Respecting Other Faiths

I managed to unearth this reflection paper from my data bank which I wrote last year for my Christian theology reflection paper. Hopefully it can provide us with some helpful insights in the way we view other faiths and religions:

When a Buddhist friend invites us to attend a Buddhism learning class this coming weekend, it is more likely that we will decline his invitation without any hesitation. When a Muslim friend approaches us and intends to share with us the teachings from the Al-Quran, it is very unlikely that we will offer him a listening ear. Why do we respond so negatively to other religions?

The way we respond to other religions very much depends on the way we view and understand other religions. Very often, many Christians have this assumption that all the other religions and philosophies are created by the Devil and are intended to lure people away from Christ. Therefore, they are evil and contain no truth at all. As a result, consciously or unconsciously, we disrespect or worse still, despise other religions and try our very best to avoid having any contact with them. Because we assume that these religions are evil, we see no purpose in wasting our time to explore and understand their teachings. Therefore, when our friends of other religions try to share with us about their faith, we become insensitive and disrespectful towards them. We tend to change the topic of conversation every time they start sharing about their faith. When we attempt to share our faith with them, we are surprised and get offended by their rude response, but in fact, we are the ones who first give them this same response.

What should be our attitude and response when we approach other religions and their adherents? Perhaps Justin Martyr's Logos Spermatikos could provide us with some crucial insight into the kind of attitude that we should possess in approaching other religions and their adherents. Logos Spermatikos refers to the divine Word that bears seeds of revelation throughout human history. Through these seeds, the Word has made himself known to the pagans (through philosophers) as well as to the Jews (through prophets and writers of the Old Testament books in the Scripture) before his advent. Yet, these seeds of revelation are incomplete and are incapable of providing human beings an adequate understanding of the Word. But now, the Word has appeared incarnate in the person of Jesus Christ. Through Christ, human beings are given the privilege to have a sufficient understanding of the Word.

This concept provides us with an understanding that God’s revelation is not confined within Christianity, but is revealed in other religions and philosophies as well. Thus, it challenges our attitude towards other religions and philosophies. Since God has used other religions and philosophies to reveal himself, we should not view them as evil and contain no truth in them. On the contrary, we should possess an attitude of humility and respect when we approach other religions and their adherents. Imagine how disrespectful we will be in the eyes of our friends of other faiths if we try to impose our faith on them and persuade them to embrace our faith when we ourselves do not even know the kind of faith they are embracing. Therefore, let us first seek to understand their faith before we even start sharing our faith with them. When our non-Christian friends notice that we are respectful towards their religion and have a good understanding of their beliefs, they too will be respectful towards our religion and offer a listening ear when we share our faith with them.

Other than that, in the process of exploring other religions and philosophies, we may even be able to discover the revelation of God in them, which could serve as an entry point to introduce the Word in the person of Jesus Christ to the adherents of these religions. For example in Taoism, the word “Tao” can be used as an entry point to engage in inter-religious conversations with adherents of Taoism. “Tao” in Taoism is defined as an impersonal creative principle, whereas “Tao” in Christianity refers to a personal Creator. Using the definition of “Tao” of Taoism as a starting point, we can point our friends towards the definition of “Tao” of Christianity, thus showing him this “Tao” that leads to eternal life. In Hinduism, we find similarities in the doctrine of the Trinity. Christian trinity consists of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit which are three persons in one Godhead. The Hindu trinity consists of Brahma (Creator), Vishnu (Preserver) and Siva (Destroyer) and they are different manifestations of the same Supreme Iswara, who is also known as Saguna Brahman. Perhaps by using the Hindu trinity as an entry point, we may lead our Hindu friends to the understanding of the Christian trinity. As we continue to explore the teachings of other religions and engage in healthy inter-religious conversations with our friends, we will realize that there are actually many similarities between Christianity and other religions. Perhaps this further affirms the explanation that God truly sows his seeds of revelation in other religions and philosophies as well.

Furthermore, exploring and learning from other religions not only help us to engage in healthy inter-religious conversations, it can also further enhance and complete our understanding of the Word. Throughout the history of the Church, Christian theologians and philosophers have appealed to other religions and philosophies in helping them to understand the Word in a clearer and better way. For example, Augustine of Hippo appealed to many Platonic concepts in finding solutions to major problems in his formulation of the Christian doctrines. Thomas Aquinas, the great theologian during the era of Scholasticism, recognized how Aristotelian intellectualism was of great help to the study of philosophy and theology. We need to rediscover the spirit of humility and generosity as exemplified by these theologians to be willing to explore other religions and philosophies in helping us to better understand the Word.

Humility and respect towards other religions and philosophies are virtues that are dying in the Christian community. We need to once again challenge our attitude and approach towards other religions and their adherents. Only by doing so, I believe, will be we able to enjoy healthy inter-religious conversations with our friends of other religions, and also will we be able to understand the Word in a better and clearer way.