By: Rob

Rob — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:56:57 +0000

I think it is possible to make universal truth claims that are not exclusive, and to still avoid being a relativist. The passage from “V for Vendetta” about what is more transformative, an idea or a person who holds it, is interesting. For Christians, one way to address this tension is to think of Jesus as the “symbol of God.” Roger Haight, a Jesuit silenced by the Vatican who is at Union wrote a triology of books on this idea. I’m not sure I understand all that well, but it’s a way of claiming that Jesus makes divinity fully present on earth, but God is not bound to the person of Jesus Christ. The saving activity of God in the world is manifested in Jesus who, functioning like a symbol, both makes present the reality it points to, while at the same time pointing beyond itself as well. Another way to think of it is Jesus is the way that leads to other ways. To know him as Lord and Savior means to have encountered the saving work of God in his life and ministry and in the power of the Holy Spirit, but not claim him alone as the complete and exclusive embodiment of ultimate truth. Innate truth exists in Jesus and I don’t think calling him Lord and Savior automtically makes one an ideologue. I also think being a pluralist does not mean all we can do from that position is advance our own ideas. If anything, one who believes Jesus is the way that leads to other ways, is recognizing that plurality exists and the fullness of truth is in dialogue. I need the religious other to understand the saving work of God in my life and in theirs, so we can work together to live out the expressions of truth that have made ultimate claims on our lives.

Comments on: Ideas are bulletproof

By: Rob