ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that inclusivists resolve the issue of difference by incorporating the faithful of all religious traditions into the salvation won by Christ. It addresses the difficulties inherent in both these responses to the reality of religious pluralism and explores a quite different way of understanding and interpreting these differences, which the author's identify as the pluralist response. Characteristic of the pluralist response is to be seen in the assertion that the primary purpose of dialogue is not to seek the conversion of others to one's own faith, though the possibility of conversion is always there. Cobb writes, in faithfulness to Christ one must be open to others. Burlan Sizemore writes: When a Christian is faced with dialogue, there are certain elements which must inevitably be part of his or her consideration. The chapter discusses the light of the distinction between pluralism and relativism, notes that pluralists argue that the differences between the religions are very significant.
