Is there one way to God? Part 1: The Dilemma

Let me begin by saying I write from an African context. I was raised up in a religious home, like many of my peers. It became a sort of tradition, and the concept of God was something that I held on to because of such an upbringing: They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks. In my campus years, my curiosity resorted to some new tricks, in a simple statement, a quest to find my own imprint of this religion that had been passed down. The situation was further complicated by my working in a multi-cultural environment among the youth students, in areas of leadership, cultural exchange and social action. Here I was in a pot of simmering soup containing various religious beliefs (or lack thereof), philosophies and 'spirituality.' Needless to say, as an African, the general attack to what some would call "foreign religions" necessitated my distance towards an appreciation of the Christian faith. In fact, I cast it to the background, imbibed in youth culture and then later the truth came to me. The Truth that is found in Jesus Christ - Why is this the only way?

And so this is where we find ourselves in, in this 21st Century. The famous illustration used is that of blind men and the elephant. In short, the poet claims that the religions of the world all provide the same path to God, they just look at it from different perspectives. However, the assumption here is that the Elephant remains silent - What if she has spoken? What if she has spoken about herself and her dealings with these blind men? What makes it more complicated is the uniqueness of our cultural times. Scholars say that we live in a Postmodern Era. Post-modern is that era that is after the modern era (obviously :-) ). This Modern Era originates from the 18th Century when some Western philosophers (Immanuel Kant and others such as Hegel, Spinoza, Descartes etcetera) started questioning the pre-modern ideal. The pre-modern ideal was one that was "Under God." The understanding of life was interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church. It was a "society which is culturally coherent, social roles are prescribed, and there is little exposure to. . ."[1] outsiders. The world we live now is very different, due to the increased and sustained effects of globalization, scientific and technological advancements. Christendom ruled Western Civilization. Hence, the philosophers started questioning this ideal and the goal of the enlightenment became freeing humanity from superstition and finding a philosophy and civilization based on rational inquiry, empirical evidence and scientific discovery [2]. So currently we find ourselves in a postmodern era, which is no different from the idea of the modern era, only that in our time, the idea of relativism is more developed. In fact, this example of the elephant and blind men explains this: "it all depends on how you see it," many nowadays will say. A scholar affirms this, "For these postmodern thinkers, the idea of truth has decayed and disintegrated. . . At the end of the day, truth is simply what we as individuals and as communities, make it to be. . . Truth dissolves into a host of disconnected "truths", all equal to each other but unrelated to one another; there is no overall, rational scheme of things." [3] But postmodernism is not only an overreaction to the true and exaggerated elements of modernism, but also an exaggeration of its false elements - Those that have reduced the idea of God and other concepts such as values, morality, spirituality and metaphysical realities as just concepts.[4]

This dilemma is where I found myself in, in my life journey - and this is the dilemma some of us find ourselves in. My task in the next pieces, will be reviewing more closely the issue of relativism and its roots in empiricism and rationalism; then, based on a Biblical understanding, to survey how God has generally revealed himself to various cultures and through human history; and then how God has revealed specifically one way to himself, through Jesus Christ as "the Way, the Truth and the Life" and our needed and crucial response. These pieces are just summaries because these topics are much more wider and so I might not be completely conclusive, but I hope I shall be able to develop my thoughts in a manner that makes sense, that challenges us and that may point us in a better direction.

You can find Part 2 here.

[1] Douglas Groothius, Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2000), 33
[2] Ibid., 35
[3] Ibid., 20
[4] Ibid., 41