Essay
All Religions Lead to Salvation. Discuss
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This was writtin in year 13, achieving an A* grade and discussing pluralism
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All Religions Lead to Salvation. DiscussExclusivism, Inclusivism and Pluralism are three different approaches that express differing
opinions on whether Christianity is compatible with other faiths. The view that all religions
can lead to salvation can be attributed to a pluralist, and to some extent an inclusivist
approach. Thus, this essay will evaluate all three approaches and how they convincingly
argue whether or not all religions can lead to salvation. With this in mind, this essay will
refute the statement to some degree and argue that all religions do not lead to salvation, as
only the abrahamic, not all religions, are affiliated with the notion of salvation and thus the
statement itself can be seen as incoherent. In this circumstance, inclusivism is the best
approach to take, which advocates that although salvation comes through Jesus Christ, it is
possible for non-Christians to go to heaven. Moreover this line of argument will include a
variety of scholarly opinions to both corroborate and challenge this stream of thinking.
Exclusivism in Christianity is the belief that only faith in Jesus Christ and the Christian God
can lead to salvation and eternal life. Accordingly, other religions erroneously present false
paths to salvation. This approach is greatly endorsed through the Bible, specifically in John
14:6 whereby Jesus states ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me’ a clear indication that salvation can only be achieved through
Christianity. Exclusivist attitudes are often associated with Calvin and Luther, especially in
their strong adherence to human beings as wholly corrupt and only able to achieve salvation
from a free act of grace by God. In particular, Luther affirmed the doctrine of justification by
faith, which effectively argues that good works are secondary to faith and it is faith that
ultimately makes one righteous. Luther’s doctrine of justification by faith does, however,
inherit some challenges, even from the Bible itself. Matthew 25, also known as the Parable
of the Sheep and the Goats demonstrates how salvation is based on actions, not beliefs,
aligning with a more inclusivist approach and therefore weakening the coherency of Luther’s
line of argument. Many exclusivist attitudes also emphasise the importance of Jesus as God
incarnate and so carrying the authority of the divine. It is from this unique role as mediator
between God and earth that exclusivists assert that it is only through Jesus that one can
achieve salvation. The role of the Church greatly corroborates an exclusivist assertion that
Christianity is the only religion that leads to salvation as they advocate the doctrine of ‘extra
ecclesiam nulla salus’, translated as ‘outside the Church there is no salvation’. This is
reinforced in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, where it is declared that salvation comes
from Christ through the Church. Christian exclusivism is, it can be argued, internally
coherent. If Jesus is God incarnate then it would make sense to claim that Christianity has
the truth about God. However, such an approach is based on a rather large assumption -
that Jesus genuinely was the Son of God. John Hick rightly asserts that Jesus never claimed
to be son of God and rather the title was used in an honorific sense to elucidate how Jesus
merely acted in a God-like way. Hick’s argument is compelling, and demonstrates how an
exclusivist view is too restrictive and has the potential to cause religious conflict. Thus, an
inclusivist position seems to present itself as the better approach, though still maintains that
all religions do not lead to salvation.
As aforementioned, inclusivism in Christianity refers to the belief that, although salvation
comes through Jesus Christ, it is possible for other non-Christians to go to heaven. Karl
Rahner develops an inclusivist understanding of Christianity, with Christ retaining his position
as the centre of God’s self-realisation while acknowledging that faith in him may not be the
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