Holy Spirit that the ways of men in their religions are seen to be
The Biblical View of Man in His Religion 39
message than the message that in Christ the real man and the real relation with God has been restored. These are the realities in the Biblical view of man, over against which it is only a regression
to speak about "human possibilities." In my opinion the Bible is not interested in questions like "continuity or discontinuity." ® The
great continuity is the continuity of God's love for man, revealed
first in Israel and then in Jesus Christ. The great discontinuity is
man's permanent striving to have a god rather than to serve God;
to claim independence when he is completely dependent. The light
which the Bible throws on man in his religion, or religiosity, pene-
trates deeply into the hiding places of human existence.
It is only in the light of this Biblical view of man that we can try to approach the great religions of men for the encounter of the Gospel and the religions. What this means for a theological criticism of these religions can only be stated here in the form of several theses, which may be too apodictic after such brief analysis of the position of man.
1. A theological criticism of religion(s) must take into account that man in his religion is the man who—for better or for worse— is related to God. Religion is and religions are always signs and confessions of this undeniable fact. Therefore it is important for us to have an understanding of the religions in order that we may be able to hear in them the answer of men to God's question, "Man, where art thou?" The answers given in the various religions are always human answers, and we must seek to understand these answers if we are to understand the man in and behind the religions.
2. In a sense we can say that religions are the result of the fact that God maintains man as man, in His image and as dependent creature. God gives men the opportunity to create and formulate their own answers. He does not interfere as He did with Abraham,
Israel, and the Christian Church. He allows all nations, as in times past, to walk in their own ways (Acts 14:16) and to do their own thinking.'°
3. It is only in the light of Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit that the ways of men in their religions are seen to be imaginations. = =
°Cf. the famous debate at the Tambaram, Madras Meeting of the Tater national Missionary Council in 1938.
Romans 1:21—"dialogismoi": R.S.V.—"thinking"; K.J.V.— imagina- '
- tions"; Luther—"poetry." eS