Jesus, Prophet of Islam - The Islamic Bulletin

252 Jesus, Prophei of Islam

There are elements of relative good in the non-Chris­

tian faiths. While the calI for separation from false reli­

gions is certainly Biblical, and the demonic character of

pagan religions is taught in Scripture ... still it is also

true that elements of limited relative good exist in these

religions. While it is true that they are demonic in char­

acter, it is also true (and Scriptural) that they are prod­

ucts of man's distorted interpretation of God's revela­

tion in nature. Even though they may be works of the

devil, still they are not simply works of the devil, but

partIy products of God's common grace and partly prod­

ucts of sinful man's abuse of God's revelation in nature.'

It is significant that Vos does not mention all the'distorted inter­
pretation' which the New Testament is known to have undergone.
Attempts to avoid the dilemma of simultaneous acceptance and
rejection of non-Christian faiths hasbeen made by arguing that
sorne Christians ' discemin themtheinfluenceof the'cosmic Christ'
who, as the eternal Logos or revealer of the Godhead, is the 'light
that enlightens every man.' This view was summed up by William
Temple when he wrote:

By the word of God -that is to say, Jesus Christ - Isaiah

and Plato, Zoroaster, Buddha, and Confucius uttered

and wrote such truths as they declared. There is only

one Divine Light, and every man in his own measure is

enlightened by il. 3

The reasoning in this passage relies on the assumption that the

,one Divine Light' and 'Christ' are one and the same. Since 'Christ'

is an imagination, the doctrine fails, and the dilemma remains. It

can only be avoided by resorting to what George Orwell called

,doublethink'. He defined it thus:

Doublethink means the power of holding two contra­

dictory beliefs simultaneously, and accepting both of

them. The party intellectual knows that he is playing

tricks with reality, but by the exercise of doublethink he

also satisfies himself that reality is not violated. •

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