THE DEMANDS MADE UPON CHRISTIANS .sx After these general considerations about what is involved in religions living together it will be helpful to look in more detail at what is required of Christians .sx The essential point is that other religions have to be accepted as being on an equal footing , that is , as being just as much religions as Christianity , and as producing at least some good religious fruits .sx The acceptance of other religions , however , also requires the abandonment of , or at least the non-insistence on , some points of Christian belief , as found in the New Testament and the ecumenical creeds ; and this is difficult for Christians , some would say impossible .sx The difficulty can be eased , however , by distinguishing questions of fact from questions of interpretation , since in the latter some latitude is possible .sx The simplest example is that of the conception of the chosen people , that is , God's choice , first of all of Abraham , then of the Israelites , and then , as Christian theology has tended to maintain , of the Christian Church as the true inheritor of the old covenant and central to the new covenant .sx The concept of choice can be understood in at least two ways .sx It could be held that Abraham , the Israelites and the Church were chosen because they were superior to the individuals or groups around and had great merits .sx On the other hand , it could be held that they were chosen because of their fitness for the performance of future tasks , namely , the transmission of a special form of the knowledge of God to future generations and to the whole world eventually .sx This second way of understanding choice does not imply that those chosen were superior to others in any exclusivist way , and in particular it does not exclude the possibility that others , such as Muhammad , may be chosen to perform some complementary task for God .sx According to this second understanding , then , the belief of Christians in these choices by God is not exclusivist .sx More difficult to deal with is the assertion that Jesus is " the only - begotten ( monogen e-stroke s ) son of God " as in the Nicene creed .sx The term monogen e-stroke s comes from the apostle John , and may mean no more than 'only' son .sx A different conception is found at the beginning of the Epistle to the Hebrews , where the writer says that God , who had formerly spoken to the fathers through the prophets , has now spoken to us through his son , whom he established as heir of all things , and through whom he created the worlds ; a little later he adds that this son , after making a cleansing of the sins of the world , took his seat at the right hand of the majesty on high .sx In this conception two points are to be noted .sx One is that it was through the son that God created the universe ; and this is reminiscent of the passage which says that it was through the Word or Logos - or perhaps we could say the divine rationality - that every thing came into being .sx Then this aspect of God's being , his rationality or something like that , became flesh in Jesus , that is , took a human form .sx This appears to make Jesus unique , but it might perhaps be maintained that , in accordance with a second point , namely , his cleansing of sins , his uniqueness was derived from his unique achievement of cleansing sins .sx Official Christian doctrine is that Jesus is both human and divine , and that his humanity and divinity are not intermingled ; in other words , he is not a god-man or superman .sx Theologians and others , however , have often tended to emphasize the divinity at the expense of the humanity .sx Yet there is also much in the Bible which reduces the difference between Jesus and other human beings .sx In the account of creation it is asserted that all men and women are made in the image of God , an assertion which most Muslim theologians have rejected as false .sx God is spoken of as a father in the Old Testament , and human beings as his sons and daughters .sx In the thought of Paul Jesus is sometimes distinguished as " the firstborn of many brethren " , but this is balanced elsewhere when the whole Christian community is called " the church of the firstborn ( ones ) " .sx Paul also distinguishes Jesus from his Christian followers by saying that , while he is truly son , they are children by adoption .sx This again , however , can be balanced by the important passage which says that all who believe in Jesus have the right to become children of God , " those who were begotten , not of blood , not of the will of flesh , nor of the will of a male , but of God " .sx In the light of such assertions of the divinity in some sense of all believers , it is particularly important for Christians engaging in dialogue to have a clear idea of how the sonship of Jesus differs from that of other Christians .sx Is it because of his unique achievement , however we describe it , or is there something else ?sx It is to be noted at this point , too , that the uniqueness of something does not necessarily mean that it is superior to everything else , since other people also can have a unique but different task , whose uniqueness consists in its being something distinctive , not identical with any other task .sx I would not presume to give a solution here to these problems , but must leave it to the theologians .sx I would , however , like to call attention to the way in which exclusivist theological interpretations can distort translation .sx In the prologue to the Fourth Gospel there occur the words " we beheld his glory , doxan h o-stroke s monogenous para patros " , where the literal translation of these Greek words would be :sx " a glory as of an only ( son ) from a ( human ) father " ; and there is nothing contrary to Christian belief in such a translation .sx Yet I find that the New English Bible translates :sx " we saw glory , such glory as befits the Father's only son " ; and the New Jerusalem Bible has :sx " we saw his glory , the glory that he has from the Father as only Son of the Father " .sx There is , of course , justification for such translations , but they are reading into a text what is not actually present in it .sx Clearly theologians and Bible translators should be more aware that we are moving into a situation of having to live together with other religions , and should realize that this places certain constraints upon them .sx Lest it should be thought that what has been said is intended to belittle or diminish the divinity of Jesus , I would suggest that the final result should rather be a heightening of the status of all humanity .sx Apart from avoiding unjustified exclusivism , it is important that Christian theologians should work out a doctrine of the Trinity which would not remain an arcane mystery known only to a few top theologians in an intellectual stratosphere , but which would be accessible to ordinary Christians .sx Ordinary Christians have to meet Muslims and members of other religions and have to explain to them how , although they believe that Jesus is divine , they believe that God is one .sx They may also have to meet questions about the assertion that all believers are children of God .sx In a situation of dialogue I hold that the essential Christian duty is to bear witness to the historical humans facts about Jesus , and then leave it to the members of other religions to form an interpretation of these facts in terms of their own tradition .sx The traditional Christian interpretation of these facts is in terms of late Hellenistic philosophy , which we now reject , though we have not found any generally acceptable replacement .sx We seem , however , to be moving into a situation in which new formulations may be accepted as alternatives to the traditional formulation , not replacing it but complementing it .sx Non-Christian interpretations of the teaching and achievement of Jesus , then , should not be rejected out of hand , but should be accepted at least provisionally and further discussed , until it is discovered whether Christians can accept them as alternative formulations of their own beliefs .sx In dialogue with Muslims it is also important that Christians should reject the distortions of the medieval image of Islam and should develop a positive appreciation of its values .sx This involves accepting Muhammad as a religious leader through whom God has worked , and that is tantamount to holding that he is in some sense a prophet .sx Such a view does not contradict any central Christian belief .sx It has , however , to be made clear to Muslims that Christians do not believe that all Muhammad's revelations from God were infallible , even though they allow that much of divine truth was revealed to him .sx Arthur Arberry paid a profound tribute to the religious value of the Qur' a-stroke n in the Introduction to his translation :sx This task ( of translating ) was undertaken , not lightly , and carried to its conclusion at a time of great personal distress , through which it comforted and sustained the writer in a manner for which he will always be grateful .sx He therefore acknowledges his gratitude to whatever power or Power inspired the man and the Prophet who first recited these scriptures .sx .sx To this personal statement may be added an official one from the section on Islam in the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to non-Christian Religions issued by the Second Vatican Council in 1965 :sx The Church also regards with esteem the Muslims who worship the one , subsistent , merciful and almighty God , the Creator of heaven and earth , who has spoken to man .sx Islam willingly traces its descent back to Abraham , and just as he submitted himself to God , the Muslims endeavour to submit themselves to his mysterious decrees .sx They venerate Jesus as a prophet , without , however , recognizing him as God , and they pay honour to his virgin mother Mary and sometimes also invoke her with devotion .sx Further , they expect a day of judgement when God will raise all men from the dead and reward them .sx For this reason they attach importance to the moral life and worship God , mainly by prayer , alms-giving and fasting .sx If in the course of the centuries there has arisen not infrequent dissension and hostility between Christian and Muslim , this sacred Council now urges everyone to forget the past , to make sincere efforts at mutual understanding and to work together in protecting and promoting for the benefit of all men , social justice , good morals as well as peace and freedom .sx .sx THE DEMANDS MADE UPON MUSLIMS .sx For Muslims also , if they are to live alongside other religions , it will be necessary to abandon their exclusivism .sx This means admitting that , even if Islam has all the truth required by the whole human race to the end of time , there may be complementary ways of expressing this truth .sx It would also appear that Muslims would have to reinterpret their conception of the finality of Islam and of Muhammad's being the last prophet .sx This last point presupposes that there has been a series of pure and perfect revelations from God , but this is not borne out by what we now know of the history of religion .sx It would seem that Muslims would have to admit that religions like Hinduism and Buddhism also received something from God , though not in a form resembling that of the revelation to Muhammad .sx In respect of Muslim-Christian relations it is essential that Muslims accept the historicity of the Bible and reject the doctrine of its corruption .sx That doctrine contradicts known facts , such as the existence of manuscripts dating from long before the time of Muhammad .sx Throughout this century and last the Bible has been the object of searching literary criticism by Christians and nominal Christians .sx Some of this criticism has been very radical , and there have been conservative Christians who accepted little of it .sx Most Christians who understand the literary critics , however , would accept the main points .sx This means admitting that some of the books of the Bible have had a complex history of being compiled and edited , but it would be vigorously maintained that such processes were subject to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit , and do not detract from the religious value of the Bible .sx