Can Evangelicals Learn from World Religions: Jesus, Revelation & Religious Traditions

Rating:
Summary: Still unsure of the author's intent
Review: Gerald McDermott would answer in the affirmative to the question posed in the title of his book, "Can Evangelicals Learn From World Religions?". But I still don't know what his main point was in writing this book. I think I could write a similar book and call it "Can Evangelicals Learn From the World of Sports?" and accomplish the same result as Mr. McDermott accomplishes with this book. Christians (and all people) can learn from almost anything.

McDermott seems to be trying to walk both sides of the fence. He boldly claims that Jesus is the only true AND full revelation of God, but he also says that God has revealed aspects of Himself within other religions. So the obvious question becomes, "If these truths can be known within the Christian belief of biblical revelation, then why go to other religions to learn the same things we can learn from Christianity?" He tries to answer this question in a helpful section at the end of the book where he address objections and concerns. His answer focuses on the fact that Jesus used non-Jews to demonstrate true faith (Luke 4:14-30, Matthew 15:21-28, etc) and how some of the pillars within Christianity such as Aquinas (from Aristotle) and Augustine (from Neo-Platonists) had their theology shaped by those outside the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Unfortunately, his answer fails to note that in the case of Jesus, those making a religious response were responding directly to Jesus and not acting within their previous religious system. In the case of Augustine and Aquinas, I think they'd be the last to argue for their own infallibility. But what is our test for truth? Evangelicals have said that when it comes to religious claims, its the Bible that has the final say. I'm not disputing that Christians are unable to learn from other religions, but I think we could learn a lot more by studying our own. Rather than reading Confucius or Muhammad, let's try some Aquinas and Augustine (heck, even C.S. Lewis would be a start).

This book does have some very positive points, otherwise I wouldn't have given it three stars. McDermott will help Christians become more educated about other religions and hopefully this will help us to become more sensitive when dealing with people from those backgrounds. He has also succeeded in showing evangelicals how to properly test all religious claims by a final standard, and that standard is the Bible. Let him be found "not guilty" of abandoning this important doctrine. McDermott acknowledges that this book covers relatively uncharted territory within evangelicalism. I look forward to his further work in this area and more clarification on his views.

Rating:
Summary: Very Evil
Review: McDermott is a sell-out. We should either deny biblical teaching and admit it, or we should uphold the authority and sufficiency of the Scripture and say that we cannot and will not "learn" from other religions. What does darkness have to do with light, and what does Christ have to do with Buddha? We should do as Elijah, who openly confronted other religions as false, and their adherents as worshippers of false gods. There is no other option if we were to remain authentic Christians. Tolerance to other religions is a concept foreign to and condemned by the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Careful & Insightful Biblical Review Makes this a Great Book
Review: McDermott writes a much-needed book that helps those in the evangelical Christian tradition find a way to truly respect other religious traditions without selling out the store. Citing examples of such biblical figures as Melchizedek, Balaam, and others who speak the word of the one true God but are not members of the Children of God, McDermott shows that there is biblical evidence for Christians to rediscover truths that are deeply imbedded in the Bible from those who do not confess Christ.

The author is very diligent and often reminds his readers that the Christian claim of the uniqueness of Christ is one that needs to be lifted up. Furthermore, what we learn from those outside our faith is not new knowledge per se but may be a different but helpful approach to biblical principles.

The unfortunate title regrettably misleads readers who will probably be surprised to find a careful study on the nature of revelation and a theological overview of Christianity's major theologians. The concluding chapters offer a great inroad to some Eastern and Near Eastern faiths. Explicitly stating that the acknowledgment of Christ as Lord is the only saving confession, McDermott continues to show how God has continued the biblical tradition of revealing himself to those outside the Christian faith.