Articulation of Personal Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism - Essay Example

Articulation of Personal Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism Every religion believe in the existence of God. One or the other cannot claim monopoly on this belief. Thus, religious pluralism emanates from the fact that whatever religion a person belongs to he is taught that there is a higher being over humanity. They might refer to God in different names. The fact remains that they believed in someone that is higher than them where everything comes from. This essay will articulate my personal Christian theology of religious pluralism. I would express my personal belief on this matter by balancing my acknowledgement of the presence of the Holy Spirit in every religious tradition and the universal role of Jesus Christ. In order to achieve this, I will focus my discussion on two things, namely, Jesus Christ and the concept of salvation. These are the two facts that are imminent in the theology of Christianity. Their faith in God is manifested in their belief in Jesus Christ and salvation which supposed to guide their actions in their regular lives. I will be supporting my discussion with information or references from reliable authors and other sources. Faith in Jesus Christ The essence of Christianity has its foundation in Jesus Christ (Knitter, 199, p. 61). It is a fact, though, that some religious traditions do not share the belief of Christians that Jesus Christ is part of the trinity manifestation of God. However, they do believe in him as a Saint or a Prophet. Such fervour given to Jesus Christ is in a way an acknowledgement of His universal role as doer of goodness. In a way it implies that He is recognised as a manifestation of the goodness of God and therefore must be revered. Christians faith in Jesus Christ as a manifestation of God must be shared with other religious traditions. I believe this to be an essential aspect of Christianity. However, in declaring and sharing Jesus Christ to people from other religious traditions, I do not mean that we should force Him into them or we consider them inferior to us since they do not know Him or acknowledge Him as part of the Trinity of God. We should instead focus on the message given by Jesus Christ instead of forcing His persona into people from other religious traditions. Doing the latter would be tantamount to forcing other people to acknowledge the popularity of Jesus Christ instead of focusing of sharing His message and actions to them. He did not preach to become popular. He did not share the message of God to be popular. He did these things to help human thread towards the path of Godliness whichever religious traditions they belong. Such is the uniqueness of Jesus Christ reinterpreted (Knitter, 1999, p. 79) in today’s era of religious pluralism. Such should be the Christian theology of religious pluralism. No discrimination or conflict with other traditions over their knowledge of Jesus Christ as part of the Trinity of God. As Christians, we should not foster negativity or superiority over other religious traditions just because we are in recognition of Jesus Christ as the Trinity of God. Realising that announcing Jesus Christ to other religious traditions not on the basis of popularity but on the basis of his message and actions is the first real step towards recognition of religious pluralism by Christians. If there is no such realisation and acknowledgement, I am afraid that there is really no real and sincere dialogue or existence with other religious traditions. The presence of such realisation will start a non-discriminatory, open and sincere relationship with people from other religious traditions. It will truly become a good start for peaceful co-existence of different religious in society. In analysis, such realisation I believe is the work of the Holy Spirit which would help the transcendence from traditional Christian belief that Christianity is the one and only religion. Such traditional belief created so much conflict in the history of religious traditions which can still be felt until today. It had fuelled distrust among non-Christian religious traditions. Thus, such realisation is the key to bridge the gap between Christian and non-Christian religious traditions. It will only be the true factor in creating peace among religions of the world. Pope John Paul II believed that the Holy Spirit is present in everyone whatever religion they belong (Pope John Paul II, 2003 cited in Crossroad Website). Such recognition therefore should help us to recognise the capacity or possibility of transcendence of every individual, Christian or non-Christians, to realise or discern the reformation of the evangelisation of Jesus Christ. Diana Eck (1993) shared the message in Chapter 3 verse 28 of the book of Galatians where it implied that Christians should not be deterred by geographic and religious borders. Instead they must recognise the “universal fellowship of love” (p. 179) in the world. This scriptural message supports the realisation that the message of love should be one of the cores of sharing Jesus Christ’s actions or messages to other religious traditions. Note that sharing Him does not mean teaching about him but sharing our Christian experience of Jesus’ message of love to them. We let them experience Jesus Christ through our actions towards them instead of forcing them to believe in Him out rightly. Jesus Christ’s message of universal love to the world irregardless of who you are is actually the benchmark for religious pluralism. It is the Christian Theology that must be recognised personally by all Christians. It will pave the way for recognition of the deeper meaning of evangelisation of the messages of Jesus Christ. Such evangelical work will focus on the goal of manifesting universal love as what He preached thereby creating harmony in relationships among people from different religious traditions. Thus, as Eck (1993) presented, religious pluralism is not a “problem to be overcome” (p. 187) but a reality that should be recognised and experienced. The Christian belief on the trinity of God with Jesus and the Holy Spirit though not shared by other religious traditions is actually experienced by them if we look at it in the perspective of my previous discussions. They might not recognise it but they surely experience it if they practice and experience their faith with God. Jesus Christ message of love emanates from God and discerned by the Holy Spirit in experience. Other religious traditions shared the same message from God and are what they are achieving to fulfil. Their path towards discernment of the ultimate truth of God’s message of universal love is guided by the Holy Spirit whether they know it or not. It is what every person seeks to fulfil in the end. It is what will ultimately give meaning to their existence. Thus, the Second Vatican Council’s rationale in recognising and consequently teaching religious plurality is justified in affirming that “elements which are true and good” (Lumen Gentium, par. 16, cited in Hall, 2003, par. 3) recognised in Christian religion is also present in other non-Christian religions. What could be truer and good than the message and the practice of love as manifestations of one’s faith in God? If this is the case, there is truly no conflict in the Christian faith in forging a dialogue with other religions in lieu of religious pluralism. Christians after all, according to Hick (1995, p. 2) & Hunt (2005, p. 139) a much larger world and diverse religions. Thus, co-existing with other religions is the way to go in current times. It is much better if such co-existence is done in peace which can only be brought about by a dialogue brought about by the realisation that spreading the evangelisation of Jesus Christ is not about his persona but about his universal message of love. The Concept of Salvation Salvation is a concept central to Christian belief (Hick, 1995, p. 16) and is much associated with Jesus Christ. It involves the forgiveness and acceptance of God due to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who atone our human sins through His death. Thus, as a result humans are recognised to change their ways when they seek the forgiveness and acceptance of God (p. 16-17). In the process of seeking forgiveness, we therefore do away our negative ways such as being greedy, hateful, etc since these are not in line with the message of universal love of God as evangelise by Jesus Christ. Other religions call this as the transcendence process of quashing the ego or self centeredness (p. 17) to be one with the ultimate being which is known to us as God. Thus, again in this analysis, there is no conflict on the concept of salvation between Christianity and other religious traditions. Since the teaching of love of Jesus Christ is universal, it is therefore expected that the key element of the process of salvation is recognising the presence of such love and our capability to embrace, practice and give it to others in our daily activities in exchange for our negative ways. Practicing such universal love will eliminate negative energies from our persona eventually emanating it within ourselves and influencing others to practice and share it also. That is truly the ideal process of salvation. It is not something that you can only achieve by praying to God without any actions or practice. If we have embodied the practice and the light of love as manifestation of God’s presence in our lives, then we are successful in redeeming ourselves in the eyes of God making ourselves in His image and likeness again as we were originally made. Influencing others to be better person through our acts of love is the truer sense of carrying on with the works of Jesus Christ as assigned to Him by God. In the end, we are performing our roles as children of God through Jesus Christ. That I believe is what Heim (1995) meant when he stated that “religious truth is one” (p. 145). The concept of salvation, for me, is one universal religious truth. As discussed previously, it is a concept associated closely with Christianity. However, it is a concept prevalent in other religions that paves the way towards their union with God whom they refer to in varied names or entities such as the ultimate being, consciousness, etc. It is our goal before we come face to face with God when we live our physical bodies in death and occupy a universe with Him. Thus, we seek discernment from the Holy Spirit whether consciously or not to attain such level of salvation. Bevans and Schroeder (2004 cited in Caseresources.org) identified salvation as one of the constants of the missionary of the Church. I would define constants as something that is always present whatever circumstance, geographic location or religious affiliation. It means that it is the mission of the Church to proclaim the message of salvation throughout humanity without really trying to convert people to Christianity. The Church can do by influencing its flock and other people it comes into contact with to act through sheer acts of love that can benchmark through a dialogue or peaceful coexistence. Salvation is the result of the mission of the church to liberate and transform an individual towards the fold of God through Jesus Christ (Bevans & Shroeder, 2004 cited in Caseresources.org). In older times this would be equated to evangelising a non-Christian to become a Christian by sheer use of power or authority of the Christian missionaries (Bevans, 2005). In current times, I believed that such liberation and transformation should be linked towards the theology of religious pluralism. The liberation and transformation of an individual should come about from the experience of the universal love that Jesus preached. It would refer to liberation from negative acts and transformation from these acts or negative persona towards a loving and faithful son or daughters of God. Thus, Church missions’ should not be towards coercion of one’s faith in exchange for example, to the improvement of one’s life from poverty (Bevans, 2005). Salvation is not about our physical condition like the example given above about rising from poverty. It is a spiritual condition that emanates from our own mind and hearts. As pointed out above, it is a process of liberation and transformation from our negative acts not negative conditions such that even in poverty we act with love and not with greediness. It is sometimes in trying times that we can best transform ourselves into the best good there is in us. Just as Jesus Christ live in poverty while spreading the words of God. In a way, in this condition, we are challenged to spiritually rise and be with God and work on our salvation. The Church should work with integrity in spreading the message of salvation of God. In truly recognising the plurality of religious traditions, the Church should respect and recognise the diversity of religious beliefs and work on it in carrying out the message of God through the acts of Jesus Christ without the intention of religious conversion. Instead of religious conversion, the intention should be the conversion towards the acts of love as preparatory phase for salvation. Thus, although I have recognised in the previous discussion that there is no conflict with the Christian belief in seeking religious dialogue or recognising religious pluralism, there would be difficulty in the field workers of the Church missions to align the religious plurality stance of the Church as stated in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of Pope John Paul II towards the actions of church missionaries in areas they are trying to convert particularly those poverty stricken areas. This situation would create a sense of insincerity on the part of the Church towards their stance on religious pluralism. As what Eck (1993 cited in Lee, 2005) believed, truth is essential in the dialogue process of religious plurality. With truth comes sincerity. It is a good start that the Church through the Second Vatican Council started to recognise the plurality of religions and that other religions share equal opportunity in living their faith for God. Its teaching that salvation is not limited to Christians but also to people from other religions is a direct recognition that everyone is equal in the eyes of God. It is also finally recognition of the universality of the teachings of Christ and not only limited to Christians particularly the teaching about love and salvation. Conclusion My personal theology of religious pluralism is hinged on the religious truth of the universality of Jesus Christ and the universality of salvation. Although, Jesus Christ is prominently identified with Christianity, He is not limited to Christians only. His teachings are universal as God is universal. Thus, even the New Testament provides proof of the universality of His teachings and presence. He did not come for the select few but for all humanity. Since salvation is carried out with the atonement of our sins by Jesus Christ, it is then proper to see its universality extending to people with Non-Christian religions. The link between Jesus Christ and salvation and religious plurality is universal love. Practicing love in relationships within society is not limited to any religion. It is a facet of humanity; an indelible ink of our creation from the God’s likeness. It is this image that God wanted us to return to or be transformed to when we stayed away from Him when we committed sin through fostering negativity in our lives that affected our relationship with Him. Universal love is the essence of religious pluralism. When we felt love in our hearts towards other people from other religions, then we are ready to communicate honestly and sincerely with them. Truthful and sincere dialogue with other religions is a tool for success in the recognition of religious plurality. However, there are many things that the every religion should look into in order to practice a truthful and sincere dialogue with one another. I believe one of the important things that should be looked into and evaluated in terms of its impact to creating a truthful dialogue in religious pluralism is to evaluate the stance of conversion of one religion to the other. The Church for example, must look into the impact of its missions of converting people from other religions to Christianity to their truthful and sincere commitment towards religious pluralism. Religious pluralism is a reality in today’s world. It is what God creates of the world’s facet. The challenge of the practice of our faith lies not in following our traditions but in the ability to respect the traditions of other religions while carrying out our own without prejudice. It is only when we recognise religious plurality that we can live harmoniously with other religions. References Bevans, S. (2005). Issues in Mission Today: Challenges for reflection at Edinburgh 2010 Caseresources.org (2004). Constants in Context: ways of perceiving culture in mission. Retrieved on 14 September 2009 from http://www.caseresources.org/latestnews/ConstantsandContext.htm Crossroad Website n.d. Qoutes & Excerpts: Pope John Paul II. Retrieved 28 August 2009 from http://www.crossroad.to/Quotes/spirituality/pope.htm Eck, D. 1993. Is Our God Listening?, (Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras), Beacon Press, pp.166 -199. Hall, G. 2003. Catholic Church Teaching on its Relationship to Other Religions since Vatican II. Retrieved on 28 August 2009 from http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/theology/ejournal/aet_1/Hall.htm Heim, M. 1995. Salvations, A More Pluralistic Hypothesis, (Salvations: Truth and Difference in Religion), Maryknoll, New York, pp. 129-157. Hick, J. 1995. The Pluralistic Hypothesis (A Christian Theology of Religions. The Rainbow of Faiths), Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, pp. 1- 30 Hunt, A. 2005. Trinity and World Religions, (Trinity. Nexus of the Mysteries of Christian Faith). Maryknoll, New York, pp. 139-164 Knitter, P. 1999. Uniqueness Revised, Jesus and Other Names Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, pp. 61- 83 Lee, J.Y (2005). Reflection by John Lee: Encountering God, Authored by Diana Eck. Retrieved on 18 September 2009 from http://www.johnleeucc.com/writings/EncounteringGod.htm Read More

Realising that announcing Jesus Christ to other religious traditions not on the basis of popularity but on the basis of his message and actions is the first real step towards recognition of religious pluralism by Christians. If there is no such realisation and acknowledgement, I am afraid that there is really no real and sincere dialogue or existence with other religious traditions. The presence of such realisation will start a non-discriminatory, open and sincere relationship with people from other religious traditions.

It will truly become a good start for peaceful co-existence of different religious in society. In analysis, such realisation I believe is the work of the Holy Spirit which would help the transcendence from traditional Christian belief that Christianity is the one and only religion. Such traditional belief created so much conflict in the history of religious traditions which can still be felt until today. It had fuelled distrust among non-Christian religious traditions. Thus, such realisation is the key to bridge the gap between Christian and non-Christian religious traditions.

It will only be the true factor in creating peace among religions of the world. Pope John Paul II believed that the Holy Spirit is present in everyone whatever religion they belong (Pope John Paul II, 2003 cited in Crossroad Website). Such recognition therefore should help us to recognise the capacity or possibility of transcendence of every individual, Christian or non-Christians, to realise or discern the reformation of the evangelisation of Jesus Christ. Diana Eck (1993) shared the message in Chapter 3 verse 28 of the book of Galatians where it implied that Christians should not be deterred by geographic and religious borders.

Instead they must recognise the “universal fellowship of love” (p. 179) in the world. This scriptural message supports the realisation that the message of love should be one of the cores of sharing Jesus Christ’s actions or messages to other religious traditions. Note that sharing Him does not mean teaching about him but sharing our Christian experience of Jesus’ message of love to them. We let them experience Jesus Christ through our actions towards them instead of forcing them to believe in Him out rightly.

Jesus Christ’s message of universal love to the world irregardless of who you are is actually the benchmark for religious pluralism. It is the Christian Theology that must be recognised personally by all Christians. It will pave the way for recognition of the deeper meaning of evangelisation of the messages of Jesus Christ. Such evangelical work will focus on the goal of manifesting universal love as what He preached thereby creating harmony in relationships among people from different religious traditions.

Thus, as Eck (1993) presented, religious pluralism is not a “problem to be overcome” (p. 187) but a reality that should be recognised and experienced. The Christian belief on the trinity of God with Jesus and the Holy Spirit though not shared by other religious traditions is actually experienced by them if we look at it in the perspective of my previous discussions. They might not recognise it but they surely experience it if they practice and experience their faith with God. Jesus Christ message of love emanates from God and discerned by the Holy Spirit in experience.

Other religious traditions shared the same message from God and are what they are achieving to fulfil. Their path towards discernment of the ultimate truth of God’s message of universal love is guided by the Holy Spirit whether they know it or not. It is what every person seeks to fulfil in the end. It is what will ultimately give meaning to their existence. Thus, the Second Vatican Council’s rationale in recognising and consequently teaching religious plurality is justified in affirming that “elements which are true and good” (Lumen Gentium, par.

16, cited in Hall, 2003, par. 3) recognised in Christian religion is also present in other non-Christian religions.

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