...the salvation, which is announced universally, is exclusively accomplished and applied through the work of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Both the Psalm citation and Moses and Jesus bear witness to this exclusivity. I believe Rabbi Wilson was referring to Psalm 119:99, which reads, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.” Taken as a whole, this verse points in an exclusive, not an inclusive, direction. At the very heart of Moses’ articulation of covenant obligations is exclusivity. Note the first two commandments: “No other gods before me” and “No carved idols” (Exodus 20:3-4).

In the Christian New Testament, Jesus and his followers taught exclusivity in terms of salvation accomplished and applied, though again they did assert it should be offered to all. The Jesus who said to make disciples of all nations and ethnic groups and to teach them all that he had commanded them had as part of his teaching: “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6-7; see also Matthew 28:18-30 and other instances of this radical claim of Jesus — John 7:28, 8:19, 55 and 15:21).

Rabbi Wilson calls for dialogue. I wonder if the inclusivism approach to dialogue that Rabbi Wilson espouses is broad enough to encompass a person like me — an exclusivist, who would dialogue for better understanding as well as for an opportunity to “speak to truth in love” about the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

Read it all.

Filed under: * Religion News & Commentary • Inter-Faith Relations • Other Churches • Other Faiths • * South Carolina • * Theology • Christology

1. Larry Morse wrote: Isn’t it odd that he is forced to make an argument that is as plain and obvious as daylight and always has been? The inclusivity business has always been a snare and a delusion, used without regard for truth only because it advances an agenda.  Larry August 27, 8:47 am | [comment link]

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