Issues of Religious Pluralism and Dialogue

 

Mahendra Kumar Premi1 and Ravindra Kumar Chapdi2

 

1Ph.D. Research Scholar SOS in Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Yoga, Pt. Ravishankar Shukla University, Raipur, C. G.

2Ph.D. Research Scholar SOS in Religions and Philosophy from Gospel and Plough School of Theology, Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Science, (Deemed-to-be-University) Allahabad, U. P., India.

 

 

ABSTRACT:

Religious pluralism is an issue arising out of our present day interaction with the faith around us. Religion may be understood as an expression of the human search for an ultimate truth or desire to have union with ultimate reality and understood in cultural term as an expression of a particular way of life. Religious pluralism typically is the belief that all the religions are essentially “True” or at least valid. This is the contrast with the religious Exclusivist which believes that one religion is correct and the rest is wrong / invalid and religious inclusive where more than one may be true / valid but not necessarily all of them. Today religious pluralism presents multiple challenges on various levels and people are confronting with new questions like. All religions are related, or essentially the same, or essentially true, or essentially just beliefs and do all religions lead to God? How to answer the questions raised by many religious people which are experienced in our day today life. This article is responded by Christian view of   to Religious pluralism and Dialogue.

 

 

Religious pluralism has become a universal phenomenon and an accepted pattern of life. It is nothing new but throughout the millennia in history various religions have functioned in the world and we live today in a world that is religiously and morally pluralistic society. The path of religious pluralism starts with the fact that our world contains a number of religious faiths having different ideas of the nature of divinity as the main and fundamental principle of religions and therefore, is the various dogmas, rites, and rituals. The issues of religious pluralism arises when one particular tradition dominates society, denying the legitimacy of other streams and marginalizing them as sectarian phenomena. In a pluralistic world, those who embrace one particular position must be enlightened about positions of others. It takes critical intellectual effort to understand and appreciate the plural reality of truths. There are Hindu, Buddhist Jaina, Jewish, Christian and Islamic religious experiences and expressions that inform respective truth perceptions. This challenges the conviction of “no other name” (Acts 4:12) which has guided Christian theology for centuries. It is a worthy and serious challenge. According to Christian point of view Triune God how can we avoid revelry? While different faiths are in general competitive with each other to prove the superiority of the respective religion having their different goals and means of salvation. In other words there are plurality of goals and salvation and hence plurality of religion and faith.

 


 

It seems that pluralistic inclusivism is an unavoidable fact for the harmonious life of people of different faiths in the multi – faith context, which emphasizes further the need for mutual respect and nourishment through the approach of inter faith or interreligious dialogue.

 

1.       Religious Pluralism and Dialogue

Religious pluralism typically is the belief that all the religions are essentially “True” or least valid. Religious pluralism generally refers to the belief in two or more religious worldviews as being equally valid or acceptable and coexisting. More than mere tolerance, religious pluralism accepts multiple paths to God or gods as a possibility and is usually used in contrast with “Exclusivism”, the idea that there is only one true and correct religion or way to know God and rest is wrong / invalid and religious inclusivism  where more than one may be true / valid but not necessarily all of them1 Paul F. Knitter say that Religious pluralism refers simply to the fact that the history of religion shows pluralistic traditions and variations within philosophically. However, the term refers to a particular theory of the relations between these traditions with their different and competing claim or in other words; generally it is a theory that there exists more than one basic substance or principles2Leslie Newbigin writes that all religions have at least some truths and true values exist in each religion, through those religious denominations the promotion of some level of unity, co-operation, and improved understanding between different religions or different denominations within a single religion, the fact that in a given society there exist multiplicities of religions together3. According to S. J. Samartha religious pluralism is a part of the large plurality of races, people and culture of social structure, economical system and political patterns of languages and systems all of which are part of the total human heritage4. According to M. Stephen religious pluralism is love, unity, fraternity and harmony and togetherness with different faiths5Interreligious dialogue as do with intentional discussion between different faiths or communication between two or more persons committed to different religions, about issues of religious significance, in a common attitude of open-mindedness.6" Subjecting this definition to a number of debatable presuppositions, dialogue depends upon mutual understanding and mutual trust, making it possible to share in service to the community, and becomes the medium of authentic witness. Dialogue that presupposes mutual understanding and mutual trust is the basis for pluralism. Theologies of dialogue and of pluralism, then, share the same foundation. Both are creatively open to bearing witness to Christ. In fact without “mutual respect” how can any Christian bear witness to Christ? In dialogue we may share common personal experiences. We may then be led to find points of similarity among different religious traditions. Theological meditation on such points of similarities has often been discouraged; and in inter-religious situations it is the dissimilarities which tend to be emphasized7.

 

2.      The Challenge of Religious Pluralism

The truth of the religious reality should not be changed or modified for the sake of sociological profits. One of the most important challenges facing the interreligious movement is to nurture a culture of religious pluralism. But what do we understand by the ubiquitous term "religious pluralism"8

 

There is an important distinction between religious plurality and religious pluralism. Religious plurality refers to religious diversity, which is an inescapable reality of our globalized world. This, however, does not automatically imply religious pluralism. Facts and figures about different religions in a country refer to religious plurality9, "Religious pluralism must be distinguished from religious diversity, the reality and presence of a variety of types and forms of religious expressions. The essence of religious pluralism is not regalia but relationships. What is the relation of the content of the various faiths in a community? What is their common history, if any? What are their status and power relations? How do they relate to each other? What are some common humanity efforts that can be planned and worked on jointly?"10

 

Religious pluralism, unlike religious plurality, is not a given fact in any society. It constitutes an ongoing process in which different religious traditions learn to interact positively with each other. Since there is much diversity between the beliefs of various religions, how can harmony are established as the religious pluralism. Without relating to each other in a cordial and harmonious manner, different religions will not be able to engender an ethos of religious pluralism11.

 

Even more important, however, there is a need for interreligious activists not only to positively embrace the plurality of religious traditions that pervade our globalized world (what we may call extrinsic pluralism) but to incorporate pluralism into the very notion of a religious tradition (what we refer to as intrinsic pluralism).Because it is dialogue, apologetics is possible. Religious pluralism presents multiple challenges on various levels to theology and we should respond to the fact and ideology of religious pluralism with a posture of criticism12. As all religions are held to relate to the same reality, dialogue thus constitutes a privileged mode of access to truth. John V. Taylor remarked that dialogue is a sustained conversation between parties who are not saying the same thing and who recognize and respect the differences, the contradictions, and the mutual exclusions between their various ways of thinking13

 

3.      All Religions are Relative

According to T. Swamiraju One of the most widespread and deeply ingrained popular attitude towards the multiplicity of religions in the world of today is you can’t say that one is better than another. Pluralists believe that all religions are relative, i.e. limited, partial, incomplete in order to limit religion, definition of religion is so vital, and one – way of looking at things.  In this sense, to say that any religion is fundamentally better than another is felt to be some how wrong, offensive and narrow- minded. There is a possibility therefore to think that their own religion is better than others from their personal faith commitment, like Christianity appears better to Christians just as Hinduism for Hindus to make any kind of universal or superior claims of validity or normative for any one religion over and other rubs against the grain of popular consciousness. In drawing these conclusions, he is not encouraging individual religions to go their own isolated ways without any concern for each other. He believes all religions to be potentialities and allows itself to be influenced therein by the similar striving of the rest they may approach and find contact with each other. In this contact there can be no “conversion or transformation” of one into the other, but only a measure of agreement and mutual understanding. Troeltsch speaks about the unity of religians a matter of the next world- the heavenly kingdom and advocates a tolerance that is built on love. Stanley J. Samartha writes that all religions are related. He puts his major emphasis on the demand for dialogical approach14.

 

4.      All Religions are essentially the same?

T. Swamiraju writes that Some of the scholars like Toynbee and Paul Knitter believe that all religions are essentially the same Toynbee observes that within each religion there are essential counsels and truth, and there are non- essential practices and prepositions.  He says that each and every religion has common faith experience from the amalgamation of beliefs and practices the common experience of a sense of the “spiritual presence” within all reality15. According to Paul Knitter, he says that every religion is relative in the sense that it is limited partial incomplete and just one of the many way of looking at things. He holds that all the religions are essentially the same. He explains that in each religion there are essential counsels and truth and all religion have the common psychological origin16. We frequently hear the opinion that all the religions are basically the same. The problem with this belief is that if it were true there would not be so much strife between the various religions. However, the belief about similarities between the various major religions is not entirely wrong. Most of the religions teach about living an ethically and morally upright life. They revolve around a God or an ideal that has to be achieved by the followers17. But these similarities are layered with so many divergent beliefs, practices and cultures that the similarities are, for all practical purposes, rendered ineffective. If one compares the differences between the beliefs of the various major world religions, one would be able to understand how they are quite different from each other. In fact the other popular opinion that the different religions simply offer different paths to reach the same destination would also be rendered false18. Judaism is about following a set of ethics as mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Jewish Scriptures are not clear about the details of the afterlife. The set of ethics that the Jews have to follow are the Commandments and the Laws, which are believed to have been revealed by God. The Jews also believe that a Messiah will come in the future to lead them to God. They however do not believe that this Messiah was Jesus Christ. This is where they differ from the Christians. For Christians Christ is believed to be the son of God and those who believe in him and his teachings, and live life as prescribed by him, would be rewarded with an eternal and joyful life with God in heaven. Islam the biggest religion after Christianity has some major differences when it comes to the basic beliefs. The Muslims regard Jesus Christ as a prophet, but they do not believe that he is the son of god. They follow the teachings of Muhammad, to whom God revealed his will, in the form of the Quran.19 The religions of Hinduism Jainism and Buddhism are significantly different from the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Hinduism and Buddhism Jainism believe in the cycle of birth and death. Where the Hindus worship several gods, with the Supreme Creator being Brahman, the Buddhists and Jainism do not believe in gods. For both the Hindus, Buddhists and Jainism, the ideal state is to get free from the cycle of birth and death by attaining Moksha or Nirvana.20

 

5.      All Religions are essentially “true”

The essence of all religions, we find a common truth. This position is often called pluralism, but this can be a slippery term, so let us just make things easy on ourselves and call this the sameness doctrine. All religions do not teach the same things Christianity holds that we are born sinful, that Christ, who is the Son of God, died for our sins and that if we have faith in Him, we will go to heaven. Islam teaches that we are born sinless and that we may go to heaven if we try our best to obey Allah. Islam even specifies that Christ is not the Son of God, and that He did not die for our sins. Hinduism says that trying to get to heaven is a waste of time; even if we were to spend some time in heaven, we would eventually be reborn on earth, because we are trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of reincarnation. Hinduism speaks of the union of atman with par atman as the end of rebirth – Moksha. Salvation, according to Hinduism, consists of escaping this cycle altogether. It thus seems pretty clear that each of these three religions advances very different teachings, Stanley J. Samartha writes. “Pluralism does not relativize Truth. It relativizes different responses to Truth which are conditioned by history and culture. It rejects the claim of any particular response to be absolute.”21 According to Mortimer J. Adler multicultural form of wisdom, the world's religions are merely different paths up the same mountain. Religious pluralistic people do agree that there is something wrong with this world.22 But they disagree as soon as they start to diagnose the problem, and diverge even more when it comes to prescriptions for the cure. Christians see sin as the human problem and salvation from sin as the religious goal. Buddhists see suffering (which, in this tradition, is not ennobling) as the problem and liberation from suffering nirvana as the goal. If practitioners of the world's religions are all climbing a mountain, then they are ascending very different peaks and using very different tools.

 

Whether the world's religions are more alike than different—obviously they share both differences and similarities that are essential to understanding the powerful role that religious beliefs, practices and institutions play in the world today. Our understanding of these battlefields is not advanced by the shibboleth means in different contexts, “stream torrent”. Or custom that a person unfamiliar with its significance may not pronounce or perform correctly relative to those who are familiar with it. “All religions are one.”23 Paul Tillich says that many fear that pluralism will erode God-given moral truth. If there are plural truthful positions on moral issues, does that not cloud our moral judgment on what is right and what is wrong?24 British philosopher of religion John Hick summarizes the absurdity of this view, to say that whatever is sincerely believed, and practised is, by definition, true, would be the end of all critical discrimination, both intellectual and moral.25

 

6.      Are all Religions essentially just beliefs?

According to religious pluralism many people use to think that all religions are just beliefs and no religion is correct? Muslims and Christian believe in the Day of Judgment and heaven and hell, whereas Hindus believe in reincarnation. Obviously not both of these things are going to happen.26 Then we do not know that all religions are just beliefs? Christians believe Christianity is the right religion, Muslims believe Islam is, Jews believe Judaism is, and so on. Is there any real and reliable evidence or proof that there's a true religion? “Pluralism” used in contemporary discussions about the manifold religious traditions in our world. I take plurality to refer to the simple fact that there are many religious traditions in our world. Pluralism, in the weak sense in which the term tends to be used, is simply a synonym for plurality.27 However, in the strong sense in which pluralism is often used—say, by the philosopher of religion John Hick pluralism refers to a philosophical and theological judgment about the fact of religious pluralism. The ideas which he says keep recurring in religions all over the world, but in doing so he ignores their specific historical contexts or dismisses them as irrelevant. According to Karl Marx “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.” Marx argued that religion is an illusion whose chief purpose is to provide reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. Religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them.28

 

7.      Do All Religions Lead to God?

Religious plurality, people say, that all religions lead to God. This idea is called religious pluralism. This idea is best conveyed in this well known illustration: Three blind men are led to an elephant and told to touch it and then take a guess at what they are touching. One man touched the elephant’s tusks and declared it must be some sort of spear. Another felt its side and said it was a rough wall. The third, on touching the tail, said that it was a rope. The blind men were touching the same elephant, and yet because they were touching different parts their experience of the elephant was very different. So it follows into the realms of religion that all paths are leading to the same thing but coming at it from a different angle. So according to Pluralism, all roads lead to God.29 A Morden exponent of this belief was Shri Ramakrishna Pramahamsa who propagated that, various religion are just diverse paths leading to God, just as the different rivers merge and become one in the vast ocean. According to him the names and forms of god are infinite through which one could approach God.30 Same way there are some holes in pluralist thinking: Pluralism comes in two forms. It says that all religions are equally valid.31 What about it? Could all religions be valid paths to God? First, we have to define what religion is or a religion is just a philosophy of life? What about the branch of Buddhism and Jainism that says there is no god? Is it a religion? And what about Satanism, which says there is a god, but they don’t want anything to do with him? Are all these religions leading to God whether they want to or not? People who say that all religions lead to God often accept anything and everything as a religion.32 Different religions have different ideas of God. Some view God in spiritual terms, others more physical, and some religions have no God. Some have many gods, some have one, and some have none. Some people don’t even want to get to God, so they wouldn’t like the idea that they will get to him whether they like it or not. Another problem is that each religion has its own idea of what salvation is. “All religions lead to God,” how can we prove?33 Have any one tried them all and found God at the end of each one? Anyone who claims that all religions lead to God is actually claiming to know better than the Muslims and Hindus and everyone else. How does the pluralist know? What authority do pluralists have for their view? Usually only themselves, they are their own religious authorities. They have decided what is right, and they don’t want to be bothered with the facts about what any particular religion believes or does. Different religions contradict one another. 34

 

8.      Christian Theological responses to Religious pluralism

Christian Theologian generally identified a three – fold pattern like Exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism toward the people of other faiths. The pressure of pluralism has generated a number of questions for the Christian theologians pertaining to the relationship between Christianity and other religions, the discipline known as the “theology of religions:”35 Why are there so many diverse religions? If Christianity is the true religion, why people reject it in favour of diametrically opposing religious traditions? Is it acceptable to maintain that one religion is uniquely true and that the others are at best incomplete or even false? What happens to those who have never heard the Gospel? How do we witness and evangelise to those of other faiths?  Theologians generally identify a three –fold pattern in Christian theology of religions, they have responded Exclusivism, Inclusivism and Pluralism as Christian approaches to the words of the people of other faith .through relativism is similar to inclusivism some scholars understand it as a separate attitude,  having many kind of approaches towards people of other faith, Don Carson says that religions and ideologies have forces of darkness or evil, since Christianity is a missionary religion with a universal love and a vision of salvation. 36

 

Exclusivism

The word Exclusivism is taken from the Latin verb Ex- Claudere which means to “shut out” Exclusivism is the view that one’s own religious thought and experience are alone valid and all others are false.37 The early church theologian like Tertullian had adopted, and maintains that the central claims of Christianity are true and that where the claims of Christianity conflict with those of other religions the latter are to be rejected as false. Christian exclusivists characteristically hold that Jesus Christ is the unique incarnation of God,38 the only Lord and Saviour. Salvation is not to be found in the structures of other religious traditions. St. Augustine had strongly believed that salvation was possible only through Jesus Christ.39

 

Inclusivism

This view holds that one’s own religious tradition contain the whole truth, and also acknowledges, that this truth is however incompletely reflected in other traditions in an inclusivistic way that salvation is possible as for Christian faith40 and God has revealed himself definitively in Jesus Christ and that Jesus is somehow central to God’s provision of salvation for humankind, and is willing to allow that God’s salvation is available through non-Christian religions.41 This is a position most closely associated with the Second Vatican Council. There are some evangelicals who argue for a modified or diluted version of inclusivism.42

 

Pluralism

This view parts company with both Exclusivism and Inclusivism by rejecting the premise that God has revealed himself in any unique or definitive sense in Jesus Christ. On the contrary, God is said to be actively revealing himself in all religious traditions... Christian faith is merely one of many equally legitimate human responses to the same divine reality.43

 

CONCLUSION:

The major religions of the world such as Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam community living together for centuries in India in such a multi- faith context, superior claim of one religious community over the other definitely create strife and tension among people of different religions and   Religious pluralism is one of the major challenges confronting contemporary theology. Can one maintain one’s religious identity without closing oneself off from the other? In general, Christian reflection on interreligious dialogue begins with a theological reflection on religious plurality that assumes that one cannot engage seriously in interreligious dialogue without a sound theology of religions. The various models for a Christian theology of religions are Exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism by asking how these models relate to the dialogical tension between openness and identity. The culture is an effective way in the religious and pluralistic world to solve the issues and problems, especially to promote collaboration and integration among the people of different religions, traditions and customs. Dialogue involves both listening and replying, seeking both to understand and to be understood. It is a readiness to put questions and to be questioned. It is to be forthcoming about oneself and trustful of what others say about themselves. Reciprocity and mutual commitment are essential elements in dialogue today we confront the truth Jesus, the unique incarnation of God, is the privileged source of the salvation of all; God desires the salvation of all, even outside of explicit faith in Jesus.

 

(Acts 4:12, since the plural reality of the truth is demolished how religious pluralism cab be promoted.

 

REFERENCES:

1.       Leslie Newbigin, Gospel in a pluralistic society (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1969), 1.

2.       Paul F. Knitter, One Earth Many Religions: Multifaith Dialogue and Global responsibility (Mary knoll: Orbis, 1996), 29.

3.       Leslie Newbigin, Gospel in a pluralistic society, 1.

4.       S.J. Samartha, One Christ many religions (Bangalore: SATHRI, 1987), 4.

5.       M. Stephen, A new Mission Agenda (Delhi: ISPCK, 2007), 2.

6.       Dunbar, Scott Daniel, “The Place of Interreligious Dialogue in the Academic Study of Religion” http://www.questia.com/ library/ 1G1-54955753/the-place-of-interreligious-dialogue-in-the-academic, 14-09-2013.

7.       Francis Cardinal Rinse, Meeting other Believers (Shillong: Vendrame Institute Pub., 1998), 5.-8.

8.       Ken Gnanakan, Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Context, 9.

9.       Christy Femila J., “Palestinian liberation theology challenges to Christian Muslim Relations, ” Journal of the Henry Martyn Institute, 29/ 00 (July- December, 2010): 52.

10.     Donald Shockley, Campus Ministry: The Church beyond Itself, 90.

11.     Samuel Packiam, “I know you are serious and that’s dialogue for me,” Salaam, 31/1(January, 2013): 15.

12.     Francis X. Clooney, ” Dialogue and Religions, ” Ishvani Documentation and mission Digest, XX/3 (September- December, 2012): 234.

13.     J. V. Taylor, "The Theological Basis of Interfaith Dialogue, " Christianity and Other Religions Edited by J. Hick and B. Hebbleth Waite (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1981), 212.

14.     T. Swamiraju, Christian Response to Pluralistic and Religions, 75.

15.     T. Swamiraju, Christian Response to Pluralistic and Religions, 76.

16.     T. Swamiraju, Christian Response to Pluralistic and Religions, 78.

17.     Harendra Prashad, Sinaha, Dharma Dharshan Ki Roop Rekha (Dehli: Shri Jainedra Press, 1998), 251.

18.     Yakub Masih. A Comparative Study of Religions (Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas Press, 1995), 10- 13.

19.     Waleed Nassar, Muslim Untouchable or Reachable? (FL: Great commission Ministries International, 2000), 60-66.

20.     Kedar Nath Tiwatri. Comparative Religions (Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas Press, 1987), 210-212.

21.     S.J. Samartha, “The Holy Spirit and People of Other Faiths, ” The Ecumenical Review, 42/ 3-4. (October, 1990), 253.

22.     Mortimer J. Adler, Truth in Religion: The Plurality of Religions and the Unity of Truth (New York: MacMillan, 1990), 2-5.

23.     Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John. Ready With An Answer for the Tough Questions About God ( Harvest House Publications, 1997), 55

24.     Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology, vol. 1, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953), 16.

25.     John Hick, Truth and Dialogue (London: Sheldon Press, 1974), 148.

26.     Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John. Ready With an Answer for the Tough Questions about God, 57.

27.     Harold Netland, Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faith and Mission (Downers Grove: Inter Varsity Press, 2001), 158.

28.     Austin Cline, Why Does Religion Exist? Explaining Religion and Religious Beliefs,” http://atheism.about.com/od/ philosophy of religion/p/ExplainReligion.htm, 10/04/2013.

29.     Ankerberg, John and Weldon, John, Ready with an Answer for the Tough Questions about God, 90.

30.     Susunaga Weerapeeruma, (Ed.By Sudhakars Dikshit), Major Religions of India ( Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas press, 1968), 4

31.     Harold Netland, Encountering Religious Pluralism: The Challenge to Christian Faih and Mission, 160.

32.     Michael Perterson, Reason and Religious Belief (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991), 224.

33.     Kuruvilla Pandikattu, “The Story of the God Particle theological reflections on a great scientific achievement, ” OMEGA 11/1 (June, 2012): 35.

34.     C. Stephen Evans, Why Believe? Reason and Mystery as pointers to God (Grand Rapid: Eerdmans, 1996), 141.

35.     Narendra Singh, A Christian Theology of Religions (Bangalore: SAIACS Press, 2005), 5.

36.     Don Carson, The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Leicester: Apollo’s, 1996), 33.

37.     Ch. Sreenivasa Rao “The Inter- Faith Dialogue and world community-an Introduction, ” Inter –faith dialogue and world community, edited By Ch. Sreenivasa Rao (Madras: the Christian literature society, 1991), xxxv.

38.     Ken Gnanakan, Proclaiming Christ In a Pluralistic Context (Bangalore: theological book trust, 2002), 23.

39.     Alan Race, Christian and religious Pluralism (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1983), 11.

40.     T. Swami Raju, Christian Response to Pluralistic and Religions (Bangalore: BTESSC/SATHRI, 2006), 29.

41.     Donald Shockley, Campus Ministry: The Church beyond (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1989), 78.

42.     Ken Gnanakan, Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Context, 39.

43.     Ken Gnanakan, Proclaiming Christ in a Pluralistic Context, 53.

 

Received on 12.02.2014

Modified on 25.02.2014

Accepted on 03.03.2014

© A&V Publication all right reserved

Research J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 5(1): January-March, 2014, 73-78