Religious Pluralism

This paper proposes the hypothesis that distinct religions and practices lead to equally real but substantively different final human conditions. this hypothesis of multiple religious ends arises at the convergence of three different questions: 1. what is the religious importance of detailed, empathetic study of different faith traditions? 2. in what way is it legitimate for one religion to witness to its uniqueness and superiority in relation to others? 3. how can those in one faith tradition recognize distinctive and transforming truth in religions other than their own? the hypothesis has two sides. on the one side, it is philosophical and descriptive. it seeks an interpretation of religious difference that simultaneously credits the widest extent of contrasting, particular religious testimony. on the other side, it can in principle be developed in a particularistic way within any number of specific traditions. for instance, it may take the form of one christian theology of religions among others. [1] my focus in this paper is primarily on the first side.