Dear COA Family,
Many of you might have read about of the Pope’s remarks in Singapore to a forum of multi-religious students at Catholic Junior College last week. His remarks were hotly debated throughout both Catholic and Christian circles over the past week. They are:
“All religions are paths to reach God. They are – to make a comparison – like different languages, different dialects to get there. But God is God for everyone. If you start to fight saying ‘my religion is more important than yours, mine is true and yours isn’t’, where will this lead us? There is only one God, and each of us has a language to arrive at God. Some are Shiek, Muslim, Hindu, Christians; they are different ways to God.”
To be fair, the Pope did raise some good points.
It is definitely not beneficial nor helpful to practice one-upmanship in religious beliefs. This behaviour stems of an attitude of pride and is something that God condemns in the bible: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5). It is therefore neither right nor Christianly to criticize and belittle others for their beliefs.
Paul also reiterates the need for Christians to be peaceable and gracious to everyone. He says, “The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone” (2 Timothy 2:24). It is important for God’s children to show forth Christ’s love and maintain good relations with all people.
Also there is only one God who rules over all the universe. Paul declares in his letter to the Corinthians: “for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live” (1 Cor 8:6). So for the Pope to say the same thing and to acknowledge that we are all his children is a right and charitable declaration to make.
Yet his message was deeply and fundamentally flawed.
Firstly, to link languages with religions is to misunderstand the nature of both.
The most fundamental use of language is communication. It allows individuals to share ideas, emotions, information, and knowledge. It does not tell us what is true but is a channel through which we can understand what others are saying.
On the other hand, the primary purpose of religion is to foster a relationship or connection with a higher power, the divine, or transcendent reality. This is done by providing answers to existential questions, formulating a system of morality and ethics and providing hope and comfort for this world and the next. This connection provides individuals with a sense of meaning and purpose beyond the material world.
In other words, religion can be described as defining and circumscribing a set of beliefs or truths while language is the vehicle to communicate those set of beliefs. They are fundamentally not the same as each other.
Secondly, his claim that all religions lead to God falls upon further logical examination.
This is because the concept of God and the path to salvation (in a broad sense because even this meaning is contested) is so radically different among different religions that they cannot be reconciled sensibly. The philosopher John Hick understood this and tried to rationalize all religions by replacing God with “the Real” instead. Religions can only be characterized as superficially similar but essentially different. So a statement that all religions lead to God would fail because even the idea of God is contested by all religions (if God even existed in the first place).
Finally and most crucially, the Pope’s remarks contradicts the teaching of Holy Scripture.
Our Lord Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).
The apostle Peter, in line with our Lord’s teaching, declares that “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
The apostle Paul writes, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
The understanding of the church of the path of salvation and reconciliation with God down the ages can hardly be in doubt – Jesus is the only way to the Father. This is why numerous apostles, priests, pastors and missionaries throughout the past centuries have given their blood, sweat and even lives to share the good news with others. This is also why we as a church exists today – to testify to the mercies and salvation of God.
Perhaps the Pope’s meaning in his words may have been misunderstood or misinterpreted by me. In any case, let us pray that neither we nor anyone else representing the church, will compromise the truth of the gospel as we steward of God’s gift of the gospel to succeeding generations of Christians.
Revd Ian