Interfaith Dialogue

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Interfaith Dialogue

• By Bob Munson

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Communication between different religions

• Can we talk?
• Why should we talk?
• How should we talk?

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Can we Talk?

• Some would say that interfaith dialogue is simply
  impossible. Derek Philips believed that one may
  simply not be able to communicate in a meaningful
  way between religions. If certain religions have
  enough in common, then there is a basis for
  discussion. If not, then the basis for such a
  discussion is lacking. ltVroom, 51gt

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Christians searching for a common starting point
in dialogue with other religions have gone
through three stages.

• Christocentric
• Theocentric
• Pneumatocentric
• ltThese transitions have been to seek commonality.gt

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• Although many have drifted to Theocentric or
  Pneumatocentric points for discussion, Harvie
  Conn recommends Christocentric. He believes
  Christ provides a point of common interest, and a
  guide for dialogue.

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Why should we talk?

• To bring people to our viewpoint?
• To understand each other better?
• To gain insights from each other?
• Maybe all three?

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How should we talk?

• Proclamation/Preaching?
• Instruction/Teaching?
• Apologetics/Argument?
• Dialogue/Discussion?

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• Preaching has its place. So does teaching and
  argument. However, Christians should become
  better at dialogue.
• ---Dialogue tends to break down hindrances to
  conversion.
• ---Dialogue leads to better understanding.
• ---Dialogue leads to greater insight of each
  other.

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But isnt Dialogue bad?

• John Hick believes that dialogue means that one
  must switch from being confessional to being
  truth-seeking. (Toss aside our beliefs and seek
  new truths.)?
• But that presumes that those who are most
  interested in truth are those that dont know
  what is true. Why assume that?

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Martin Bubers Response

• the presupposition of genuine dialogue is not
  that the partners agree beforehand to relativize
  their own convictions, but that they accept each
  other as persons.

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Christs Guide for Interfaith Dialogue (based on
Harvie Conn)?

• Jesus always moves the discussion from theory to
  practice. The reign of God is not an abstract
  ideal it is a reality actualizing itself in
  history.
• Jesus reminds us that religion is always a mixed
  blessing. Jesus, after all, was fiercely opposed
  by many (not all) of the religious people of his
  day.

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Christs Guide for Interfaith Dialogue (based on
Harvie Cox) Part II

• Jesus' example reminds us also that the search
  for human oneness-in-diversity in interreligious
  dialogue is not only a matter of making
  judgments it sometimes requires refraining from
  judgment.
• Jesus guides us to expect to find God already
  present in the "other," including the one with
  whom we are in dialogue, no matter how strange or
  unfamiliar that other's ideas or religious
  practices may seem. ltCoxgt

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Is there risk in dialogue?

• Yes! Some have fallen beside the way because
  they fell prey to the arguments of others.
• However, Christians have never been called to
  avoid all risks certainly not risks with a high
  possibility of gain.

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Can learning from other religions be beneficial?

• Peter and Cornelius describes a win-win in
  interfaith conversation. Cornelius left his
  former faith and became a Christian. However,
  Peter also learned a great deal from Cornelius.
  Being an Apostle of Christ did not mean that he
  had nothing to learn from a syncretistic pagan.
  One could even argue that Peter was, in a sense
  converted. He now knew that the Gospel of Christ
  is revealed and available to Gentiles. (Anderson,
  188-190)?

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Works Cited

• Anderson, Norman Christianity and World
  Religions The Challenge of Pluralism
• Cox, Harvey. Many Mansions or One Way? The
  Crisis in Interfaith Dialogue. The Christian
  Century. August 17-24, 1998. p. 731-735.
• Karkkainen, Veli-Matti. How to Speak of the
  Spirit Among Religions Trinitarian Rules for a
  Pneumatological Theology of Religions.
  International Bulleting of Missionary Research,
  Vol. 30 No. 3. p. 121-127.
• McLaren, Brian D. Finding Faith A Self-Discovery
  Guide for your Spiritual Quest. (Grand Rapids,
  MI Zondervan, 1999).
• Vroom, Hendrick M. Religions and the Truth
  Philosophical Reflections and Perspectives.