EIGHTH
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
6 JULY 2008
St. John’s Episcopal Church
“No one knows the Father except
the Son”
A Commentary by Roger J. Gench and Peter Hodgson
Gench asks: “Can we be Christians
without believing that Jesus is the only way to God?”
In the past, such questions or theological musings would have been cause for a
good burning
at the stake. Gench continues: “By saying that Jesus Christ is the only way to
the Father, for
Christians, this means that Jesus is the only way to God and that knowledge of
God is given
only in Jesus.” Those who take this question head-on find themselves in a
quandary: if we
claim that Jesus is the only way to God, then we are left with an exclusive and
anti-Jewish
and anti-Muslim religion. But if we water down our confession that Jesus is the
only way to
God, then we are faced with a very serious Christological dilemma.
Gench attempts to address this
dilemma by bringing in a theological theory posed by Peter
Hodgson who suggests a more pluralistic and broader understanding of the title,
‘the Christ.’
Hodgson speculates that while we Christians might say that Jesus is for us, “The
Christ, and
the Way, the Truth and Life,” the theological concept of ‘the Christ’, might be
interpreted in
a much broader way. Under this conjecture by Hodgson, Jesus might be the major
incarnation of God, but not the only manifestation of God throughout history. In
other
words, this quite unorthodox theological theory poses the possibility that God
is manifested
in many other ways other than through Jesus, the one we rightfully see as Lord
and Savior.
What is interesting, however, is
that a very recent survey of religious Americans conducted
by the prestigious Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, found that the
majority of
American religious adherents are not as dogmatic as they were in the past. The
majority of
respondents, including many Evangelical Protestants, felt that there is not just
one way to
salvation and not just one way to the interpretation of their faith.
It may be that these respondents are
reflecting the very real quandary of many Christians,
posed by Gench and Hodgson, who believe totally that Jesus is the Christ, the
Way, the
Truth and the Life, but who leave room for the possibility that God’s
awesomeness and
mystery cannot be contained or reached only by one religious tradition. No
matter what, we
Christians still believe that Jesus is the one who gives us comfort when he
says, “Come to
me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you
rest. For my
yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The Rev’d Albert R. Rodriguez
†
Last Update :
07/02/2008
