There can't just be one way! ... Really?

Many people today struggle with the exclusivity of Christianity. It is also widely believed that religion in general is one of the main barriers to world peace. This is true. Religion can threaten peace.

However, within Christianity - robust, orthodox Christianity - there are rich resources that can make its followers agents for peaced on the earth. It provides a firm basis for respecting people of other faiths. E.g. the bibilical doctrine of the universal image of God, leads Christians to expect non-believers will be better than any of their mistaken beliefs could make them. Furthermore, Christian believers are NOT accepted by God because of their moral performance, wisdom or virtue, but because of Christ's work on their behalf.

It is common to say that 'fundamentalism' leads to violence, yet all of us have fundamental, unprovable faith commitments we think are superior of others. Common postmodern examples of such fundamental beliefs are:

• "There can't be just one way."
• "There can't be any absolute truth. Everything is relative."
• "All the ways lead to the same destination."

The real question then is which fundamentals will lead their believers to be the most loving and receptive to those with whom they differ?

We cannot skip lightly over the fact that there have been injustice done by the church in the name of Jesus Christ, yet who can deny that the force of Christians' most funadmental beliefs can be a powerful impetus for peace-making in our troubled world?

Based on: Keller, T. (2008). The Reason For God. p.3-21