Saturday, September 6, 2014

Negotiating Religious Differences


Religion is the subtext for a lot of news these days, and the news is mostly bad. All too often religion seems to fuel the violence between different religious groups or even within a single religious group divided by interpretations of their common tradition. As best I can tell, virtually every major religious tradition has been used at one point or another to justify heinous deeds. Tragically Christianity is no exception.

Lots of people today respond by giving up on religion altogether. Religions, so some argue, cause more harm than good. Religions require people to believe and to do irrational things, and too high a percentage of these irrational things are evil. This is not my own position, but the sad fact is, religious difference really does seem to generate a lot of violence.

Others do not reject religion altogether but effectively reject the idea of meaningful religious difference. They suggest that, at base, all religions teach essentially the same thing. Different religions are simply different paths to the same ultimate end. People from different traditions should not fight since the other person knows the same God I know, just under a different name and in a different way.

This position holds more attraction for me. And yet it does not seem to do justice to the integrity of different religious traditions. For example, Christians generally insist that the divinity of Jesus matters. For Jews and Muslims, however, the assertion that Jesus is divine compromises belief in the oneness of God, which they consider vitally important. I am not prepared to surrender on the divinity of Jesus, nor am I inclined to insist that Jews or Muslims acknowledge the divinity of Jesus. That means we differ on a non-trivial point.

I wish that I had a theologically satisfying solution to the question of how people from different religions could (1) be genuinely committed to their own religious traditions (2) without killing people who differ (3) or pretending that they agree more than they in fact do. I do not have such a solution.

But I would like to think that people from different religious traditions can get along. And I have a pair of convictions that may not cohere but that have worked for me so far.

(1) I believe in rooting myself as deeply as I can in a single tradition, Christianity in its Episcopal form.

(2) But I take it as obviously true that Christians do not have a monopoly on wisdom or goodness. I have been inspired by people from many different traditions and from no tradition at all. Moreover I have learned a great deal about God and about my own faith from talking to (or reading) them, even, indeed especially, on points where we differ.

As a result, I want to be the best Christian and the best human being I can be by drawing on the wisdom and the practices of my own religious tradition AND by knowing as much as I can about people from other religious traditions. In the process, I want to grow in my respect and love for people despite religious differences that matter.


Fr. Harvey 

Friday, July 25, 2014

The Need for Creeds: A thought-provoking interview

What are we actually doing -- whether during worship or private devotion -- when we recite a creed?  This excellent interview with the late historian Jaroslav Pelikan from the public radio program On Being helps illuminate the question.

From the On Being website: "The idea of reciting an unchanging creed sounds suspicious to modern ears.  But the late, great historian Jaroslav Pelikan illuminated ancient tradition in order to enliven faith in the present and the future.  He insisted that strong statements of belief will be necessary if pluralism in the 21st century is to thrive.  We take in his moving, provocative perspective on our enduring need for creeds."

Here's the link -- www.onbeing.org/program/need-creeds/211   Listen to all (or some -- it's just under an hour).  Share your thoughts if you wish.  Does it change how you view creeds?

If you'd like to talk about this in a group, we will be gathering at St. Andrew's on this coming Wednesday evening, July 30, at 7 p.m., to listen to excerpts and talk about creeds.  Hope you'll join us -- either physically or virtually!
Wende





Different Ways to Consider Faith

As is the case at many churches, most of the adult faith formation and education programming at St. Andrew's is church-based: you need to get yourself to church on a certain day at a particular time to participate.  And since we have a lot of terrific programming (generally on Wednesday evenings), that's a great model for those whose lives and schedules permit them to get to church.

However, we are certainly aware that there are many people who cannot or prefer not to participate in that more traditional model for a variety of reasons.  So we've decided to try out this new venue .. we hope to open up a different arena in which to talk about faith, to explore what we believe and to think about what it means to be a Christian.

So please feel free to join us … and let us know if you have any ideas for ways in which we can use this forum.  Join us in Considering Faith!
Wende