"I have sought to identify points at which Christians can learn from other religions. Some of these represent new insights, at least for many Christians. Others reflect aspects of the Christian tradition that need new emphasis. Still others represent where misunderstandings of Christian faith are brought into focus by other faith traditions. I offer here a concluding summary of the main points to sharpen the focus on these ideas and to reinforce that this book is about what we can learn from other religions and not just what we can learn about those religions.
"1. We must not compare the best of our own faith to the worst in others. Christians should not dismiss the jihad of Muslims as violent conquest while considering Christian Crusades as nonviolent campaigns for some good objective — and vice versa.
2. The Christian view of Christ as the way to God can be interpreted through the love of Christ as a manifestation of the love of God, so that love — not exclusive adherence to Christianity — is the way to God. That love is also to be found in other religions.
3. It is possible to remain committed to one's own faith and still learn from others.
4. If 'religion' means the beliefs and values that are central or ultimate in our lives, then religion comes in many cultural forms, including those that have no place for God.
5. The term 'revelation' refers to aspects of experience that bring all of life into focus.
6. What we worship is central to who we are. (Judaism)
7. The material universe and human history are to be affirmed. (Judaism, Islam)
8. To be 'chosen' by God is to be charged with special responsibility; it is not an exclusive privilege. (Judaism)
9. Tradition is indispensable in the transmission of faith from one generation to the next, and myth is an important way of conveying truth. (Judaism)
10. Ordinary adherents to a faith tradition are often more open than theologians. (Islam and others)
11. It is important to accept the value of other religions. (Emphasized by several religions)
12. The monotheism of Christian faith needs greater clarity. The doctrine of the Trinity cannot be understood as three different gods, but rather as three ways in which the one God has been experienced.
13. The Muslim view that Muhammad is to be venerated but not worshiped as God can help us see that while we worship the God who is disclosed through Christ, that is not the same as worship of the man Jesus. (Islam)
14. Scientific study should be celebrated, not rejected. (Islam, atheism)
15. Moral and spiritual disciplines are important in spiritual development. (Islam, Asian religions)
16. Nobody has all the answers. The whole of being is beyond human comprehension, even though we all have knowledge of part of it. (Asian religions)
17. God is bigger than any human conception. God encompasses everything, and every aspect of reality gains its significance in relation to God. (Hinduism)
18. We cannot escape responsibilities by retreating into religion. (Hinduism, Buddhism)
19. Spiritual life advances through stages; we cannot become spiritually mature all at once. (Hinduism)
20. Division of labor and of responsibilities is built into the human condition, but those who are among the elite have special responsibility for the weaker and more vulnerable members of society. (Hinduism)
21. Evil, while real, does not have independent existence. (Hinduism)
22. In speaking about God we must not turn God into an abstraction or an object. (Buddhism, atheism)
23. Religious authority figures and scriptures should not be considered to be beyond question or criticism. (Buddhism, Hinduism, atheism)
24. It is an illusion to think of wealth, fame, and power as permanent. (Buddhism, Hinduism)
25. Much human suffering is the result of inordinate craving. (Buddhism)
26. Compassion is the best expression of our humanity. (Buddhism)
27. All our actions, good and bad, have consequences, or Karma. (Buddhism, Hinduism)
28. God should not be given a limiting name. Human names for God point toward God but cannot express the whole reality of God. (Taoism)
29. Excessive competition, dividing humanity into winners and losers, is a prime source of conflict. We should not put ourselves before others. (Taoism)
30. Even if considered to be necessary, war is always tragic. (Taoism)
31. Rulers should govern quietly, without ostentation, not relying primarily on force. (Taoism, Confucianism)
32. Ceremony, religious and otherwise, has limited value. (Taoism)
33. Civility and courtesy are to be prized in political life. (Confucianism)
34. The natural world has spiritual significance. (Primal religions)
35. All of life is interconnected. (Primal religions)
36. Nonviolence, including respect for nonhuman forms of life, is a transcendently important value. (Jainism)
37. People who convert to other religions should not be ostracized. (Jainism)
38. God is present in each of us. (Sikhism, Hinduism)
39. Women must be valued and treated as equal to men. (Sikhism)
40. Commitment to truth should be as close to absolute as possible. (Zoroastrianism)
41. The oneness and unity of humanity is to be affirmed. (Baha'i)
42. Religion should not be used as a substitute for needed social change. (Marxist atheism)
43. Human work and creativity are an expression of our humanity. The product of our work is not simply an objective commodity. (Marxist atheism)
44. A social ethic should lead to commitment by society to ensure employment opportunity and a living wage for all of its members. (Marxist atheism)
45. The Bible contains self-contradictions that cannot be explained away. (Twenty-first-century atheism)
46. There is a dark side to Christian history and tradition, including depictions of a vengeful God, that cannot be accepted morally. (Twenty-first-century atheism)
47. Religion must not be promulgated by compulsion. (Twenty-first-century atheism)
Then, these points where others can learn from Christianity:
48. Grace is prior to law. Unless people feel accepted by God and others, they will be prone to be self-serving.
49. The mainline Christian disciplines of biblical scholarship over the past two centuries can be utilized in other religious traditions. Honest scriptural scholarship enhances religious faith.
50. Twentieth-century mainline Christian ecumenical movements have pioneered disciplines of interdenominational and interfaith relationships from which other religions could learn."
