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Rabbi Marc Gellman began his studies in 1969 at the University of Wisconsin, and went on to attend the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of ...

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FAITH SURVEY REVEALING, BUT THERE ARE MORE QUESTIONS TO ASK

By Rabbi Marc Gellman, Tribune Media Services

In a recent column, I tried to set out the two routes people of faith must choose between: 1) There are many paths up the same mountain or 2) My way or the highway. Since then, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has published a survey of what Americans actually believe, and guess what? Many Paths beat out My Way. Seventy percent of those surveyed believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life." Even among evangelicals, the majority of My Way folks, 57 percent say belief in Jesus is great but not essential for salvation.

Please understand, I don't believe that theology is either confirmed or refuted by poll results. What is clearly true to me and what I glean from these results is that as we mix more socially than in the past, and as we encounter the piety of those whose spiritual path was once alien to us, we warm to them, accept them and grow to respect their religious choices. I think this is a good thing but it's not without peril.

The transformation of our religious beliefs from a path to truth and salvation into a totally subjective preference, like preferring vanilla ice cream over chocolate, is equally troubling to me. Author and theologian C.S. Lewis famously wrote in his 1945 essay, "Is Theology Poetry?": "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen. Not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." I love his soul.

I cannot resolve this debate for anyone. In fact, I wouldn't want to resolve it even if I could. I want you to pray about it and talk about it with your friends and clergy. I want what we believe about God and salvation to be at least as important as where to go to save a few cents on a gallon of gas.

In the letters I receive from readers, I hear respect and also disdain, agreement and also fulminating fury. I'm glad I touched a nerve on the topic of salvation, which to me is an issue not only important for the world to come but also critically important for the world that is.

My offering to you this week to extend the discussion is two sets of questions you might want to consider. First, some questions for those attracted to My Way or the Highway:

--Why do you believe that quoting passages from the New Testament will convince those who don't believe the New Testament is true, and thus don't believe the passages you're quoting are true?

--If someone has considered Jesus' messianic claims and rejected them, why can't you leave them alone and prayerfully accept their rejection of the gift you believe you've offered them?

--If Jesus is referred to in the Hebrew Bible as the future Messiah, why was the name Jesus never explicitly and repeatedly used in the Hebrew Bible?

--Does your belief in the complete truth of your faith prevent you from working with people of other faiths on the great moral issues of our time?

--Has your belief that holy people of other faiths are doomed to hell survived your experience of actually meeting a holy person of another faith, or reading about their life and good deeds?

--Do you believe that a person can really live a morally corrupt life while at the same time being saved by faith alone?

--How do you think your pronouncements about you having the only way to salvation are heard by those who don't embrace your religion?

For those who believe there are many paths up the same mountain to salvation, I offer these questions to provoke you on your spiritual journey:

--Do you really believe every faith is equally true?

--How do you evaluate the truth claims of different faiths?

--How can religions with contradictory beliefs both be true?

--If there is no absolute truth for salvation, how can there be an absolute truth for morality?

--How are religious preferences different from our preferences for music, food and art?

--Can you have a really strong faith if you believe that all faiths are only partially true?

--Can you respect someone who believes My Way or the Highway, or do you always shut them out because you consider them religious bigots?

I hope these questions help us all find the truth and find each other. God bless us one and all!

(Send QUESTIONS ONLY to The God Squad, c/o Tribune Media Services, 2225 Kenmore Ave., Suite 114, Buffalo, NY 14207, or email them to godsquadquestion@aol.com.

(c) 2008 THE GOD SQUAD DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.

This news arrived on: 06/26/2008

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