REASONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
REASONS FOR THE EMERGENCE OF
RELIGIOUS PLURALISM
In
history, there were very few instances in which people of one faith-tradition
were really concerned about the people of other faith-traditions. But today, inter-religious understanding
calls for a serious consideration. There
are many reasons for this remarkable change.
An outline of these reasons can be an adequate background for the study
of religious pluralism.
9.1 Geographical
Explorations
J.
Paul Rajashekar writes, “the age of European geographical explorations in the
15th to 17th centuries stimulated a new interest in other
religions.”[1] So far the western world felt Christianity to
be the only world religion applicable to all people, place and time and hence
they were so immersed in their missionary zeal.
As a result, they were keen on meeting new people to present their
religion. Geographical explorations
helped people to realize that there were people other than Christians.
9.2
Collapse of Colonial Power
V.F.
Vineeth gives various reasons for the emergence and seriousness of religious
pluralism. One of the reasons he points
concerns the collapse of colonial power.[2] His point should be esteemed. It was the fact that, after the collapse of
colonial power many nations witnessed revival in their national, cultural and
religious life. People found freedom to
express themselves in matters of religion and culture. According to S. J. Samartha, the new freedom helped
even the church to come up with its own position regarding other
faith-traditions. He says, “it is not
without significance that it was only a couple of decades after the dismantling
of colonialism that both the Vatican
9.3 Global
Village
Modern
technology, scientific developments and advancements in communication have
reduced the world to a village. Of
course, religiosity too is no longer a secret affair. V.F. Vineeth maintains, “thanks
to the amazing achievement of science and technology, our world has been
reduced to a ‘global village’ and contact with men of other faith has now
become a day-to-day reality for many, both in the East and in the West.”[4]People
from different religious traditions have not only come into greater contact but
are also being exposed to mutual claims and commitments.[5]
S.J. Samartha states:
The resurgence of
national cultures with a strong religious content, both in the colonial and the
post-colonial era; the emphasis on human rights and liberty of conscience; the
rapid means of travel bringing people closer together; the growing use of mass
media and audiovisual techniques – these are among the more important factors
that have contributed to the sharper emergence of religious pluralism in the
world today.[6]
The interaction,
interrelatedness, cooperation, fellowship and common-sharing between people of
different faith-traditions have forced religious pluralism into the thinking
process of all the people
9.4 Knowledge
of Other Faith-Traditions
The
scientific study of religions has brought forth correct details about every
religion, especially living. Harold G.
Howard mentions this development as “for the first time Christian scholars have
available to them full factual information on the other world religions.”[7] Again, about the impact of this development, he
says “no longer can Christians view Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims as heathens
living in far off lands to be converted by Christian missionaries.”[8]
Religious
pluralism is an issue that worries Christians more than anybody else. It is because Christians maintain that theirs
is the superior religion. In fact western
Christianity was moved by the emergence of religious pluralism. The basic explosive behind this new awareness
is the knowledge about other great religious traditions of the world.[9] For Kuncheria Pathil the “discovery of the
other faiths and the recognition of their role in the universal salvific plan
of God is perhaps the greatest challenge to Christian theology today…”[10]
According
to Paul F. Knitter “the knowledge that is making religious pluralism a newly
experienced reality is not just a knowledge of other religious systems or
ideas. It is also, and especially, a
knowledge of other religious persons.”[11] About the other religious persons Knitter says,
“they are normal, happy human beings, getting their jobs done, raising their
families as well, perhaps better, than we, and living lives of love, of
service, of commitment.”[12] Knitter might have intended to ask his
Christian friends, what else is so special that it needs to be conveyed to
others.
Jacques
Dupuis highlights another area of knowledge i.e., multi-religious context of
humanity.[13] This is
very crucial because in the past people were under the illusion that a
particular religion was the only way to live.
But now humanity is brought to a great awareness that human context is
always multi-religious.
9.5 Eastern
Religions
The
awareness about eastern religions and the unbiased study of oriental scholars,
intentionally or otherwise brought home the greatness of eastern religions to
the western world. Particularly the Sacred Books of the East edited by Max
Muller gave new insights about the eastern faith-traditions, which were not available
earlier. Knowledge about eastern
religions created definitely a changed attitude and openness among the
westerners about eastern religions.[14]
Jacques
Dupuis writes “while thousands of Westerners, especially the young, journey to India
Sreenivasa
Rao cites two more reasons for the paramount impact of Eastern religions on the
Western perception. He considers “Inter-Faith
Dialogue is the natural outcome and the direct result of the challenging
encounter of Christianity with Hinduism, after a hundred and fifty years of
missionary activity on the Indian soil.”[16] He also feels the historic speech of Swami
Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago , USA
9.6 Rise
of Islam
Rise
of Islam, with its conquests, monotheistic understanding of God and missionary
orientation was another challenge to the missionary activity of
Christianity. Owen C. Thomas writes, “with
the rise of Islam the Christian Church was faced for the first time with a new
and powerful missionary religion.”[18]
9.7 Department
of Religious Studies
One
of the reasons for the cause and seriousness of religious pluralism was in setting
up departments in the universities for the study of religions. V. F. Vineeth writes that, “the opening up of
faculties of religious studies in several Western universities where each
religion is studied and expounded from its own perspective instead of being
treated as a side-issue in a faculty of Christian theology.”[19] These religious studies were responsible for
the enlightenment of people that all religions have some element of truth and
each religion needs to be respected, irrespective of its shortcomings.
Along with the study of religions, the critical study of the Bible also
helped the emergence of religious pluralism.
Biblical scholars who questioned the authenticity of some of the unique
claims of Christians, drew attention to
the cultural, human and special elements involved in the development of the
Bible.
9.8 Failure of Christianity
Early Christians and missionaries were of the opinion that, a good number
of missionaries could convert the whole humanity to Christianity. To their dismay, it never happened. Today, Christians are aware that far from
disappearing, the religions of Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism are alive
and well in spite of all the Christian missionary efforts.[20]
Another failure is that, in attempting to change the world, Christianity
perpetuated exploitation and oppression on large scale. The best example is the Christian
crusades. One more example is that
Christianity was always connected with colonial activity. Further, Christianity was insensitive to the
injustice, especially to the Jews. John
Hick says “the picture would be very different if Christianity, commensurate
with its claim to absolute truth and unique validity, had shown a unique
capacity to transform human nature for the better.”[21] Hick is very clear that Christianity alone
cannot do this job.
S. J. Samartha questions the credibility of Christianity: “the Holocaust
that took place in the country that gave birth to the Reformation, the first
use of the atom bomb, and the more recent threats to humanity because of environment
pollution and the shadow of nuclear annihilation hanging over all life, have
raised profound moral and spiritual questions about the credibility of
Christianity.”[22] Samartha’s real feeling about the unrealistic
claims of Christianity is again expressed as “if Christianity was unable to
prevent these horrors in countries over which it held sway for so many
centuries, why export it to people in other countries who live by other
faiths?”[23]
The issues raised above are crucial for the Christians. Now it is time, to realize that all
faith-traditions have to work together for a new bright future.
9.9 Struggle
of the Oppressed
Both
M. M. Thomas and S. J. Samartha draw our attention to the struggle of the
oppressed in the context of religious pluralism. For them this is one factor which activates
religious pluralism. Samartha writes
“this is the struggle of oppressed people everywhere, the large majority of
whom belong to religions other than Christianity and cultures other than the
Western, for a life of freedom, self-respect and human dignity.”[24] In short, people all over the world,
irrespective of religious boundaries, struggle for identity. This is a caution to Christians that they
cannot ignore other religions and people.
Maintaining their identity is crucial even in inter-religious
endeavors. Thus each religion has a
share in contributing towards attaining this goal.
9.10 New
Sciences
S.
J. Samartha points that even in science, there is nothing static, but
everything is a possibility. Paul F. Knitter
writes, in philosophy “the catch phrase is that we are not in a state of being
but in a state, or better a process of becoming.”[25] Even in religion, the state of becoming has
to take place if it has to be relevant to the present world.
Taking
clues form sociology and psychology, Knitter calls for a world
citizenship. He says that in order to be
a good citizen of any one nation one has to be a world citizen. This world citizenship does not deprive the
national. Relating this fact to religions,
he writes, “to be religious and to be serious about it one must, generally
belong to a religion.”[26]
The need for urgent consideration of religious pluralism is found even in
the political and economic realities.
Knitter writes, “we know the problems too well: starvation and
malnutrition, economic inequality, dwindling resources, exploitation and
poverty, official flouting of human rights.
And over all this tinder hovers the flame of nuclear weaponry.”[27] The simple point Knitter makes is that,
modern science, philosophy, sociology, psychology, politics and economics are
providing a strong philosophical and existential background for a constructive
approach to religious pluralism. For him,
the time is ripe for religious pluralism.
Thus he calls the present time as kairos,
a specific time for religious pluralism.
9.11
World Community and Welfare State
Today more than ever before, people are striving to establish universal
peace. This also includes a world
community. These two are possible only
by the coming together of different religious traditions. In the words of Owen C. Thomas “the problem
of the relations between the religions of the world is decisive in the quest
for world peace and community.”[28] M.M. Thomas[29]
says, after the Second World War every nation was keen on establishing the welfare
state. In the process, many of the
religious programmes were taken over by the government. Today, the ideas of world community for peace
and welfare state can be achieved only through the mutual sharing of the
variety of rich religious resources available.
Thus consideration of religious pluralism is an urgent affair.
The urgent theological task in relation to religious pluralism is that, Christian
theology needs to realize that it could not be complete without adequate resource
from other faith-traditions. In the
context of many missionary movements, Christianity needs to rethink of its
mission in relation to other missions. Further, in a country like India
[1] J.
Paul Rajashekar, ed., Religious Pluralism
and Lutheran Theology ,LWF Report 23/24
(Geneva
[2]
V.F. Vineeth, “Inter-religious dialogue: Past and present a critical appraisal,
Journal of
Dharma, Vol. XIX, No.1 (January – March
1997), p. 42.
[3]
S.J. Samartha, One Christ Many Religions:
Towards a revised Christology, (Bangalore
SATHRI in
association with Word Makers, 1992), p. 3.
[4]
V.F. Vineeth, op. cit., p. 42.
[5] J.
Paul Rajashekar, op. cit., p. 9.
[6]
S.J. Samartha, Courage for Dialogue:
Ecumenical Issues in Inter-religious Relationships
(Geneva:
World Council of Churches, 1981), p. 16.
Radhakrishnan
Institute for Advanced Study in Philosophy, University of Madras
[8] Ibid.
[9]
John Hick, “The Non-absoluteness of Christianity,”The Myth of Christian Uniqueness:
Toward A Pluralistic Theology of Religions, ed.
By John Hick and Paul F. Knitter (New York: ORBIS Books, 1987), p. 17.
[10]
Kuncheria Pathil, “Christian Approach to other Faiths. A Historical
Perspective”, N.C.C
Review, Vol. X, No.2 (February 1990), p.
66.
[11]
Paul. F. Knitter, No other name?: A
Critical Survey of Christian Attitudes Toward the World
Religions (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1985),
p. 3.
[12]
Ibid., p.3.
[13]
Jacques Dupls, Jesus Christ at the
Encounter of World Religions, Translated form the
French by Robert
R. Barr, First Indian Edition (New Delhi: Intercultural Publications, 1996),
p.3.
[14]
Owen C. Thomas ed., Attitudes Toward
Other Religions: Some Christian Interpretation
(London:
SCM Press Ltd, 1969), p. 10.
[15] Jacques Dupuis, op. cit., p. 4.
[16]
CH. Sreenivasa Rao., ed., Inter-faith
Dialogue and World Community (Madras: CLS, 1991),
p. 14.
[17] Ibid., p. 18.
[18]
Owen C. Thomas, ed., op. cit., p. 11.
[19]
V. F. Vineeth, op. cit., p.42.
[20]
Harold G. Coward, Religious Pluralism and
the World Religion (Madras
Radhakrishnan
Institute for advanced Study in Philosophy: University of Madras
[21]
John Hick, “The Non-Absoluteness of Christianity,”The Myth of Christian Uniqueness, op.
cit., p. 17.
[22]
S. J. Samartha, One Christ Many
Religions: Toward A Revised Christology, Op. cit., p. 2.
[23] Ibid., p. 2.
[24] Ibid
[25]
Paul F. Knitter, No other name?: A Critical Survey of Christian Attitudes
Toward the World
Religions,
op. cit., p. 7.
[26] Ibid., p. 13.
[27] Ibid.
[28]
Owen C. Thomas ed., op. cit., p. 4.
[29]
M.M. Thomas, Man and the Universe of Faiths (Madras: CLS, 1975), p. 16.
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