Christianity and Other Religions: Points of Conflict
Existing alongside other religions, Christianity has always sought to define itself in relation to them. This is particularly true of Judaism, within which it originated. The bitterness felt by Jewish Christians after their expulsion from synagogues in the first century can be seen in New Testament passages critical of Jewish piety and religious groups (for example, in Matthew 23 and John 5-8).
It must also have influenced the gospel accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus, which place greater blame on Jewish authorities than on the Romans, who actually carried out the execution.Tragically, the presence of anti-Jewish feeling in scripture continued to influence Christian attitudes toward Jews and Judaism long after the first century. Denounced as Christ killers and enemies of humanity, seventh-century French and Spanish Jews were subjected to forced baptism. In the late Middle Ages, Jews were expelled from England, Spain, France, and Portugal. Anti-Jewish feeling assumed its most virulent form with the rise of fascism in Germany, Italy, and other parts of Europe in the twentieth century. It was not until after the Holocaust, the genocidal murder of 6 million Jews carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II, that church leaders began working for an end to hostility toward Jews and Judaism. At its inaugural meeting in 1948, the World Council of Churches declared that anti-Semitism is incompatible with the Christian faith and “a sin against God and man.” Today, many Christian groups are engaged in efforts to heal the wounds of the past and to encourage a Jewish- Christian dialogue that will foster mutual appreciation and respect.
As we will see later in this chapter, Christians have found themselves in conflict with adherents of other religions. For example, in the Middle Ages religion contributed to tensions and outright warfare between Christian Europe and the Islamic civilization of the Middle East and North Africa.
Later, the expansion of European colonial powers into regions such as Africa and the Americas brought conflict between Christianity and indigenous religions.Historically, most Christians have believed that there is no salvation outside of the Church, a view based on New Testament passages that speak of Jesus as the only way in which God has been fully revealed to humanity. But the cultural pluralism of today’s global society has raised interest in other ways of understanding spiritual realities. In fact, some Christians have found a scriptural basis for the possibility of salvation in other religions. They point to Paul’s letter to the Romans, which says that those who follow the dictates of their consciences will be judged as righteous on the last day (Romans 2:14-16). Similarly, the letter of James defines “pure” religion not in specifically Christian terms but as caring for the needy and keeping oneself “unstained by the world” (James 1:27). Biblical passages like these have encouraged many Christians to value the spiritual insights of other religious traditions and to enter into cooperative relationships with them. The spirit of this new attitude, expressed in formal statements by many Christian groups, is represented in the Declaration on Non-Christian Religions issued by the Roman Catholic bishops who assembled for the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965):
Prudently and lovingly, through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions and in witness of the Christian faith and life, we should acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and moral goods found among these men, as well as the values in their society and culture.3
Changes in Christian thought remind us that the history of Christianity is a stoiy about the changing ways in which the Church has existed in the world. We turn to that story now in order to discover how the Church of the earliest Christian centuries became the one, or ones, we know today.
Self-Assessment 12.1
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