The Quest

The human spirit seems incapable of being stagnant, ever pushing the boundaries of knowledge and experience. We try to understand life through questions regarding our own existence, the nature of the universe, and the nature of God. The question of our collective heart is the external manifestation of an internal longing–a quest, if you will. This thirst to understand reality can be seen in superstructures that are scientific, social, political, and especially religious. When considering the doctrines, institutions, and rituals of religions, we observe certain core aspirations expressed by the people of these communities. These aspirations generate from an underlying quest which seeks a way out of our perceived predicament: a salvific quest. Regardless of whether we view ourselves as religious, pre-religious, post-religious, or non-religious, we find ourselves involved in such a quest; it seems to be an integral part of our human personhood. Using a unique framework of analysis, this book explores Christ's relevance to the quest expressed by the communities of eight major living religions–a relevance that neither degrades Christ nor demeans other «saviors.» Christ is not part of the human quest, but is well equipped to satisfy that quest.