| Part 1 The Theory of Faith | Hirohumi Hoshika |
Since it was inconvenient to have only one meter prototype, copies were distributed to each country.
Shortly thereafter, the meter prototype was lost.
People came together and decided to redefine "one meter".
Copies of the metre prototype from each country were collected and compared, but naturally there was very slight variation in the length of each stick.
So people thought.
――By comparing these precisely and taking the average, we should be able to get the correct "one meter".
That seemed like a good idea, since Gaussian least squares gave that guarantee.
Then, however, a "Meter Stick" was brought in. People tried to add it to the line of copies of the meter prototype, but the stick made a surprising claim.
It said, "I am the lost Meter Prototype."
They had to think carefully about what to do with the stick.
If that stick's claim is correct, adding it and averaging will give us a more accurate value. But it was soon realized that this was a foolish idea.
This is because, if the stick's claim is correct, then the length of the stick itself should be considered as "one meter" and all other sticks should be discarded.
But what if the stick is telling a lie or is just mistaken itself? Obviously, that stick should not be added to the line of meter prototype copies.
This is because it is either a fake or a counterfeit of unknown origin, and doing so would ruin the metric approximation.
In the end, they came to the conclusion that "the stick claiming to be the meter prototype should be treated differently."――
Along with the "moral interpretation of Christianity" seen in the previous chapter (Chapter 1 - Essay 4), one commonly seen way of thinking is the religious view that "all religions are paths that lead to the same truth."
In this view, all religions, including Christianity, ultimately aim to reach the same place; they simply take different paths to get there.
This view says that since "true religions" should be ones that respect and share each other's truths, all religions should be based on this understanding, and that any religion that rejects this is a bad kind of religion that is exclusive, self-righteous, and self-centered.
To borrow a phrase from F.F. Bruce in the previous chapter, we would say that "this argument sounds plausible."
Unfortunately, however, this understanding of religion also does not fit in with Christianity. From the above perspective, Christianity can be said to be a "bad" religion because it does not share the truth with other religions but rather competes with them. This supra-religious view of religion, like the moral view discussed in the previous chapter, therefore hinders access to Christianity.
However, simply saying "Christianity is not like that" in response to this way of thinking about religion would be to repeat the mistakes of Bruce, who I criticized in Chapter 1 - Essay 4, so it would be better to point out the inappropriateness of the supra-religious view itself. The parable above is illustrative of that.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, "I am the truth," but this claim to truth is what makes Christianity unique in that it does not allow for integration with other religions. This is not simply because there is only one truth.
The stick claiming to be the meter prototype claimed to be "the truth" itself, and therefore did not possess the quality of "data to approach the truth" that people sought.
The way people seek truth is to synthesize what they see as the truth (for example, by incorporating it all or averaging it all), but the "stick claiming to be the meter prototype" says that this is not the way to know the truth. He says that knowing "I" is knowing the truth.
However, this claim that "oneself is the truth" is a dangerous claim, in a sense the same as intentionally erroneous and malicious observations or falsified and fraudulent data. It does not have the safe property of "approximation to truth" observed in good faith.
This requires us to treat it in a way that goes beyond D. Davidson's "Principle of Charity",
However, Christianity is of this type of religion, and it is one that must be treated separately from other religions, just like the "stick claiming to be the meter prototype".
As a result, supra-religion that maintains that "true religions share the truth with one another" cannot welcome Christianity into their ranks. This is not because Christianity forces out other religions, but because Christianity is forced out.
Thus, the concept of "supra-religion" is incomplete, because this position is bound to exclude "religions that claim to be the truth itself" as long as they exist.