The Presence of Christ in Non-Christian Religions

In continuation of the topic of a Christian view of world religions, and before moving on to the next essay, which will focus on Native American spirituality, I would like to at this point interject some points of clarification regarding this important topic.  In that spirit, I would:

1.  Reiterate that in considering religions other than the Christian faith, we should not determine the truth or non-truth of their beliefs on the basis of our beliefs.  In other words, we should not say that the beliefs and teachings of a particular religious system are false because they are not in harmony with or do not conform to what we as Christians believe and practice.  To do this would be a demonstration of gross arrogance on our part as Christians, and also, a manifestation of religious imperialism.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with believing that our system of belief is the closest approximation to God's truth, but at the same time, we should acknowledge the right of other faith communities to believe that very same thing.  When we fail to acknowledge the rights of other groups to have that same position, we are in essence suppressing those groups.  Examples of this would be the move to return to restoring prayers in the public school system, and at the same time emphasizing that those prayers should only be to the God of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, celebration of Christmas in the public school system and other places in society, but criticizing the public display of the celebrations of other faith groups on the false assumption that America was "built on Christian principles."

2.  We should remember that whatever our particular belief is as Christians, that we do not have a monopoly on God's truth.  We only have a very limited, incomplete, partial, and tentative understanding of truth.  None of us has the totality of truth in our pocket.

3.  Whatever degree of truth we have is colored and influenced by our cultural and social environment.  Even when we say that what we believe and practice is based on "what the Bible says," we should remember that our understanding of "what the Bible says" is generated by a variety of factors, including, but not limited to our affiliation with certain faith groups, all of which claim to base themselves on "what the Bible says," but yet have different understandings of "what the Bible says."  And each faith group tends to believe that their understanding of "what the Bible says," is the absolute, correct, and  only way of interpreting and understanding the message of the Bible.

4.  Subsequently, we should ask ourselves the following questions:

a.  Are there beliefs, practices, and teachings in non-Christian religions that are similar to ours and that subsequently we can affirm and embrace?

b.  If some of these beliefs, practices, and teachings are similar to ours, can we then leave room for the possibility that there are truths that are not original with the Christian faith, but that in fact may have been borrowed from pre-Christian religions?

c.  Can we as Christians continue to believe that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life," leading to God, but at the same time believe that Jesus is present in some way in the non-Christian faith groups? In other words, is it possible that non-Christian faith groups have experienced Christophanies (manifestations of Christ) in their own community?  Can we believe that Jesus the Christ is too great to be exclusively limited to those communities which call themselves Christian?

In closing, I will say that this writer (yours truly) believes in the "Cosmic Christ," i.e. the Christ who transcends all belief systems, and who is in some way present in all.  However, some of you may have a different perspective on this issue, and if you do, I would invite you to share your particular viewpoints on this for our consideration and discussion.  Please feel free to say what you honestly and sincerely believe regarding this topic.  It would help us all to learn from each other.

And now to the Cosmic Christ who sits on the throne of God, and who is God's agent of liberation and redemption, be glory, honor, and power, forevermore. Amen!

Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona