Saturday, August 29, 2009
Are We a Nation of Hindus?
Are We a Nation of Hindus?
By-R. Albert Mohler, Jr.
Recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly
becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the
ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity.
Those who argue that all religions are essentially the same reveal the
fact that they know little about these very different belief systems.
The worldview of Christianity is, for example, radically different from
the belief structure of Buddhism (some forms of which may actually claim
to resist the very idea of beliefs).
These differences in belief systems are apparent in Lisa Miller's recent
article for Newsweek. As she explains, "A million-plus Hindus live in
the United States, a fraction of the billion who live on Earth. But
recent poll data show that conceptually, at least, we are slowly
becoming more like Hindus and less like traditional Christians in the
ways we think about God, our selves, each other, and eternity."
Many Christians will flinch when reading this. Does this mean that Hindu
temples are appearing across the American landscape? Not hardly. What
Miller describes is the transformation of the belief system in ways that
resemble Hinduism. Her argument deserves a fair hearing.
She begins by quoting a Hindu writing, the Rig Veda: "Truth is One, but
the sages speak of it by many names." The idea of one truth known by
many names is not new. Indeed, it is central to polytheism and the
syncretistic beliefs of several historic and current worldviews.
Hinduism is radically polytheistic and syncretistic. According to Hindu
belief, the many gods and goddesses of their veneration all represent
one fundamental divine reality. The idea of a singular and exclusive
truth is antithetical to classical Hinduism.
So what is Lisa Miller's point? She suggests that contemporary
Americans, including many who consider themselves Christians, are
abandoning the exclusive truth claims of Christianity for a form of
theological pluralism or relativism.
"A Hindu believes there are many paths to God. Jesus is one way, the
Qur'an is another, yoga practice is a third. None is better than any
other; all are equal," she asserts. Christianity, on the other hand, has
affirmed that Jesus Christ is the only Savior, and that the only way of
salvation is through faith in Him.
"Americans are no longer buying it," she insists, and by this she means
many American Christians. She cites a 2008 Pew Forum survey that
indicated major slippage in terms of Christian conviction. According to
the Pew Forum survey, 65 percent of Americans believe that "many
religions can lead to eternal life." More tellingly, 37 percent of those
identified as white evangelicals shared this belief.
Miller cites Stephen Prothero, a leading researcher on American
religion, who defined this "divine-deli-cafeteria religion" as "very
much in the spirit of Hinduism." As he added, "You're not picking and
choosing from different religions, because they're all the same." This
is not exactly like traditional Hinduism, of course, but it works in
much the same way. As he explains, "It isn't about orthodoxy. It's about
whatever works. If going to yoga works, great-and if going to Catholic
mass works, great. And if going to Catholic mass plus the yoga plus the
Buddhist retreat works, that's great, too."
There is every reason to believe that Lisa Miller and Stephen Prothero
are correct in these assessments. Without doubt, Americans have been
growing more and more accepting of plural and relative understandings of
truth. A tragically large number of those who identify as Christians
have been drinking from the same wells of thought.
The exclusivity of the Gospel is not merely a facet of the church's
message. Indeed, a Gospel that does not affirm that salvation comes
through faith in Jesus Christ alone is not the Gospel of Christ, but a
false gospel. As Lisa Miller correctly recites, Jesus did say, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through
me." [John 14:6]
Another aspect of the story is this: Many Americans have such a
doctrineless understanding of Christianity that they do not even know
what the Gospel is -- not even remotely. A greater tragedy is that so
many who consider themselves Christians seem to share in this confusion.
Many observers who trace these trends see this doctrinal shift among
Christians as a good development. After all, if you hold to nothing more
than a functional view of religion, this might seem to promise less
conflict among religious believers. But, if you believe that truth is
essential to Christian faith, there is every reason to see these trends
as nothing less than catastrophic. Nothing less than our witness to the
Gospel of Christ is at stake.
Are we becoming a nation of Hindus? Well, in this sense it appears
perhaps we are. The really urgent question is whether the Church will
regain its theological sanity and evangelistic courage to resist this
trend. If not, being described as a nation of Hindus will be the least
of our problems.
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