- In our current series we are responding to the claims of Religious Pluralism and Universalism, philosophies that declare that all religious paths lead to God and ultimately everyone will be saved.
- Last week we began looking at some of the philosophic arguments against Religious Pluralism by considering the Law of Non-Contradiction. Today we will consider a related argument that we call the Multiple Personality Deity Problem.
- Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD) is a mental illness where an individual will exhibit multiple, differing and disassociated personalities at different times.
- MPD is relevant to the issue of Religious Pluralism because the deity of the Religious Pluralist very likely suffers from this condition. Consider this…
- The god of Religious Pluralism goes to one group of people and tells them, “This is who I am and this is the only way you can be saved.” He then goes to another group of people and tells them a completely different story, saying, “No, this is who I am and this how you’re really saved.” He then goes to yet another group of people and once again gives them a totally different story, saying, “No, no, this is who I truly am and this is really the only way to be saved.”
- The god of Religious Pluralism goes all over the world sharing mutually exclusive and contradictory revelations about his nature and the true way to salvation. He even tells another group of people, “No, no, no, I’m not exclusive. Everyone will ultimately be saved no matter what they believe.”
- The god of the Religious Pluralist is ultimately nothing more than a deity that suffers from multiple personality disorder. It’s a god who at best is very confused, or at worst is totally misleading. In either case, who would want to trust a god like that with their eternal destiny?
- Contrary to the god of Religious Pluralism, Jesus Christ makes the clear and exclusive claim, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). And while his claim is exclusive, his invitation is open to all, “whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
For more on the different claims of the world’s religions, please check out Dr. Carlson’s book, Fast Facts On False Teachings, available in our online store.