Faith That Makes Sense

                 Today we are confronted with two types of theology. One anchors itself in the biblical witness to God’s salvation-historical dealings with the world, centered in the revelation of Christ and elaborated in the doctrine of Trinity as a ‘tripersonal communion of reciprocal relations.’ 1 The second one bases itself not on the biblical witness but an alleged shift in contemporary Christian consciousness. Paul Knitter called it a ‘paradigm shift’ in Christian thinking. 2 John Hick called it a ‘Copernican revolution’ in Christianity. 3 This view calls for a wider ecumenism that will integrate all the religions into a pluralistic theocentric model with none occupying the center. God is placed at the center of this universe of faiths.             Moltmann made the new thinking clear when he stated, “If the biblical testimony is chosen as the point of departure, then we s...

            The Evangelicals have always maintained that God has revealed himself definitely through the Incarnation in Jesus Christ. They have always embraced the biblical stand that salvation is available only in the person and work of Jesus Christ. They maintain that if the claims of other religions contradict the teachings of the Bible, they must be rejected by a Christian as false. But today there is increasing opposition to this stand. The opposition is not on theological or philosophical grounds. Many think there is something morally blameworthy about Christian exclusivism. 1             The modern mindset is that people have different religious preferences, and instead of proselytizing, we should be tolerant of their faiths and accept them as such. All the main writers who promote pluralism and interreligious dialogue have expressed their intolerance towards continuing the exclusivist arg...

            Living in the contemporary pluralistic world, where ‘fairness’ has become a greater arbitrator than truth, this has become a significant question. I first encountered this question on the streets of Queens, New York while sharing gospel tracts to Hindu immigrants from Guyana during the 1980s. I must admit that I did not fully grasp the extent of the question then. Since then, reading about the direction in which Christian soteriological thinking is progressing and where we are today, I think it is beneficial to consider this question again. (In this blog, we are not comparing the concept of salvation of various religions. Our goal is to discuss the inhouse debate pluralism has spawned within Christianity and see what should be our stand in the 21st century).             During the second half of the 20 th century, Christian soteriological thinking ended up in three camps- pluralism, ...

                 The Greek word apokatastasis means restoration of things to their original condition. It came from the Greek word Apokathistemi which means restore. This word was part of Greek thinking concerning the end of things.             This Greek word is used only once in the New Testament. That is in Acts 3:19-21. The passage reads like this: Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, 21 whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. (NKJV) . The ‘times of restoration of all things' is where the word apokatastasis is used.             Restoration of ...

                 Recently, I had to read Orthodoxy by G. K. Chesterton for an assignment. One of the topics he discusses in that book is the place of miracles in the Christian faith. Anyone who wants to embrace the Christian faith has to address the issue of miracles in the Bible. C. S. Lewis found the same to be true and ended up writing an entire book on the topic.             As a rationalist and ‘reasonable agnostic’ (as he calls himself), who eventually embraced Christianity, Mr. Chesterton presents his arguments interwoven with the evolution of his own thinking and the maturing of his own convictions. He had effectively proved the ineffectiveness of modern arguments against Christianity and the hopelessness it brings in his previous book, ‘Heretics.’ His contemporary Europeans who came from a Christian background also were complaining that the creeds of Christianity was many ...

When you look around, you see nature. It spans from your horizon to the end of the universe. We are not sure we have seen the end of the universe yet. Thus we all agree that nature is a reality that we all can behold. For an inquisitive mind, the questions do not end there. How did nature come into existence? Was it always like this? Will it always be like this? Obviously, we can come to three different conclusions about this. One, as Carl Sagan declared, 'universe is all there is.' Many people believe that the universe existed like this forever and it is the ultimate reality. Many others believe that this universe had a beginning and it will have an end. The Big Bang Theory, which is very popular today, shows us this. It leads to another question though- what will happen after that? Everyone who believes that this universe had a beginning has to ask a question: What caused that beginning? How did it take place? The Big Bang Theory is viewed by different groups differently....

            It was at the end of the 20 th century that a huge influx of articles and books attacking Christianity started to emerge. The presence of the internet gave them unprecedented publicity globally. I used to wonder what is behind this push to replace Christianity with something else in the West. Then I began to hear that the ‘Age of Aquarius’ is here. When I searched it out, it all began to make sense.             According to the Zodiac calendar of astrology, as our entire solar system revolves around the galactic center of the Milky Way, it takes about 26000 years for the earth to go through all the twelve zodiac signs.  It is said that it takes 2100 years for the earth to pass through one zodiac sign. When the earth enters a new zodiac sign, one age ends and a new age begins. Many who follow the astrological calendar saw a New Age coming in the 21 st century. (Thus the name New...