Toleration (2 min vid + text)

You think everyone should be accepted?

I’m going to ask you, “Why?”

Inclusivity is imperative in a free society. But it’s an exclusive claim.

Our two minute video gives a Christian answer to the question, “Why?” (full text below).

Jesus’ exclusive claim is the answer to question, “Why?”

Consider becoming a Comenius patron (here). Subscribe to “Truth in Two” videos from Comenius (here). Mark is President of The Comenius Institute (website). Dr. Eckel spends time with Christian young people in public university (1 minute video), hosts a weekly radio program with diverse groups of guests (1 minute video), and interprets culture from a Christian vantage point (1 minute video).

Picture Credit: Snappy Goat

FULL TEXT:

In this New Year, we at the Comenius Institute declare that the desire for inclusivity depends on exclusivity. Care for Others begins with belief in Another.

• We do not believe the Hebraic-Christian story because it’s better, but because it’s other. Distinctiveness is the mark of a biblical lifeview.
• The exclusivity of Jesus’ salvation makes inclusivity of all people possible.If all roads lead to Heaven, then human choice becomes the exclusive voice. And human choice always discriminates.
• As a Christians we seek to love and listen to everyone.Loving and listening, however, is premised in a very exclusive claim. Being tolerant of others is so, because God, our authority, says so. Toleration demands the distinction authority of God.
• If Church history teaches us anything, we know that inclusivity comes only through exclusivity. Christ followers are committed to Jesus’ claim “I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life.” All people are given invitation to salvation; no one is left out.The practice of Jesus’ Grace is the gift of grace offered to all.

The idea that One Truth makes other “truths” possible is the only answer to the question “Who says?” If we begin with inclusivity, we are left with the unanswerable questions “To what are we included?” and then “Who decides who is included?”

Inclusivity by itself is a human-centered belief—“I will declare what truth is.” The exclusivity of Jesus’ gospel—“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life”—is a God-centered origin. If we want inclusivity – and we do – it only comes through the exclusive claim of Christ.

The New Year begins with the same claims of other years: chose our own way or Jesus’ way.

When we are asked at the Comenius Institute, “Do you believe your belief is better than mine?” we respond, “It is not my belief, but Jesus’ belief about Himself, that matters.” 

For Truth in Two, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, President of the Comenius Institute, personally seeking Truth wherever it’s found.