On Religious Diversity

In On Religious Diversity Robert McKim distinguishes and examines a number of possible responses to the knowledge of diverse religious traditions that is available to all of us today. There is no escaping the fact that the presence of competing traditions now confronts each of the traditions in a new and forceful way. And there is widespread if inchoate recognition of genuine religious sensibilities and genuine religious seriousness in others. How might, and how should, an awareness of other traditions affect a member of a particular religious tradition? What attitudes should be taken to the beliefs and salvific prospects of members of other traditions? McKim examines several proposed answers to these questions, offering the deepest analysis to date of such options as exclusivism and inclusivism. He argues that what look like well-defined and discrete positions dissolve somewhat under scrutiny, revealing significantly different possibilities. McKim suggests where best to look for the most plausible answers and makes a case for the attractiveness of inclusivistic options. He pays particular attention to the religiously ambiguous nature of our circumstances and to the implications of this ambiguity.

About the Author :
Robert McKim is Professor of Religion and of Philosophy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Review :
"Religious Diversity is an engaging and stimulating book that de�serves a wide audience. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone doing work in philosophy of religion. The text is suitable for upper division under�graduate courses and graduate courses in philosophy of religion but is rather technical at times and as such may be too advanced for some survey and introductory level courses."--Erik Baldwin, Philosophia Christi "On Religious Diversity is an outstanding treatment of the morass of terms surrounding the philosophical discussion of religious diversity and its epistemological implications. It does excellent work in applying these distinctions to the philosophical issues, and is a natural sequel to McKim's previous book with Oxford." --Jerome Gellman, Professor of Philosophy, Ben Gurion University of the Negev "McKim's lucid and helpful book is a valuable addition to the growing body of literature on religious diversity and its implications for religious belief." --William J. Wainwright, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee "A book devoted to the various epistemological appraoches to religious diversity [such as McKim's] is to be welcomed." --Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "Clearly written with many interesting religious anecdotes, On Religious Diversity will prove to be a helpful book for anybody wishing to think through an epistemological and soteriological response to religious diversity." --European Journal of Philosophy of Religion