Religious Pluralism: Principles and Foundations, Reviewing and Criticism
2023-06-27 09:43D. Mustafa Azizi
Religious pluralism is based on cognitive foundations and intellectual principles, as well as on social roots that should be focused on. Religious pluralism cannot be criticized and evaluated without taking these factors into consideration. These cognitive foundations are Kant's theory, religious experience, philosophical hermeneutics, the history of religion, and the non-realism in religious language. There are also social reasons that have led to the emergence of religious pluralism, such as disputes, conflicts, and bloody wars between the followers of Christian denominations, especially between the followers of the Protestant denomination represented by Martin Luther and John Calvin, and the followers of Catholicism. It is noteworthy that the exclusive vision in Christianity played an important role in presenting the "theory of religious pluralism".The theory of religious pluralism suffers several problems; for it relies on Emmanuel Kant's interpretations about the knowledge of reality (noumenon) and the appearance (phenomenon), which is a flawed foundation. It also suffers from a confusion between two levels of religious pluralism: the level of authenticity and truthfulness, and the social level and peaceful coexistence, and the falling into "relativism." In this article, we have discussed the intellectual and social roots and foundations of religious pluralism, and then criticized and evaluated them according to the intellectual and logical standards in light of the rational-analytical method.
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