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John Hick, in Four Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic World, argues against the orthodox Christian view of salvation based on a number of arguments, one of which is a comparison of Christian morality with that of other world religions. He advocates a pluralistic approach to religion (that all religions are equally valid or true) and rejects the view that orthodox Christianity provides the only means of salvation. Hick states:

I have not found that the people of the other world religions are, in general, on a different moral and spiritual level from Christians. They seem on average to be neither better nor worse than are Christians. (p 39)

Presupposing a universal moral ideal to which all religions point, he concludes based on his own observations that…

… the virtues and vices seem to be spread more or less evenly among human beings, regardless of whether they are Christians or… Jews, Muslims, Hindus (including Sikhs), or Buddhists. (p 40-41)

Hick continues his argument by concluding that…

… one cannot establish the unique superiority of any one of the great world religions. (p 42)

He then asserts that the soteriological power of each world religion “can only be humanly judged by their human fruits,” (p 44) which are found in somewhat equal proportion among those religions. Finally, Hick claims:

It therefore seems logical to me to conclude that not only Christianity, but also these other world faiths, are human responses to the Ultimate… (and) they seem to constitute more or less equally authentic human awareness of and response to the Ultimate. (p 44-45)

Next post… my response.