Biblical-Theological Perspectives of Inter-religious Harmony

M. J. Joseph*

Introduction

How do we support or invigorate our understanding of openness, solidarity and co-operation in a world ridden with multiplicity of faiths and ideologies? This is a vital question in the mission agenda of the church today. Is it possible to bear witness to the redemptive love of God in hostility to the world which God created and loved? If God is love and the plan of salvation is rooted in love (agape), the question of openness and solidarity must be seriously considered in our honest search for inter-religious harmony in the plural context of the world. It is indeed a question of our corporate existence and survival. If faith is not the exclusive possession of any one race, religion or culture, how do we assess the net result of the Christian faith when it meets other faiths?

The universe of faiths is made up of a plurality of religious faiths and practices. Religious and cultural pluralism has become indisputable in modern history of humankind. There is stronger emphasis on the relational and dialogic kind of knowledge in the pursuit of ultimate truth. The plea is that any response to the mystery of truth is to be articulated in the language of relationship. The challenge is tremendous not only to affirm faith in God, but also to translate the spirituality of faith into orthopraxis in the fight against death-dealing forces for affirming life in God's one world.

Search for Biblical foundations

At the background of both the Old and New Testaments is the presence of other religious faiths and cultures. Biblical guidelines have several strands of thought when we speak about inter-religious co-operation and harmony. In the Bible we have both exclusivist and inclusivist approaches to people of other faiths (see Deut.12: 2-7; Judges 6:28-32). The strong message of the prophets was meant to lead the people to recognize the universal and inclusive love of God rejecting the narrow tribal and exclusivist traditions. They affirmed that there is only one God who is the God of all.

In the New Testament, Jesus confronted the exclusivist traditions of Jewish sects such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. Jesus was not primarily concerned with a response to religious pluralism, but with the efficacy of people’s faith irrespective of their religious allegiance. He praised the faith of the Roman centurion (Mt. 8:10; Lk. 7:9) and that of a Syro-Phoenician woman (Mt. 15:21-28; Mk. 7:24-30). He asked the Jews to learn from the Samaritans (Lk. 10:37; 17:11-19). Jesus' method was to seek for the buckle that binds people and the hyphen that joins the terrestrial and the celestial, with a view to appreciating what is good in other people's faith. Jesus' reply to James and John after their visit to a Samaritan village in Lk. 9:51-56 is quite illustrative. The words of the disciples carried a note of disharmony when they reported to Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" The reply of Jesus is an eye opener: he turned and rebuked them, and according to some ancient manuscripts said, "You do not know what spirit you are of, for the son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings, but to save them". This attitude of Jesus carries seeds of tolerance in relationship with others. Christian faith thus becomes a matter of relationship. For Jesus, "truth is not simply a religious reality but a divine and human reality comprehending the other. The words of Jesus, "he who is not against us are with us" (Lk. 9:50), ask us to be tolerant to the other and to make use of the resources of the other for the realization of a common purpose. The following prayer illustrates the response of Jesus to other faiths and cultures.

Almighty God as your son our saviour was born of a Hebrew mother (Lk. 1:26-38) but rejoiced in the faith of a Roman soldier (Matt 8:5-10), welcomed Greeks who sought him (Jn. 12:20-26) and suffered a man from Africa to carry his cross (Mk. 15:21), so teach us to regard the members of all races as fellow heirs of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, our Lord Amen. (WCC Prayer book)

The great temptation of the church is to remain on this "side of the river/lake" without taking risk to go to "the other side." As M. M. Thomas puts it, "Risking Christ for Christ’s sake" is the only way to solidarity and harmony. "Let us go across to the other side" (Mk. 6: 35) was the missionary slogan of Jesus. Therefore, he exhorted his disciples to move from the mount of transfiguration to the valley of disfiguration (Mk. 9). This is indeed a call for harmony. The purpose of Jesus' coming was "to make life abundant for all." The attitude of Jesus to the less fortunate creates a living tradition of faith. Inter-faith relations have to be sought in our common exploration of the valley of disfiguration. In such an attempt the boundary between the majority and the minority vanishes. "The lost one" assumes great significance. The cross of Christ creates harmony as a divine possibility in history. It does not open the gates of justice. It states the priorities and dictates the method we must use." The great mission commandment in Mt. 28:19, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations," is to be interpreted as a commission to confront people with the truth of the gospel in terms of discipleship. I doubt very much whether the text implies a note of "converting people from one religion to another". The Greek word for "making disciples" in its verbal form has a sense of "discipling" people to live in a liberative praxis. It is a call to change one's situation of bondage to flesh and to powers and principalities". Religious harmony is possible where there is an earnest quest for the discovery of truth in the community. In a Christ centred-koinonia, there is always space for the celebration of love." As A de Saint-Exupery puts it, "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking out in the same direction". In order to accept the gospel, one does not have to abandon whatever is good, beautiful and true in the older faith traditions. The interest of truth does not require us to unlearn all that we have learnt from our past. The freedom of the gospel does not destroy one's indigenous values, but it transforms it (2 Cor. 10:5). In seeking inter-religious harmony, the Church has to uphold evangelization and be ardent in her quest for a just society, free from all forms of oppression and marginalization. Breaking down all forms of enmity, including religious and cultural barriers, is a process of realizing the one new humanity for all which God has given in Christ.

Kingdom of God – theological foundation for inter-religious co-operation

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom
without frontiers,
where diversities are reconciled,
where identities are preserved,
where justice and peace kiss each other,
where faith, hope and love make way
to the entry of the Eternal
where the splendour of the nations of the world
are brought with jubilation.

Kingdom in our midst is
without weapons,
without domination,
without manipulation,
without exploitation,
without torture,
without hunger,
without discrimination,
without linguistic fanaticism,
without hording earthly goods,
without cultural invasion,
without suppression or oppression of human rights,
without marginalization of the weak,
without any feeling of raping Mother earth
without blocking the falling of dews from Hermon on Zion, and
without losing the appetite
for righteousness in relationships

To settle for anything less is
an eclipse of the Kingdom (heaven) on earth.
To strive for it through programmes and projects
is the celebration of life for all.

The twin concepts in the teaching of Jesus – God as Parent of all and the reign of God as divine reality in our midst – paves the way for an inclusive approach that transcends human-made boundaries. The affirmation that God in Jesus Christ is a God of life and justice is the theological foundation for inter-religious relations. Christ in relation to other religions and their adherents makes sense when we speak of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The benevolence of God does not exclude any one in the name of religion or caste for God makes the sun “rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous" (Mt. 5:45). Peter's newly found vision in Acts 10:34, "Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality but in every nation anyone who fears [God] and does what is right is acceptable to [God]," is indeed a great revelation of the approach of the early church to people of other faiths. How do we define the lives of others in the sight of God? This is an important theological issue today. Paul's speech at Areopagus (Acts 17:22-28) carries several conceptual tools for us to be engaged in a meaningful and fruitful dialogue with another culture. A theocentric approach to people of other cultures and faiths is not a negation of Christo-centric experience. This calls for a shift in mission paradigm. The traditional paradigm of inter-faith relations may be termed "missiological", where "the other" is recognized as an object to be converted! A new understanding of the reign of God makes a difference in our attitude to others. As S. J. Samartha puts it succinctly, "In the past energies were spent in strengthening the fence and guarding it rather than deepening the wells and tending the fruit trees. The syncretic wolf could be kept at bay outside the gate, but the Christian sheep within could be sadly undernourished." If we understand the Kingdom of God as a new consciousness, a new sense of relationship and a new set of values, the search for the other or those outside the fold becomes crucial. Inter-religious harmony is to be created on sound theological and spiritual foundations of the teaching of Jesus on the Kingdom of God.

To get a holistic understanding of the inter-dependence of human and other living creatures, we need to read Bible texts with new eyes (see the nature parables of Jesus in Mt. 13). In our interpretation of the Lord's prayer (Mt. 6:9-13, Lk. 11:1-4), we should search for the note of universalism. If God is addressed as "Father", believers cannot exclude other people. The reference to "earth" makes the prayer ecumenical and ecological at the same time. The prayer speaks of the divine management of human affairs. How do we hold things together in the name of God as Father? What is to happen on earth is a "collective and corporate reality” (ref. we, us, our are used 9 times in the prayer). The pronouns "we" and "us" are symbols of harmony. God of the Bible is a God in relationship. The reference to God as Father is not about the sexuality of the godhead, but of God's caring attitude to the peoples of God. The search for harmony is only possible if people relate themselves to one another by giving glory to God in sharing food and forgiving one another. In the wider family of God, there should be always a constant search for a new vision The fusion of religious credentials with ethics is an imperative for authentic relationships in God's order of creation.

Addressing God as "Our Father and Mother"

The following poetic presentation of the Lord's Prayer may make sense when we speak about inter-faith relations.

O God, creator and sustainer of all,
visible and invisible,
human and non-human,
Father and Mother of all,
we acknowledge your love and care
in begetting and nurturing.
We praise and thank you for your unselfish love.

We your children would like to bring a complaint
against our own fellow humans to whom you gave birth.
They urge us to call our neighbours by their nicknames.
They are really our brothers and sisters
For we all breathe the same air,
We eat the same food,
We have the same landlord!

Our adversaries try to brainwash our children daily
Our children do not know any form of divide
They ask them to call our neighbours by their religious tags –
"Hindus", "Muslims", "Buddhists", "Sikhs",
"non-Sikhs" and likewise.
What shall we do?
We plead that you reprimand them
We request you to enlarge the chords of their tents
We pray to teach them that life lived in love is nobler than sacrifice.

Do you know, our dear parents, that we are hungry and thirsty?
Some of our neighbours go to bed with empty stomachs
We are told that there is plenty in the granary
We harvest crops in all the seasons
But we are still hungry!
Do you know that our adversaries export our goods?
They believe in the laws of the jungle
They are being ruled by the laws of scams!
They defy our right to food
They make us till and toil
They preach about "earth in heaven."
Our dear parents, we want heaven on earth
We want Your rule to come in our midst today.
Teach our adversaries to share your food according to
the number of your children
And convict them by your command that life before death is your wish
And life after death is your gift for the obedient ones
And your kingdom is for the pure in heart.

Dear Dad and Mum, there are many in our midst who tell lies
They kill and rob others
They have no sense of guilt
They don't seek forgiveness
They believe that they have the fullness of life!
They add their black deeds to the dictionary of life.
Teach us how to deal with them.

Don't be carried away by their lifestyle
They make their own graves
They may decorate them with silver and gold
They are food for the termites
Remember it is in forgiving one another
that you move to the Kingdom on earth
It is canceling sinful deeds that set right your records in heaven.

Our dear Dad and Mum!
You are really great
You carry the words of eternal life
Let us have more of your genes
Let us live daily and die daily
For yours is love, honour and glory forever. (MJJ)

Recognition and Celebration of Diversity

The Bible gives us ample evidence of celebrating God's gift of plurality as cosmic vision. Life is made up of marble and mud. There should be space for mutual attraction and appreciation. Let me illustrate it with the story of an elephant.

In an ecumenical gathering, it was resolved to write a book on an elephant. How to divide the chapters was a problem. Each of the contributors was given the freedom to give the title of his/her chapter. The chapters in the book read like this:

The American – 'On the weight of an elephant'
The British – 'Disciplining an elephant for work'
The German – 'The pre-history of elephants'
The French – 'The sex life of elephants'
The Chinese – 'The ancestry of elephants'
The Cambodian – 'The fight of elephants'
The Japanese – 'The silence of elephants under a tree'
The Russian – 'The elephant in chains'
The Arab – ‘The dance of elephants’
The African – 'The colour of elephants'
The Australian – 'The bath of elephants'
The Indian – 'The religious use of elephants' (MJJ)

Attempt to reduce space for plurality in relationship is contrary to the divine plan. As plurality is integral to reality, there should always be appreciation for the other if his or her concerns are rooted in truth. As the sages of the Rig-Veda envisioned, "Let noble thoughts come to me from all quarters.” This is the eschatological vision of Isaiah in 19:23: "In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. Syrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on Earth". The vision of the New Jerusalem, heavenly city coming from heaven and established on earth in Rev. 21:22-27, draws our attention to the contribution from all nations and cultures. The only restriction is that "nothing unclean shall enter." The heavenly city, which has no temple whose gates are always kept open, speaks of the welcoming nature of God's Kingdom. The Pauline exhortation, “welcome one another as God in Christ has welcomed you" (Rom. 15:7), adds luster to it. In the parable of the judgement of the nations (Mt. 25:31-46), all nations of the world have a place before God. The yardstick employed by God to judge them is inclusive. This is in accordance with the universal principle of judgement as found in Mt. 7: 21: “Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." The traditional missionary approach has failed to celebrate the cosmic vision of God in Christ. The Lord's Prayer, the Nazareth Sermon of Jesus in Lk. 4:18-22 and the Jubilee vision in Lev. 25:1-7 and 20-22 provide ample biblical challenges for a shift in our traditional missionary approach. A move from an anthropocentric to a bio-centric attitude to life makes life worth living. This may involve reading the Bible with new eyes and giving new captions for the old texts! We have, therefore, to move from consolidation to comprehension. To recognize, to appreciate and to promote rich diversity in the order of creation – the vision of the Kingdom which we call "wider Ecumenism" of today – is indeed a fresh discovery of the working of the Holy Spirit.

Cosmic sensitivity grows out of a holistic view of life. One may wonder whether fragmentation is desirable. When a cell multiplies, it is the sign of growth. And when its growth is beyond control, we call it "cancer". We are commissioned to grow towards maturity. To attain maturity is the sign of harmony whether in religion or art. The vision of God in Christ is to "unite all things" according to God’s plan of salvation (Eph. 1). The various numbers like 1, 2, 3 etc. must be equated to a single number. This is the perspective of unity we find in Eph. 1: 9-10. Any talk about inter-religious harmony has to take this into account, as the ministry and word of reconciliation are concerned with the unity of all (ta panta). Harmony is to be created. If all sing the same notes there will not be any harmony in music. The primary task of mission is to hold all things together rooted in love because love is the principle of cohesion (Col. 3:14). This may take different expressions in different places.

The church, as the "Eucharistic presence of Christ" in the world, always challenges its adherents to look beyond as members of oikoumene in a spirit of openness and solidarity. In giving an account of faith (1 Peter 3:15-16), Peter wants the Christians to be prudent. Obedience to God must be defended, but the defence is to be made with "gentleness and reverence" (RSV), "gentleness and respect" (TV), "courtesy and respect" (NEB). "To reverence Christ as Lord" means to remain responsible for the world in Christ's way. In Col. 4:5, Paul asks the faithful "to conduct wisely toward outsiders" to fulfill a God-given responsibility for defending the love of God in each situation. Every liberating effect is a defence of faith in which there is a call to discover and appreciate the rich mutuality. This is the challenge today across religious and geographical boundaries. The uniqueness of Christianity is to be understood as the uniqueness of Jesus' love, compassion and commitment to the poor and the marginalized and his preferential option for the poor. This means that all those who work for the liberation of the least, the last and the lost are co-workers with God. Being light and leaven, the church has to play the role of a catalyst and has to seek ways and means to act in the critical junctures of history. In this pursuit the metaphor of a highway may not serve the purpose. The imagery of a river flowing may make better sense. A river that flows assimilates and absorbs everything with a high sense of comprehension. If this is done, "following Jesus" becomes a possibility for all. In such an attitude, "streams of awareness" emerges from the depth of togetherness. New life in Christ makes life qualitatively different for all.

The prayer of the Psalmist in Psalm 133 bears fruit in all the sectors of life. We are not called to represent ‘waterless clouds’ in God's one world. The power of love alone will make refreshing spots in the world. Let us, therefore, strive with out-stretched hands for the realization of the prayer of Tagore:

‘Where the mind is without hate and the head is kept cool; where knowledge is freed from myth…. Where truth comes out of the depth of words…into that heaven of unsubsidized freedom, my Father… let my country awake’ (Trans. Abu Abraham).

Conclusion

Is there any boundary for the gospel?

Countries may have boundaries. But as gospel is concerned with "good news to all creation" no boundary could be set. If God's blessing to Abraham is for the whole human race (Gen. 12:3), "in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed", how can we limit the boundary of the gospel from its universal mission? If mission is to be carried out in Christ's way according to God's promise to Abraham, is it legitimate to look for paradigms which Jesus himself had not authenticated? In this respect, the church has to undergo a process of learning and unlearning. This is a hermeneutical task. The public practice of Asian Christianity requires courage and boldness in articulating new forms of Christian obedience. In translating religious language into a culture aiming at a common legacy (legs to see), there should be a tremendous sense of accommodation, flexibility and sensitivity to maintain the credibility of the gospel.

Reflecting on his missionary strategy in 1 Cor. 9:19-21, Paul writes, "To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as one outside the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law) so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people". This is indeed the inter- faith strategy of St. Paul which provides us with conceptual tools for a new pedagogy.

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* Revd Dr M. J. Joseph is the Director of the Ecumenical Christian Centre, Whitefield, Bangalore, India. He is also the former Secretary of the Board of the Theological Education of the Serampore University. He is formerly professor of New Testament and principal of the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam, Kerala, India. He was also a member of the Faith and Order Commission of the World Council of Churches.