Exclusive Truth Claims

I read a post from a friend recently in which she quoted a person who disagreed with her regarding the Christian faith.  The person who disagreed with my friend stated that one of the reasons he does not like Christians is because they claim to be right.  He went on to say that he is fighting against “the idea that one faith is right and therefore all others are wrong.”

Here is a comment, with a few edits, that I wrote in response to my friend’s post:

I hesitate to comment on this post.  I’m more inclined to simply pray as you have asked us to do.  But your [acquaintance] makes a statement that reveals a misunderstanding that I think is worth pointing out just because it is so common.

He makes the statement that what he is fighting against is “the idea that one faith is right therefore all others are wrong.”  However, by making that statement he is doing the very thing that he claims to be fighting against.  He is suggesting that he is right in his stance and therefore you and all Christians who hold that the truth claims of our faith are correct (based on the teachings of the Bible) are wrong.

One of the intellectual tactics used against Christians is to accuse them of making exclusive truth claims.  That’s a strong charge in our pluralistic culture.  In reality, though, every religion makes exclusive truth claims.  All of the religions of the world make claims which they hold to be true and, yet, their claims contradict claims which are taught by other religions.  When they do that, they are saying, “we’re right because we hold that our position is true.”  If they are correct—if their position is true—then it excludes the contradictory claims of the other religions from being true. 

Contradictory claims cannot both be true.  This is a logical reality regarding the nature of truth, whether we like it, or not.

And, moreover, this does not just apply to religions.  Any individual who makes a statement and claims that it is true is presuming to exclude from truth everyone who holds a position that contradicts his claim.  So, again, your [acquaintance] is surely suggesting that he’s correct in the position that he holds or else he wouldn’t have written this note to you.  But his position—if it is correct—excludes your beliefs from being true.  He’s making EXCLUSIVE truth claims.  But according to his rules—the cause that he says he’s fighting for—he’s not supposed to do that.  Right?