Critique and Investigation of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism of Legitimacy and Salvation in Islam and Christianity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 PhD of Islamic Theology, Faculty of Islamic Theology and Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

prt/prt.2026.72502.1010

Abstract

The issue of legitimacy and salvation is one of the issues that every human being thinks about. The absolute majority of Christians and Muslims are religious exclusivists when it comes to legitimacy; and they are divided into two groups when it comes to the salvation of others: some believe in exclusivism, while others believe in religious inclusivism. Between these two views, inclusivism is the more rational and religiously defensible, because first, the factors of salvation are all gradational, and second, there are those who absolutely do not share in the criteria for salvation, and therefore, it is not possible to attribute a share of salvation to them and claim that everyone is worthy of salvation. Against exclusivists, some believe in inclusivism and pluralism. These two groups do not need to discuss the issue of salvation, because the pluralism considers all religions, including his own, to be equally beneficiaries of the legitimacy and worthy of salvation, and the inclusivist, who believes that every religion has more or less a share of the truth, believes in relative salvation. This article, while expressing what Christian and Muslim theologians believe about the issue of legitimacy and salvation, also criticizes and evaluates this category by using a descriptive-analytical method.

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History

  • Receive Date: 18 May 2026
  • Revise Date: 11 June 2026
  • Accept Date: 14 June 2026

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