Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?: Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions [Paperback]

Gerald R. McDermott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2000

A 2001 Christianity Today Award of Merit winner! "Arguably, the church's greatest challenge in the next century will be the problem of the scandal of particularity. More than ever before, Christians will need to explain why they follow Jesus and not the Buddha or Confucius or Krishna or Muhammed. But if, while relating their faith to the faiths, Christians treat non-Christian religions as netherworlds of unmixed darkness, the church's message will be a scandal not of particularity but of arrogant obscurantism. "Recent evangelical introductions to the problem of other religions have built commendably on foundations laid by J. N. D. Anderson and Stephen Neill. Anderson and Neill opened up the "heathen" worlds to the evangelical West, showing that many non-Christians also seek salvation and have personal relationships with their gods. In the last decade Clark Pinnock and John Sanders have argued for an inclusivist understanding of salvation, and Harold Netland has shed new light on the question of truth in the religions. Yet no evangelicals have focused--as nonevangelicals Keith Ward, Diana Eck and Paul Knitter have done--on the revelatory value of truth in non-Christian religions. Anderson and Neill showed that there are limited convergences between Christian and non-Christian traditions, and Pinnock has argued that there might be truths Christians can learn from religious others. But as far as I know, no evangelicals have yet examined the religions in any sort of substantive way for what Christians can learn without sacrificing, as Knitter and John Hick do, the finality of Christ. "This book is the beginning of an evangelical theology of the religions that addresses not the question of salvation but the problem of truth and revelation, and takes seriously the normative claims of other traditions. It explores the biblical propositions that Jesus is the light that enlightens every person (Jn 1:9) and that God has not left Himself without a witness among non-Christian traditions (Acts 14:17). It argues that if Saint Augustine learned from Neo-Platonism to better understand the gospel, if Thomas Aquinas learned from Aristotle to better understand the Scriptures, and if John Calvin learned from Renaissance humanism, perhaps evangelicals may be able to learn from the Buddha--and other great religious thinkers and traditions--things that can help them more clearly understand God's revelation in Christ. It is an introductory word in a conversation that I hope will go much further among evangelicals." (Gerald McDermott, in the introduction to Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book makes a solid contribution to the evangelical theology of religions. Leaving aside the issue of the fate of the unevangelized, it leads us to expect to learn from people of other faiths and not suppose that they have nothing to teach us. What a gracious and open spirit this message frees us to have." -- Clark H. Pinnock, professor of theology, McMaster Divinity College --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Gerald R. McDermott is associate professor of religion and philosophy at Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia. He is the author of One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards (Penn State Press), Seeing God: Twelve Reliable Signs of True Spirituality (IVP), and Jonathan Edwards Confronts the Gods: Christian Theology, Enlightenment Religion and Non-Christian Faiths (Oxford University Press).

Product Details

• Paperback: 233 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (August 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830822747
• ISBN-13: 978-0830822744
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #333,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Careful & Insightful Biblical Review Makes this a Great Book, June 8, 2002

By 

Eric Nelson "alipius" (RACINE, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?: Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions (Paperback)

McDermott writes a much-needed book that helps those in the evangelical Christian tradition find a way to truly respect other religious traditions without selling out the store. Citing examples of such biblical figures as Melchizedek, Balaam, and others who speak the word of the one true God but are not members of the Children of God, McDermott shows that there is biblical evidence for Christians to rediscover truths that are deeply imbedded in the Bible from those who do not confess Christ.

The author is very diligent and often reminds his readers that the Christian claim of the uniqueness of Christ is one that needs to be lifted up. Furthermore, what we learn from those outside our faith is not new knowledge per se but may be a different but helpful approach to biblical principles.

The unfortunate title regrettably misleads readers who will probably be surprised to find a careful study on the nature of revelation and a theological overview of Christianity's major theologians. The concluding chapters offer a great inroad to some Eastern and Near Eastern faiths. Explicitly stating that the acknowledgment of Christ as Lord is the only saving confession, McDermott continues to show how God has continued the biblical tradition of revealing himself to those outside the Christian faith.

27 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Still unsure of the author's intent, December 26, 2000

By 

Timotheus Josephus - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?: Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions (Paperback)

Gerald McDermott would answer in the affirmative to the question posed in the title of his book, "Can Evangelicals Learn From World Religions?". But I still don't know what his main point was in writing this book. I think I could write a similar book and call it "Can Evangelicals Learn From the World of Sports?" and accomplish the same result as Mr. McDermott accomplishes with this book. Christians (and all people) can learn from almost anything.

McDermott seems to be trying to walk both sides of the fence. He boldly claims that Jesus is the only true AND full revelation of God, but he also says that God has revealed aspects of Himself within other religions. So the obvious question becomes, "If these truths can be known within the Christian belief of biblical revelation, then why go to other religions to learn the same things we can learn from Christianity?" He tries to answer this question in a helpful section at the end of the book where he address objections and concerns. His answer focuses on the fact that Jesus used non-Jews to demonstrate true faith (Luke 4:14-30, Matthew 15:21-28, etc) and how some of the pillars within Christianity such as Aquinas (from Aristotle) and Augustine (from Neo-Platonists) had their theology shaped by those outside the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Unfortunately, his answer fails to note that in the case of Jesus, those making a religious response were responding directly to Jesus and not acting within their previous religious system. In the case of Augustine and Aquinas, I think they'd be the last to argue for their own infallibility. But what is our test for truth? Evangelicals have said that when it comes to religious claims, its the Bible that has the final say. I'm not disputing that Christians are unable to learn from other religions, but I think we could learn a lot more by studying our own. Rather than reading Confucius or Muhammad, let's try some Aquinas and Augustine (heck, even C.S. Lewis would be a start).

This book does have some very positive points, otherwise I wouldn't have given it three stars. McDermott will help Christians become more educated about other religions and hopefully this will help us to become more sensitive when dealing with people from those backgrounds. He has also succeeded in showing evangelicals how to properly test all religious claims by a final standard, and that standard is the Bible. Let him be found "not guilty" of abandoning this important doctrine. McDermott acknowledges that this book covers relatively uncharted territory within evangelicalism. I look forward to his further work in this area and more clarification on his views.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars McDermott tackles a much neglected topic, but doesn't fully grasp it., November 11, 2010

By 

J. Stroud "Paladin" (New York City) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions?: Jesus, Revelation and Religious Traditions (Audible Audio Edition)

Definitely worth reading - the book tackles the great point of 1st century inter-faith dialogue which is woefully low within the current "western" intelect. However - McDermott does lean lean towards the verge of pluralism in many of his thoughts/comments. While we should all agree that whether a Taoist says they are following the "Tao" or a native american following the "Great Spirit" or an evangelical following the "Holy Spirit" these are all words and we should not get so caught up on them that we miss the point. *However McDermott goes a little too far saying that many of these are one in the same; he does not have a full grasp of Islamic teachings, and would do good to study Ravi Zacharias/William Lane Craig and various other to better understand this world view. He doesn't seem to have a full grasp of Islamic history on Sharia law, or grasp the significance of the Koran denying the death/resurrection of Christ, (which as Paul states is the entirety of the Gospel message and thus cannot be "blended" into Islamic belief like it can with Taoism, Buddhism, confucism)).
**I honestly think McDermott is on the right path if he gathers a more full grasp of Islamic belief (pros/cons), historicity of Christian persecution (Philip Jenkins' books on this are stellar), and makes his stance between Pluralism/inter-dialouge a littler clearer (not just saying he is not a pluralist but then making pluralistic or relativist statements), I think he could be a top voice in the future of the faith when inter-faith/1st century dialouge will be even more important.