Interfaith

This section seeks to help further proper dialogue and respect whilst maintaining the vital truth that Jesus is the only Saviour – the only means of salvation.

In 1984 a service in Newcastle Cathedral included the worship of a Hindu idol. Allah was praised in a reading from the Koran. A Sikh guru and deity were honoured. Then the Hindu god Rama was praised repeatedly as Lord and King. But the only specific reference to Christ was a single Trinitarian line in a hymn. Although he supports inter-racial harmony and respect, Tony believed this service was wrong.  It was one reason why he wrote to all 10,000 Anglican clergy in England urging them to take action for truth and against such compromise of the Faith.

The annual Commonwealth Day Obser­vance in Westminster Abbey, attended by the Queen, all but excluded the name of Jesus but encouraged worship of other gods. Failing to achieve change through correspondence with the Dean of Westminster, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Buckingham Palace, Tony organised a Petition to the Queen in 1990. It gained 77,000 signatures (from Anglican communicants), but was rejected by the palace and the Observance organisers.

In 1991 Tony and Patricia took another initiative to publish an Open Letter to the leadership of the Church of England, signed by over 2000 clergy. The Open Letter had a major impact and accelerated publication of a General Synod report “Multifaith Worship” which was debated in July 1992. The report effectively disapproved of most of the multifaith worship events Tony had highlighted. 

In 1994 Tony and Patricia co-authored Jesus, the Only Saviour – a study book designed for group use.

In 1999 Tony became General Director of the Church’s Ministry amongst Jewish People (CMJ), an official Church of England Society aiming sensitively to share the Gospel with Jewish people. As Rector of Christ Church in the Old City of Jerusalem he reached out to both Jewish people and Muslims.

Tony was a member of a group which dialogues with the Muslims at the University of East Anglia. He writes: “I firmly believe that Jesus is the only Saviour but I also believe it is important to reach out in peace and love to our brothers and sisters in other faith groups, and so in a small way to counter the suspicion, fear and violence which characterises the attitudes of some towards those of other faiths.” 

If you have questions or comments, feel free to write to my blog.

Articles are arranged according to subject and to whether they are:
1. Short popular articles for the general reader
2. Longer popular articles for the general reader
3. More academic articles where relevant

Teaching about Interfaith Matters 

Short popular articles for the general reader.
Longer popular article for the general reader.

Teaching about the Jehovah’s Witnesses

Short popular article for the general reader.

Book

Jesus the only Saviour (pdf)
by Tony & Patricia Higton

Chapter headings:

  • What is God like? 
  • Who is Jesus Christ?
  • What is salvation?
  • Who is saved?
  • What about other religions?
  • What about idolatry?
  • What about the unevangelised?
  • What about interfaith co-operation?
  • Appendixes
    • Exclusivism, Pluralism and Epistemology
    • Malachi 1:11
    • Outline of main world faiths:
      • Hinduism, 
      • Buddhism,
      • Islam, 
      • Judaism,
      • Differences between religions, 
    • Penal Substitution in Scripture, 
    • 1 Peter 3:19-20; 4:6

“Jesus, the only Saviour” Talks (audio) –
Talks by Tony Higton on relating to other Faiths based on “Jesus, the only Saviour”

  1. What is God like? 
  2. Who is Jesus Christ?
  3. What is salvation?
  4. Who is saved?
  5. What about other religions? (Part 1)
  6. What about other religions? (Part 2)
  7. What about idolatry?
  8. What about the unevangelised?
  9. What about interfaith co-operation?
  10. How should we respond?

The book “Jesus, the only Saviour” by Tony and Patricia Higton gives a lot of further information, not on the audio talks. We strongly recommend using the audio talks and the book together.

The “Jesus the only Saviour” audio recordings and the book are on a popular level. But in the book, most sessions have an appendix which contains extra study material of a more academic nature – quotations from scholars etc. These are not covered in the talks.

You can find this extra study material in Session 2 (p. 30ff); Session 4 (p. 63); Session 5 (p. 75ff); Session 6 (p. 89ff); Session 7 (p. 107ff); Session 8 (p. 130ff); Session 9 (p. 151ff). There are also extra study chapters at the end of the book from p. 162ff. They include an Outline of main world Faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism) from p. 161ff

NOTE: These talks have been re-recorded from cassette tapes and there may be a few sentences of overlap when the original cassette tape is turned over