Religions as Yogas: How Reflection on Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions Can Clarify the Threefold Model of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism

This article has two purposes. First, it aims to reformulate the threefold model of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism that has become standard in the theology of religions. It will then give an analysis of Swami Vivekananda’s theology of religions that utilizes this reformulated model. Specifically, the article will argue for a differentiation of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism on three distinct levels: the level of truth, the level of salvation, and a third, increasingly important level in our current global situation, the level of social interaction. It will be argued that Vivekananda’s theology of religions is inclusivist with regard to truth and pluralistic with regard to both salvation and social interaction. It is hoped that the article will contribute both to the ongoing theological and philosophical conversation on religious diversity as well as advancing our understanding of the teachings of Vivekananda, whose thought has been characterized, variously, as pluralistic, inclusivist, and even as an articulation of Hindu nationalism. These varied interpretations arise partly from a failure to differentiate between the claim that many religions are true and the claim that many religions can lead their adherents to salvation, as well as a failure to give due attention to, or to cynically dismiss, the ethical claim of Vivekananda’s teaching that it is incumbent on all of us as human beings to cultivate an attitude of acceptance toward the religious other. Vivekananda’s teachings are thus at least as important in the twenty-first century as they were when he first articulated them.