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Abstract
Bearing (Perspectival) Witness:
Absolutist Commitment Amid Religious Pluralism
In our
postmodern context, there has been much talk and concern about religious
pluralism. That there is a greater awareness of religious plurality in our
cities and nations no one can doubt. Yet, questionable conclusions are being
drawn from the facticity of religious plurality: for example, that we ought to
see the various religious traditions as equally “true,” that the various
religious traditions are only phenomenological manifestations of an Ultimate
Reality (so they are ontologically on equal footing), and that no one tradition
is superior than the others because all are humanly conceived and perspectival,
no one tradition providing a God’s-eye view of reality. Other conclusions are
drawn as well that touch upon epistemic commitment: that we should cease the
claiming of truth in an exclusivist mode, that our hold on truth is fallible and
radically open-ended, that absolutist commitment to one’s tradition is
potentially harmful, helping to fuel intolerance and the religious violence that
we see in the world.
In this
paper I attempt to sort out the conflations and confusions involved in our
thinking about religious pluralism and argue for the position that absolutist
commitment is compatible with religious plurality. I argue that an
absolutist commitment need not eventuate in the kinds of harmful mindsets and
attitudes which are sometimes associated with intolerance and violence. Rather,
I show that a biblically informed absolutist commitment is embedded in profound
humility and gratitude, and is compatible with respect for others and enjoined
to a call for peaceful living amid plurality of all sorts.