  WCC participants seek interfaith language about God Avoidance of absolutes is stressed  By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman Thursday, December 10, 1998 HARARE, Zimbabwe - Although no vote was taken, and there seemed to be as many opinions about God as there were persons in the room, participants in the World Council of Churches padare, titled My God, Your God, Our God or No God, appeared to concur that "openness" and the avoidance of absolutes were the preeminent virtues to be pursued when encountering other faiths. The 'Absolute' implies no absolutes The padare (a Shona word meaning "meeting place") commenced with a lecture by Anant Rambachan, a Hindu whom the WCC invited to lead its interfaith discussions. Seeking a starting point, Rambachan said that all religions reject materialism and affirm the existence of "an Absolute." This Absolute, said Rambachan, cannot be known, "for a God who can be known by finite persons would not be the Absolute." Thus, he suggested that various religions are, in essence, different languages we humans use to speak of the Absolute, and that no statement should be "absolutized." "I am a fellow traveler on a vast highway, interacting with others along the way. I am transformed by these interactions," said Rambachan. While God is One, he said, we each choose "a form of the One to be the center of our lives. We cannot be committed to all forms of the One, so we choose one form, while recognizing that forms others choose are also valid." Rambachan said that it is important for us to engage one another and build bonds of trust "so that all of us can know, not my God but our God." Respondents represent their traditions At the conclusion of Rambachan's lecture, the group heard respondents chosen by the WCC to represent various "faith traditions." Representing Judaism, Rabbi Jack Bemporand took a philosophical approach. He urged members of the group not to duck behind theological statements that affirm God as mystery, for this is "the method we use to avoid theological embarrassment." Bemporand said that "people of faith" must come up with criteria for determining "those aspects of God that we can talk about." He said he found philosophers like Hegel, Kant and Whitehead helpful.
A Presbyterian presence Jay Rock, a Presbyterian from the United States, was chosen to give the Christian response. He said most Christians would agree that faith involves rejecting materialism and affirming the "spiritual search," but beyond that, Christians disagreed among themselves on just about everything. He said Christian tradition holds that we know God in Jesus, but he went on to say that none of our ideas about God are "complete." He argued that the Reformed Tradition - which he claimed to represent - was "always open to new understandings." Rock suggested that the fact that all humans are made in the image of God means that "community is God-given." That is a place to begin the dialogue, he said. He told the group that Christians are not of one mind on whether Christ is the only way to God. He also said Christians are divided on the propriety of engaging in missions and evangelism. But he said that all Christians would probably agree that "we must be about reconciliation in the world. God calls us to be one people. How can we live any other way?"
Rock's presentation of Christianity was countered by another participant later in the padare. Rev. Andrew Wingage, a professor at Selley Oaks College in Birmingham, England and a member of the United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, suggested that Rock's words had been a rather poor representation of Christian faith. "I find it a bit disconcerting," he said, "that the Christian speaker hardly mentioned Jesus Christ and did not mention the Trinity at all. We must start with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God's gift of himself to the whole world. Contrary to what some may assume, Jesus Christ is inclusive, not exclusive. Yes, he is a scandal to some, but he is the essence of the Gospel." Rock's comments were followed by those of Rev. Walpola, a Buddhist. Walpola appeared as firm in his convictions as the Presbyterian representative was pliable. "The Buddha is the only religious leader who did not claim to be other than a human being," he said. "All ideas and concepts are human endeavors. There is no higher being that sits in judgment over humans. Mankind has the power to liberate himself from all bondage. If the Buddha is to be revered at all, it is because he discovered and showed us the pathway. He was so perfect in his humanness that he later was regarded by others as super human." Growing in the faith At this point an Anglican priest told the group that one of the young people in his church, whom he had trained 25 years ago is now a Buddhist monk. "I am delighted that one of my parishioners became a Buddhist. That shows that he is growing," he declared. "There seems to be a need for many Christians to hear and believe that there is an Absolute they can trust in, something that will make them feel secure. That's creating an idol. People who do that are not growing." A young man who identified himself as a Methodist from South Africa joined the Anglican's cause. "Religions are causing pain around the world," he said. "These tensions are real. We must move beyond dialogue and search for a new language where we can connect with one another. We must look at our faith traditions as portals of entry into a greater oneness." A matter of words A man from New Zealand challenged the idea that religious differences are merely differences in language. He noted that this assumption had been repeated often during the padare, and he said he did not believe it to be true because it did not deal with the question of what is real and what is not real. "We must question the language that each of us uses to see if there is any reality behind it," he said. Professor Dawn DeVris, a delegate to the WCC Assembly from the Presbyterian Church (USA), asked Rambachan to further develop his statement that commitment to a particular faith tradition is not contradicted when one engages openly in interfaith dialogue. Rambachan responded, "the problem is not with one's commitment to one's tradition, but when one has negative views about other traditions. Each of us must each say that God is beyond our understanding before we can be open to interfaith dialogue." The padre's closing comment was made by Rabbi Bemporad: "We have to start, not in our faith traditions, but our position as human beings. If you start in your tradition, then you're stuck. We cannot dialogue from there. We must begin in our humanity." |
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