THE CHALLENGE FROM PLURALISM TO PREACHING THE GOSPEL, by D. A. Carson

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by Steve West

 

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Summary

There is a large cluster of complicated and intertwined issues concerning postmodernism and pluralism in our society and in the church’s response to it. Many of these issues are treated at length in my other work [The Gagging of God]. Empirical pluralism is the term given to the fact of plurality. America is empirically an incredibly diverse nation. This is true ethnically, culturally, and religiously. Preaching the gospel to a Buddhist may require different preparation than preaching to a Hispanic Roman Catholic. Going further than empirical pluralism, “cherished pluralism” not only acknowledges the reality of pluralism but sees it as a blessing. This can cause conservatives to circle their wagons, or cause others to modify the gospel so as not to offend people who hold other views. Philosophical or hermeneutical pluralism is the view that claims for absolute truth or religious superiority are necessarily wrong; the only creed that is ultimate is the creed of pluralism. All positivism and objectivism are rejected, and a welter of interpretations of texts are encouraged, even as naturalistic explanations reign for everything. . . .

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