THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION THE CHALLENGE OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS AND CULTURES: Revised Edition 2019

By Professor Yusufu Turaki

This book re-affirms Christian commitment to Biblical truth, apostolic teachings, and the historic witness of the Church that Jesus is Lord. For tills reason, the book examines the Christian concept of the unique Christ for salvation within two modem societies: (1) W

• Language: English
• Publisher: Midas Touch GEMS
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088175262

Book preview

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THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION

Yusufu Turaki Foundation and Otakada.org Publishing

THE CHALLENGE OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS AND CULTURES

Revised Edition 2019

YUSUFU TURAKI

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yusufu Turaki is a Professor of Theology and Social Ethics. He teaches Theology and Social Ethics at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS) since 1980. He studied Theology at Igbaja Theological Seminary, Nigeria (Th.B.); Theology and Ethics at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, USA (MATS); and Social Ethics at Boston University, USA (Ph.D.). He was a Research Scholar with the Research Enablement Program sponsored by the PEW Charitable Trusts and administered by the Overseas Ministry Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut, USA and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Yale Divinity School, Yale University, USA. He is currently the Regional Director of the International Bible Society Nigeria. He is married to Deborah and they have four children: Nyela, Yimi, Iyakachi and Ladi.

ABOUT THE BOOK

This book re-affirms Christian commitment to Biblical truth, apostolic teachings, and the historic witness of the Church that Jesus is Lord. For tills reason, the book examines the Christian concept of the unique Christ for salvation within two modem societies: (1) Western concept of pluralism and secularism and (2) African traditional spirituality and worldview. The uniqueness of Christ was affirmed by using prophetic and apostolic witness based upon Biblical data. Western pluralism and secularism and African traditional spirituality and worldview are not to be accepted as valid religious arguments that negate the uniqueness of Christ but are indeed arguments of the non-Christian religions and cultures which are to be judged by the prophetic and apostolic witness and the Biblical data.

CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND MISSIONS

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ABOUT YUSUFU TURAKI FOUNDATION AND OTAKADA.ORG DIGITAL PUBLISHING

This book is published and distributed in partnership with Yusufu Turaki Foundation and Otakada.org

Yusufu Turaki Foundation is an organization owned by the author Professor Yusufu Turaki in Jos, Plateau, Nigeria. Otakada.org is a digital and paperback publishing and distribution of Christian confused contents company based in USA and Nigeria.

At God’s Eagle Ministries Otakada.org, We are seeding the Nations with Over 2 Million Christian Centric Content, and God is Transforming Lives Through the Timeless Truth in His Word!

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Check this out in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, 2 Timothy 1:7 Hebrews 4:12-13; 1 Corinthians 3: 1- 17; Leviticus 26:12; Jeremiah 32:38; Ezekiel 37:27; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 John 4:4

Read – 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Amplified Bible (AMP) ²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [ that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose ]; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept complete and [be found ] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our Mission at God’s Eagle Ministries ties in with Ephesians 4:1-16, to seek out the best of the best five (5) fold ministry gifts in the body of Christ, so that they can equip the saints for the work of Ministry (Laborers are few indeed, whilst there are ripe harvest of souls all around us waiting to be harvested) equipping continues till we all come to the unity of faith as loudly proclaimed in the place of prayer by Jesus Himself in John 17.

Our core passion is to point the saints, who are sons of our Father God to Christ, who is the head of the body according to the order of 

John 1:12-13

Amplified Bible, Classic Edition

¹² But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name—

¹³ Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!]

and Ephesians 1:5

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will

But not as jobless sons but those who are well equipped through core practical oriented Discipleship so that they can launch out as a mighty army to go make disciples of all nations without regards to denomination for we are one in Christ Jesus, amen.

To promote Christ in us – sons of a mighty God, the hope of glory! 

Colossians 1:26-27 The Mystery of the kingdom is simply this: Christ in you! Yes, Christ in you bringing with him the hope of all glorious things to come. ‘ It goes on to say that the hope of glory is the fulfillment of God’s promise to restore us and all creation – Hallelujah!

To break it down further, Our Passion at God’s Eagle Ministries – Otakada.org and the body of Christ, in general, is to equip faith-based communities and to reach online seekers through wholesome content, products, and services that enhance holistically the spirit, the soul, and the body of the individual and to foster unity in the body of Christ!

We are passionately passionate to intercede, to see, to experience and to deploy by the help of His Holy Spirit, UNITY of SPIRIT in and amongst the saints of God in Christ Jesus according to Jesus prayer in John 17 – That we will be one in Christ Jesus.

Who We are at God’s Eagle Ministries, Otakada.org  is tied to our values, vision, and mission as highlighted hereunder:

Our Values: Integrity, Excellence, Speed, and profitability.

Our Vision: We envision a discipled world.

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DEDICATION

To

My Alma Mater, ECWA Theological Seminary, Igbaja,

Nigeria

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Bible quotations are taken from The Open Bible: Expanded Edition, The King James Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983.

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Table of Contents

THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION 1 THE CHALLENGE OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS AND CULTURES 1 Revised Edition 2019 1 ABOUT THE AUTHOR 2 ABOUT THE BOOK 2 ABOUT YUSUFU TURAKI FOUNDATION AND OTAKADA.ORG DIGITAL PUBLISHING 3 DEDICATION 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 6 PREFACE 9 CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 12 CHAPTER TWO - THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION 33 IN THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE 33 A. Influence of the Non-Christian Religions in Enforcing the Debate 33 35 35 35 36 B. Modern Western Secularist/Pluralist Theological Discourse 44 45 49 55 61 65 C. Traditional and Modem African Theological Discourse 68 70 80 93 98 115 118 CHAPTER THREE - THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION IN BIBLICAL DATA 124 A. Restating the Case for the Unique Christ 124 B. Jesus the Messiah as Mediator 126 C. Who is Jesus the Messiah? 133 134 145 150 166 170 172 173 CHAPTER FOUR - THE MEANING OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND THE ARTICLES OF SALVATION 175 A. Reconciliation in Christ the Mediator 176 177 178 182 183 B. Articles of Salvation in the Cross of Christ 187 188 190 195 200 205 C. Summary 209 CHAPTER FIVE THE UNIQUE CHRIST AND THE NON-CHRISTIAN 212 RELIGIONS AND CULTURES 212 A. God in African Theology 215 B. Biblical Theology of God and Creation 225 228 229 C. Theology of Revelation and History 234 D. Theology of the Holy Spirit, the Word and the Wisdom of God 239 E. Non-Christian Religions and Cultures in Relationship to the Biblical Data 241 245 246 247 251 E. Summary 253 CHAPTER SIX - THE UNIQUE CHRIST FOR SALVATION AND THE CHURCH 254 A. The Church Commissioned 255 B. Ministry of Reconciliation, Peace and 258 BIBLIOGRAPHY 265

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PREFACE

The writing of this Book dates back to 1991 when I received the invitation from the World Evangelical Fellowship Theological Commission to write a paper on The Unique Christ For Peace and Justice for a Theological Consultation in July 1992 at Manila, Philippines. This invitation helped me to start researching about this subject. My first public presentation of it took place at the Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, USA in January 1992. As a visiting Professor to the Seminary, I was given the opportunity to address the Seminary on this subject during the Chapel Hour. This experience encouraged me to pursue a further research on this subject.

Secondly, ECWA Theological Seminary, Igbaja, Nigeria, invited me to prepare a series of lectures for the Dr. Byang H. Kato Memorial Lectures, May 1992 and I decided to expand and widen the scope of this subject to include salvation within the context of the non-Christian religions and cultures. The response of the Dr. Byang H. Kato Memorial Lectures was very encouraging and I decided to edit and publish the lectures. Furthermore, the discussions of the Theological Consultation in July 1992 in Manila, Philippines two months later also encouraged me to publish this book. The Manila paper was later published in a book titled The Unique Christ in our Pluralistic World, Edited by Bruce J. Nicholls and published by The Paternoster Press, United Kingdom, 1994 (pp. 180-200).

The title of this book is, The Unique Christ For Salvation; the Challenge of the Non-Christian Religions and Cultures. This is an examination of Christian presentation of Jesus the Messiah as the Lord and Savior of the whole world. The presentation of the unique Christ for salvation has always been done within the context of world religions and cultures.

The desire to address this subject in-depth took me back to my Seminary Lectures at the Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS),

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Jos, Nigeria, in the 1980s. I consulted my class notes in the following courses taught at the Seminary: Western and Non-Western Thought; Man and Culture in Africa; Contemporary and Socio-political Problems of Africa; Third World Theologies and Christian Doctrines. Most of the ideas and themes presented in this book have been drawn from my class notes, lectures and later research. It is important to state that the question of salvation in Jesus the Messiah became quite prominent on the African continent in the 1960s and early 1970s. The influential works of Professors E. Bolaji Idowu, John S. Mbiti and others, on the one hand and that of Dr. Byang H. Kato, Dr. Tokunboh Adeyemo (on Salvation) and others, on the other hand, generated theological debates on the question of salvation in the African traditional religions. The debate is still inconclusive, hence my desire to contribute and raise some issues for further research. May I point out here that the work of Professor Kwame Bediako on African Christianity is significant and sheds more light to our understanding of the nature and the agenda of African Theology. He has clearly defined the meaning, contours, trends and patterns of African Theology, which have been very helpful to this study. In this study, we shall be using the term African traditional religions to refer to the religions of Africans before the introduction of Christianity and Islam.

Related to these African religious questions are the ongoing universal debates about religious pluralism and the question of salvation among non-Christian religions of the world. Serious questions and debates have been raised about the possibility of salvation outside the Church or Jesus Christ. Our African experience is only a part of this universal debate and rejection of Jesus the Messiah and the Bible as being valid for all and unique from all. These issues have been adequately treated by a host of scholars. Our approach seeks to re-affirm the validity and continuity of the historic, apostolic, confession and proclamation that Jesus is Lord.

The debates on salvation and the intermediaries in African traditional religions and religious pluralism, have raised serious

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questions and doubts on Christian commitment to the Biblical and the historical fact that in Jesus Christ, through his life, death, resurrection and coming again, salvation has been made available to all humankind (Gnanakan 1992:21). It is this commitment to Biblical truth, apostolic teachings and the historic witness of the church that we want to restate and emphasize. In the first place, our Lord Himself made some categorical statements about His mission and message of salvation within the context of Jewish monotheism and the plural religions and cultures of the then Roman Empire. Secondly, God through His Holy Spirit moved the apostles to proclaim and write the authenticity and uniqueness of Jesus the Messiah as the universal Saviour and Mediator in the midst of Jewish monotheism and the plural religions and cultures of the Graeco-Roman world. Christianity today can still make the same categorical claims of Jesus the Messiah as the Lord and Saviour of the whole world, not on any other basis, but on Biblical, apostolic and the historical testimony of the church.

The book examines the Christian concept of the unique Christ for salvation within two modem societies: Western and African. This is to examine this Christian concept within the context of modem Western pluralism and secularism and African traditional spirituality and worldview.

Yusufu Turaki

International Bible Society

Enugu, Nigeria.

July 2001.

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CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION

The secularist and pluralist worldviews, particularly of Western extraction are rejecting Jesus the Messiah as the unique Saviour of the world. Similarly, the traditional African worldview and religion have problems with the claims of Jesus as the only and unique Mediator between God and man. This book seeks to address the issues raised by presenting Jesus the Messiah as the unique, universal Mediator, Saviour and Lord of the universe in modem Western and contemporary African societies. The primary objective is to develop a Biblical basis and foundation for presenting and proclaiming Jesus the Messiah as the only valid, authentic and unique Saviour of the whole world and the Mediator between God and man. In the words of Dr. Saphir Athyal of India, my goal is to assert '...the normativeness and finality of God's self revelation in and through Jesus Christ’ (Gnanakan: 1992; Back Cover). For this reason, it is also necessary to state from the Biblical data what credentials make Jesus the Messiah to be a unique, universal Mediator, Saviour and Lord.

Our subject of discussion, (1) Western pluralism and secularism and (2) African religions and spirituality, was particularly interesting to African students in the Seminary I was teaching. Class discussions were always dominated by the religious questions and issues of salvation and intermediaries in African traditional religions and how to relate the Gospel of Christ to the African traditional religious worldview, on the one hand and Western pluralism, secularism and modernity, on the other. On the African side, the crucial theological issue is the allusion to the fact that the Christian concept of salvation in Jesus the Messiah is also equally found in African religions. God has equally important intermediaries or mediators between Him and man in the African traditional

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religions just as it is the case with Jesus in Christianity. If indeed God has instituted a valid and authentic means of salvation and intermediaries in the African traditional religions, as it is being alluded to, then the logical conclusion is that Africans have no need of the Christian offer of salvation and mediatorship in Jesus the Messiah. I have personally met an African scholar who had raised the above theological issues and as a result, had decided to become a priest of the African traditional religions. The dominant presence of the African traditional religions and their powerful religious worldview, have ever posed great challenges to the presentation and proclamation of the Gospel of Christ and the rooting of Christianity in Africa. African scholars/theologians are divided in both their approaches (methodologies) and interpretations of what constitute the African traditional religions and how the Gospel of Christ should be presented in Africa.

On the Western side, the serious theological issue is missiological, the presentation of Jesus the Messiah as the unique Saviour and Lord of the whole world. Secularism, pluralism and modernism have raised serious questions and doubts on apostolic Christianity and the theology of missions. Jesus is rejected on the grounds of modernity and secularism and Christians missions are rejected on the grounds of pluralism and equality of all religions and cultures.

For these reasons, we need to examine the roots of Western secularism, pluralism and modernity, on the one hand and the roots of African spirituality that have bearing on Christian concept of the unique Christ.

Since the rise of African Theology in the late 1950s, the contentious issue of the plurality of the means of salvation and mediatorship between God and man other than Jesus the Messiah had dominated African theological discourse. The theological issue is

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whether our African Christian understanding of the teachings of African traditional religions questions our Christian belief and claims that Jesus the Messiah is the only valid, authentic, unique and universal Saviour and Mediator between God and man. If they do, then the African traditional religions have gained an opportunity of evangelising Christianity. What is the place of Jesus the Messiah within the context of African traditional religions? How has Jesus the Messiah been treated by African scholars and theologians? These questions are in themselves missiological questions, which Christianity in Africa must provide concrete and adequate answers to, or else, Christianity stands the danger of being evangelised by the African traditional religions. The acceptance of Jesus the Messiah varies in Africa, from mild acceptance to total rejection. In extreme cases, some of the African scholars/theologians are of the opinion that Christianity must abandon its Biblical and historical claims that salvation is found only in the unique Christ and accept the plurality of the means of salvation, which are also found in abundance in other religions.

The term African Theology used in this Book needs to be defined. We are using the term heuristically. Professor Tite Tienou, in his book, The Theological Task of the church in Africa (1982,1990), gave a casual definition of African Theology, which we are adopting for use in this book.

"In itself the expression 'African Theology' is quite ambiguous. It could legitimately be used to describe the reflections about God contained in the various traditions and religious beliefs of African peoples. The term 'African Theology' as such bears no specific Christian focus (Tienou, 1990:27).

African Theology as a term describes the general works of African scholars/theologians since the late 1950s in the study of the African traditional religions and Christianity. The term "bears no

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specific Christian focus, but it is used generally to apply to all works done in Africa in this area. These works focused primarily on general research, interpretations and theological and religious writings on the African traditional religions and cultures and Christianity. These works are grouped together and given a generic term African Theology. Our major interest in African Theology is to examine its theological output in the light of our subject, The Unique Christ for Salvation; the Challenge of the Non-Christian Religions and Cultures".

The modern theological debates on religious pluralism have somewhat weakened our commitment and diverted our attention to new beliefs which are non-Christian and have also sought justification in philosophy rather than theology and demanded that we surrender our claims to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ (Gnanakan 1992:160,125).

Besides the theological issues of plurality of salvation and/or the parity of religions, the second important issue is the methodology of presentation and proclamation of Jesus the Messiah to the non- Christian religions and cultures, especially in Africa.

Quite related to the above theological issues is the question of how both the Gospel of Christ and the uniqueness of Christ relate to the African traditional religions and cultures. The approaches, attitudes and methodologies of African scholars differ quite remarkably. The question that needs to be raised here is: "What theology and/or methodology can adequately and faithfully relate the Gospel of Christ and the uniqueness of Christ to the African traditional religions and culture? How is Jesus perceived and understood by Africans who have only the prior understanding of the pre-Christian African traditional religious worldview?

It is important to note that African religious worldview permits

belief in many spirit beings. Implicit in this African religious system is the acceptance of the fact that other religious systems or persons may

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be equally valid or even more so. Here we are dealing with a worldview, which is accommodative and is also capable of domesticating ideas, concepts and objects. Christian proclamation and presentation of Jesus the Messiah must be done in such a way that the entire African worldview and its culture and religion are addressed by Biblical teachings. The Gospel of Christ addresses the totality of our Africanness. It is by this process that transformation and transvaluation of our religious values and worldview take effect within the African context. The true meaning of Jesus being the Mediator between God and man must be based upon Biblical, apostolic and the historical testimony of the church. Our approach to these theological issues should be based on how Jesus the Messiah in Biblical, apostolic and the historical meaning and import address, confront and transform a world of religions and cultures.

African scholars differ in terms of what they are looking for in their comparative study of Christianity and the African traditional religions. Some look for the elements of similarities or dissimilarities, commonalities, continuity or discontinuity. The underlying theological quest is for us to develop and formulate a theology of religions which will deal with our world context and the need to discover all that the Bible is saying about world religions and cultures (Gnanakan, 1992:222,223).

It is important that we give a general presentation of the real issues at stake in this subject of discussion. The New Testament presented Jesus as the Messiah and the Lord and Saviour of the whole world. Is this New Testament presentation still relevant today in the world of many religions and cultures? The apostolic and Christian traditions have historically presented and proclaimed Jesus the Messiah as the Lord and Saviour of the whole world. This presentation of Jesus the Messiah, who is both Lord and Savior of the whole world by the New Testament, apostolic teachings and Christian traditional

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teachings, have been subjected to severe criticisms by the non­ Christian religions and cultures throughout the centuries. Our focus is not on those historical rejections or debates, but on contemporary ones in both the West and Africa. We have included Western secularist and pluralist rejections of Jesus the Messiah because of their profound and dominant influence on Africa through colonialism and Christian missionary work and modernity.

We have observed that historically, Christianity has been accused by the non-Christian religions and cultures of teaching and preaching conversion to the unique Christ. The word conversion here strictly means to change religions or cultures, to abandon one's traditional religion or culture for a new one. It is this change of religion, culture or identity that the contemporary world of religions and cultures hates and teaches against. Sometimes, religious or cultural change has been interpreted to mean superiority or inferiority, that is to say, changing from one religion or culture to a superior one or to a lesser one than the former. Doing so is tantamount to apostasy. There are many religions and cultures that are opposed to such changes through conversion. It is on this ground that evangelism, proselytisation and preaching are usually outlawed in restricted societies. In certain religious societies, apostasy is what is feared, while in others, it is the violation of the plurality of religions and cultures. Should a religion or culture seek to convert or proselytise others? Should this practice be an acceptable norm in our modem world? Historically, this issue has been addressed from the perspective of apostasy, that is to say, that a religion or culture is opposed to a religious change or conversion for fear of apostacy.

However, there is a contemporary conception of religious and cultural pluralism, which is raising serious questions regarding the Christian tradition of evangelism and presentation of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah. Plurality of religions and cultures means equality of

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all and that none is unique or superior, that all are equal. On this account, conversion is not apostasy but a violation