Can Only One Religion Be True? Paul Knitter and Harold Netland in Dialogue

by Robert B. Stewart

This volume highlights points of agreement and disagreement on the subject of religious pluralism. The dialogue partners in the discussion are Paul F. Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions, and Culture at Union Theological Seminary, and Harold A Netland, professor of Mission and Evangelism and director of Intercultural Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. A transcript of the March 2009 Point-Counterpoint event between Knitter and Netland allows the reader to see how each presents his position in light of the others, as well as their responses to selected audience questions.

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Ron Starbuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing dialogue and conversation, an extremely complex one too. But, one that may open the reader up to new ways of thinking, new ways of seeing our relationship with God as a great and very intimate mystery. A mystery that resides in and outside of time, in a timeless space that is both visible and invisible, seen and unseen, always present.

And one that touches upon our subtle memory as children of God, in and with and through the Holy Spirt who is actively at work within our lives, who prays in and with and through us when we can find no words of our own. In a non-dualistic understanding of God's Holy Spirit who brings us together as one, in unity and union with God as the Ultimate Divine Mystery, as love within the world that moves us towards a relationship with one another, indeed, calls us into that relationship.

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us (John 17:21)."

Paul F. Knitter tells us that understanding God through relationships is critical and that the source and power of our relationships is driven by the presence of the "Holy Spirit." The importance of this concept is summarized by this: "behind and within all the different images and symbols, Christians use for God – Creator, Father (Abba), Redeemer, Word, Spirit, - the most fundamental, the deepest truth Christians can speak of God is that God is the source and power of relationships."

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This si a transcript of a debate between Knioter and Netland regarding whether only one religion is true, followed by a series of academic papers on the same subject. Overall it is very interesting and presents arguments for the three positions of exclusivism, incusivism and pluralism, with pluralism taking a real hit (ass does postmodernnism). Not surprisingly, I hold the middle position. I thought the most thought provoking essay was "No Other Name: The Gospel and True Religions" where S. Mark Heim argues that different religions define different human problems and so are true in different ways.