Is Jesus the Only Savior?

by James R. Edwards

Book Overview

In this timely book for believers, inquirers, and skeptics alike, James R. Edwards faces head-on the question of whether or not Jesus is indeed the sole savior of the world. After tracing the currents of modernity from the Enlightenment to the Jesus Seminar, Edwards contends that the assumptions of the most skeptical historical-Jesus scholars are no more intellectually defensible than the claims of faith. He then assembles extensive support to show...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802809812
• ISBN13: 9780802809810
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

No other name upon which humankind may be saved

It used to be typical for the majority of Evangelical Christians to insist that the true Jesus (2 Cor. 11:4) was the only way to God, as all other ways fell short. John 14:6 used to have meaning to the church. However, in recent years, the meaning about the exclusivity of Jesus have blurred, as many have turned to pluralism or, at best, inclusivisim (Jesus can be found innately in other faiths). In this book, James Edwards deals with the issue head on. Indeed, he holds to the conservative position that a true relationship with Christ is vital to one's standing before God. In the last chapters, he hits Postmodernism head on and also talks about what to do with other monotheistic faiths such as Judaism. His conclusion? We should continue to preach the gospel to everyone who does not have a personal relationship with Christ. I, for one, am glad to see this scholar hold such a view, and think the book is worth a look.

Timely and Necessary

James Edwards has written a timely and necessary book that deserves a great deal of attention from a broad Christian community. At issue is the drift in our culture toward a type of multiculturalism which causes Christian and non-Christian alike to question whether Christ can or should be spoken of as the "only" savior. Edwards looks, in the early chapters, on the various forms of the "quest for the historical Jesus" up to and including the historically recent conclusions of the "Jesus Seminar". As is common in many fields, some theological excursions into the quest for the Jesus of history were fully indebted to naturalism, the view that all things can and should be explained in purely natural terms. Edwards calmly and clearly asks whether such assumptions are warranted and finds the resulting conclusions wanting. He takes the question further showing that there is a great deal of reason to trust the historical reliability of the New Testament with easy to read, cogent arguments and a judicious choice of compelling evidence. Having established the reasonableness of trusting the New Testament, he tackles the central issue - did Jesus believe himself to be God. What is unique about the book is that it is not a mere apologetic for the historicity of the Christian faith. Edwards, having established the reasonable foundation, moves from the key questions of the 20th century in the first half of the book to the key questions of the 21st century in the second half. Postmodern theories and multicultural sentiments lead many to believe that the exclusive claims of Christianity are unwarranted, arrogant, and perhaps even a threat to world peace. Without disparaging anyone in the process, Edwards carefully deals with questions about postmodernism and exclusive truth claims, relativism and its relation to human sin, the clash of cultures and its relation to the tendency of many Christians today to embrace universalism rather than the historic view of the uniqueness of Christ. This book hits all the critical issues at an important time. It is sholarly enough to have credibility, but readable enough for lay study. It would be a great gift for college bound kids at graduation. Highly recommended.

Defending the Uniqueness of Jesus

These are difficult days to be a biblical Christian. In affirming the uniqueness of the Christian truth claims, we run up against a host of obstacles, such as the denial of truth, as is postmodernism; disdain of ethical absolutes, as in moral relativism; spiritual eclecticism, as in the New Age Movement; religious pluralism, as in interfaith dialogue; and theological relativism, as in liberal Christianity. Because biblical Christianity insists that Jesus is the unique and only way to God, and the only true saviour, such claims are met with hostility and disdain in today's pluralistic climate. Yet they must be insisted upon, if we are to retain the very heart of the Christian faith. Can a good case be put forward that Jesus is indeed who he claimed to be? Is it possible to affirm the uniqueness of Christianity in the face of other world religions and their claims? Are the New Testament documents indeed reliable? Can a case for universal truth still be made in a postmodern world? And does the insistence on Jesus being the one true way make Christianity intolerant and bigoted? These and other important questions are more than adequately addressed in James Edward's new volume. He takes on all the challengers - be they from without the faith, such as postmodernism, or from within, such as the Jesus Seminar. Christian particularity and uniqueness can be cogently defended, as Edwards demonstrates. Consider just one issue, that of the Jesus Seminar. This is an effort to reconstruct Jesus in the image of contemporary liberal theologians. By voting with colored ballots, they determine whether a saying attributed to Jesus is indeed authentic. In the end, they have decided that 82 per cent are not. Of course such scepticism about Jesus and his words and deeds is not new. But what is different is the way the Jesus Seminar has marketed their results since coming together in 1985. They have managed to get a lot of free publicity, and have been able to widely disseminate their radical claims. But they have "turned the wine of myth into the cold water of reality" says Edwards. He argues that these scholars come to the New Testament with minds already made up, with a predetermined agenda. Instead of letting the gospels speak, and recognising the high level of reliability and authority of the canonical gospels, they simply read their own assumptions into the debate. The question is, does their reconstruction best fit the evidence? Edwards thinks not. Other meaty chapters deal with other attacks on the Christian truth claims. By the end of the book, the reader is left with the strong impression that these various attacks have not been effective, and the traditional understanding of biblical Christianity still stands. Edwards deserves credit for nicely bringing together in one volume the various recent assaults on the Christ of Christianity, and performing a credible job of debunking those challenges.

Yes, and it is said so well.

James Edwards asks the question in the book's title (Is Jesus the ONLY Savior?) and the answer is Yes. But it is not the Yes of a demagogue, a hermit, or an American evangelist. Is is the Yes of a student, a scholar, an intellectual, and a world citizen. It is a measured Yes, a thoughtful Yes, a reasoned Yes. The book answers the objections to the uniqueness, the non-equivalance, of Jesus to other religious thought leaders. It is written for anyone curious about Jesus, and that covers all kinds of belief and non belief. If you want a clear exposition of why some find him unique and not merely one of many, this book makes it clear. If you are already convinced, it may help you present your convictions with kindness and generosity. It was bracing and satisfying to read, the best spiritual read of the year. I'm sending copies to thoughtful people I love.

One of the best books on the subject

It seems to be a popular fad these days among many professing Christians to downplay the particularity of Jesus Christ as the Lord and Saviour of the world. In this book, Edwards does a very good job demonstrating that what is fashionable may not always be true and biblical. The book you can say is divided into two main sections. In the first part (chaps. 1-6) Edwards talks about the legitimacy of the orthodox Christian view of Jesus Christ. He delves into the Jesus Quests, the Jesus Seminar, the historic reliability of the New Testament documents, Jesus' self-identification, etc. In all these dicussions, Edwards does a good job exposing the various flaws of liberal and anti-Christian perspectives on these matters (demonstrating how the Enlightenment's heightening of the individual and a naturalistic view of the universe has severely skewed how one reads the biblical narrative). In fact, students who are interested in the methodology of finding out who Jesus really is from an evangelical and conservative perspective will enjoy reading the first six chapters. All in all, Edwards pretty much smashes the presuppositions and arguments of the liberal school that aims to deconstruct the historical Jesus Christ (the God-man) and orthodox Christianity through a worldview that is foreign to the biblical period. The second part (chaps. 7-12) deals more intensely with soteriological pluralism. Edwards does an excellent job smashing down the often ridiculous accusations laid against a particularistic understanding of the gospel. For instance, he does a good job showing how orthodox Christianity does not undermine world peace but aims at reconciliation with the whole world because of the nature of the gospel (cf. Matthew 5:9). He also provides a good treatment regarding the relationship between the gospel and postmodernism (chap. 9). He does a good job exposing the flaws of a postmodern worldview (i.e., that there are no such things as universal truths and that every opinion has legitimacy--which is a joke to any rational mind). Edwards' commitment to the particularity of Jesus Christ comes out strong in chapter 11 ("How Should Christians Think about Other Religions?"). He gives ample Scriptural evidence that the Bible supports only one way to heaven--through Jesus Christ. In fact, Edwards is even bold enough to proclaim that Judaism has no saving efficacy apart from Jesus Christ and that we cannot automatically assume that some people who have never heard the gospel will be saved. In a final note, Edwards convincingly argues that the particularity of the gospel leads to its own universality. If God did not come down in a particular place and time then there would have been no possibility of redemption for the whole world. Overall, this is an excellent book. The one thing that is refreshing to know is that this book was written by a New Testament biblical scholar rather than a Christian theologian or philosopher. Hence, you will notice throughout the book