! Is There Only One True Religion or Are There Many? Southern Methodist University Press Dallas Copyright © 1992 by Schubert M. Ogden All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America First edition, 1992 Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to: Permissions Southern Methodist University Press Box 415 Dallas, Texas 75275 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ogden, Schubert Miles, 1928- Is there only one true religion or are there many? / Schubert M. Ogden. p. cm. Originally delivered as the 1990 Samuel Ferguson Lectures, University of Manchester (England). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87074-328-7 ISBN 0-87074-329-5 (pbk.) 1. Christianity and other religions. 2. Religious pluralism. I. Title. BR128.C4033 1992 261.2—dc20 91-52781 To my dialogue partners in the International Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter Group CONTENTS Preface ix 1. The Challenge of Pluralism 1 2. The Case against Exclusivism 27 3. Difficulties with the Case for Pluralism 53 4. Beyond the Usual Options 79 Works Cited 105 Index 109