism, the belief that Jesus was fully divine but not fully human, Arianism, that Jesus was superior to all of creation, but less divine than God, and Nestorius, that there were two separate persons within Jesus. This the proportion of the divine and human within Je...
Nash’s argument focuses in one view point and that is economical injustice. The way Nash sees this economically is because he wonders why people take action if the economical status of a person will remain the same. Explanation of Nash’s argument is by “how this popular ideology swelled into revolutionary commitment within the middle and lower ranks of colonial society” (Nash 3). Thus Nash’s argument only becomes weak since he decided to write something that readers can’t understand and make readers to identify what he
Here McGary focuses on two conflicting approaches to racial discrimination which is used as solutions, being the “racial separatist approach” and “racial integration approach” and he compares and contrasts these two approaches but not to choose which is better than the other. In section ‘I’ he explains how some African-American leaders such as Malcolm X, Edward W. Blyden and many more, advocated racial separatism as a way to solving race related issues. They feel by keeping the races separate, one will be aware and have pride of their culture. In section ”II” the author explains some social, economic, etc. arguments that separatist may make and shuts them down by stating the arguments flaws and trying to come up with a better solution . In section ‘III’ he speaks specifically about culture and how separatists define the word “culture” which they often switch the words with ethnicity and race. He also talkes about self esteem and respect.In section ‘IV’McGary speaks about the inegrationist wich include Federick Douglas, Martin Luther Kig,Jr., plus many others. He states that integrationists reject the black separatist point of views when it comes to white racism. They feel separatism is immoral. He then states that the term “integration” can not be defined. He states ‘integration allows for the coexistence of racial identities within a single socioeconomic framework”.In section
The central teachings of traditional Christianity teachings were created to assure that man could work out his salvation. Therefore, making man responsible for finding his way to God, so that he could have a personal relationship with his Savior through Jesus the Son of God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit (The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2017). Jesus Christ attracted followers who eventually took his teachings throughout the Roman world and beyond. Jesus, who was born to Mary and Joseph in Judea teaching methods placed him in conflict with prevailing Jewish beliefs and authorities; nevertheless, Jesus message inspired a small group of followers, who believed he was the Messiah (Matthews et al., 2014). However, the meaning of Jesus’s
People are in search of understanding life and the happenings that surround them. When things go wrong, people turn to God for hope and understanding. As we look at the Jewish and the Christian faiths, both of which trace their origins back past Abraham and Moses, to the original stories of the Garden of Eden, we notice basic similarities and major differences between the two religions. The three main differences between Jewish and Christianity is the concept of God, judgment, and salvation. The most eminent difference between both religions is the concept of God. Christianity believes that God is trinity which means three persons in one the father, the son and the holy spirit. However Judaism sees God as a single entity, and viewsTrinitarianism as a violation of the Bible's teaching that ...
...t is directed toward this end by something with intelligence. An example is where a rock goes when someone throws it. The destination of the rock is the end, and the person is the thing direction it toward that end. But we do not direct the wind, gravity, earthquakes, or any number of other natural things. But because these thing lack intelligence, there must be an intelligent being that directs it all. This director of nature is God.
...y recompense to repay every one according to what he has done;, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and last, the beginning and the end.” Christians always knew that there is only one real god, a true god who is merciful.
...ibility for an ordinary black. According to David LittleJohn, the novel is not an assault on the demeanors of a white society. On the contrary, the novel shows how blacks are not free from the racial discrimination and combat. With restrictions, the Narrator follows the path of leadership under a race war. People are not accepting of the achievements that can result from the same equality among whites. Each person in the general public has the responsibility to stop the alienation occurring. Each human being should have the same rights in the world. The enemies of man are those that separate and categorize each group of people by ethnicity. When this happens, each group of people is labeled by an instable social order (Littlejohn, David. "Criticism by David Littlejohn." DISCovering Authors. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Gale Student Resources In Context. Web. 2 Mar. 2011).
There are several aspects to consider when exploring the Christian worldview. There are many facets or denominations and they each have their own distinct beliefs and practices, but they all share the same fundamental beliefs. In this Paper we will explore the character of God, His creation, humanity and its nature, Jesus’ significance to the world, and the restoration of humanity, as well as my beliefs and the way that I interact with Christianity and my personal worldview.
Before launching into the body of this exposition, it is necessary that we define a few important terms. By "being", or that which "actually is", I mean those things that exist in the objective reality that might be perceived by some so-called omnipotent being. The flawed knowledge of non-omniscient humans - that which we see every day - is represented by the word "...
God sees us, his children, as his spiritual fax machines. He gets his message through to us through prophets. Prophets are sent by God to bring his words to his people. They were sent to Israel to warn the people of coming disasters if they people did not return to their belief in God. After all of the disasters that were foretold by the prophets, they were sent back to share the news of comfort and promising that God would come and save all his people out of the bondage they were stuck in. In the Old Testament, there are foreshadows of the New Testament idea that we are all organs in the Body of Christ. God is the handy feet, prophets are the body's big mouth. Prophets are not people who predict the future, but people who God trusts to share his word of coming events.
When it comes to how people view religion, they are either religious exclusivists or religious pluralists. The exclusivists believe that they alone know the full truth of how to live according to God’s will. To the religious exclusivists, other religions may have ideas about God that are similar to what they believe to be the truth; however, they do not have the truth in its totality. Religious pluralists, on the other hand, believe that all world religions are equally true with different perspectives. Volf defines it as “the conviction that all world religions are roughly equally true, provide equally valid access to the divine, foster human flourishing equally well, and are equally effective means for reaching the hoped-for ever-lasting life.”
The doctrine of salvation contains various aspects. The intent of this research paper is to provide a general overview of salvation from the angle of justification, propitiation, grace, redemption, and sanctification.
What is exclusivism you might ask? Religions exclusivism is the belief that only one religion is true. Exclusivists believe that
In Christianity, “Jesus is the second person of the Trinity and born of the Virgin Mary” (Peterson 2). People who practice Judaism believe “Jesus is an ordinary Jew, not the Messiah nor a divine person” (Peterson 2). While people of the Muslim faith believe “Jesus was a prophet, sent by Allah and born of the Virgin Mary, they don’t see him as divine like Judaism” (Peterson 2). Several religions believe in Jesus Christ, the role may vary, but it is still a contributing role to shaping their religion and what they choose to practice today. Jesus is still Jesus, regardless of the