wfn.org | Interfaith dialogue poses more difficulty than expected

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 9, 2002 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-71B{148}

NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS story #149.

By Tom McAnally*

OKLAHOMA CITY (UMNS) -- Interfaith dialogue, particularly between Christians
and Muslims following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, is more difficult than
imagined, according to members of the United Methodist Commission on
Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns.

Discussion of some of those difficulties was on the agenda of the 40-member
commission as it met April 4-7 at a Catholic retreat center.

Exchanges between Muslims and Christians are taking place, but many
Christians are challenged by the exclusive claim that Jesus is the only way
of salvation, according to the Rev. Bruce Robbins, staff executive of the
New York-based agency.

Commission members were given materials representing differing theological
positions, including a "Supremacy of Christ Packet." In one article, the
Rev. Dean Gilliland, a United Methodist professor at Fuller Theological
Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and a member of the unofficial Mission Society
board, wrote, "Salvation, as Christians know it in Jesus, cannot be found in
Islam. Islam is not a religion of faith in God (Allah) or fellowship with
God, but of obedience to prescribed laws."

However, the Rev. Wesley Ariarajah, professor of ecumenical theology at
United Methodist-related Drew University School of Theology in Madison,
N.J., gave a contrasting view during the commission meeting. He led two
Bible study sessions and appeared on a panel with the Rev. Leicester Longden
on "Engaging the Other: Interreligious Dialogue in a Time of Crisis." 

Longden, a United  Methodist and a Canadian citizen, is associate professor
of evangelism and discipleship at Dubuque  (Iowa) Theological Seminary. A
third-generation Christian from Sri Lanka, Ariarajah worked for 10 years
with the World Council of Churches where he led interfaith dialogues.  

During their panel presentation, both men agreed that a crisis is not the
best time to engage in interfaith dialogue. Nevertheless, Sept. 11 has
promoted a new awareness and interest in interfaith relationships that would
not have happened otherwise, they said.

"Interfaith dialogue is not an ambulance service," Ariarajah said. "It is a
public health program."    

Religious traditions have developed in isolation, and Christians are the
least equipped to deal with the conflict and tensions inherent in interfaith
dialogue, Ariarajah said. "If we don't understand our own faith and
something of the faith of others, then we can't handle this crisis." Often,
he said, the Christian's understanding of God, Christ and mission is at odds
with relating to people of other faith.

"As Christians, we need to engage our neighbors of other faith because we
believe the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof," he said. "There
is only one God. Nobody is outside God's love and protection.

"If interfaith dialogue doesn't begin with the acknowledgment that all
people are under God's mercy and providence, and that God is the God of all
nations and all creation, then we get in trouble," he said.

Longden called for a balance between a  "pluralist" view that offers many
pathways to God and a "particularist" view that calls for one to enter
dialogue from a position of decisive commitment to one's faith. 

"Pluralists tend to be known as those who see all worshipers responding to
the transcendent," he said. "If the pluralist has already decided how
differences are to be understood, then what is happening is not real
dialogue. It is the silencing of the particular."

He called for dialogue that emphasizes a "relationship between persons, not
just theological formulations." Categorizing Christians as exclusivists or
inclusivists around the issue of the supremacy of Christ is a way to "target
and dismiss people," he said.

"Different religious faiths face in different directions and ask different
questions," he said. "There is a danger that we will turn other religions
into echoes of our own." He warned against reducing religious claims to
human self-understanding. While affirming that God can work outside
Christianity, he said, "Christianity has its own specific role to play."

Ariarajah picked up on the topic again during a Bible study session the next
day. "If the supremacy of Christ is our prerequisite for dialogue, there
will be no conversation," he declared.

As a model for interfaith dialogue, he suggested looking at the New
Testament story of Jesus' encounter with a Samaritan woman. By asking for a
drink of water and having a conversation with the woman, Jesus broke the
social, gender and religious barriers of the time, he said.

"Dialogue begins when somebody is willing to cross boundaries. ... What then
happens is a personal conversation in which Jesus reveals he knows about the
woman's history and marital status and she asks why Jews say one can only
worship in Jerusalem," Ariarajah said. He noted that Jesus answered by
saying "the time is coming when you will worship neither here on this
mountain nor in Jerusalem. ... God is spirit, and those who worship God will
worship in spirit and truth."

Jesus changed the theological framework for the dialogue, according to
Ariarajah. "He didn't say, 'I'm sorry, but you must worship in Jerusalem.'
He didn't want to undermine the religion of this woman and say she was a
victim of history. He found a new way of talking about worship. We must find
a way by which we can acknowledge God as the God of all people."

While the woman had no idea Jesus was the Messiah, she was moved by the way
he dealt with her, Ariarajah continued. "She was impressed that Jesus knew
about her."   

Invited to speak to a Hindu gathering, Ariarajah said he began by referring
to their saints and scriptures. "The fact that I knew their faith impressed
them," he said. "The Samaritan woman said of Jesus, 'He knows me.'"

In too many interfaith dialogues, Christians are quick to tell others about
themselves, he said. "It is important that we know who others are. That,
more than anything else, will open interfaith dialogue. I am more willing to
dialogue with people who take the time to know me."

At the commission's previous meeting, a few weeks after Sept. 11, members
met with Muslim leaders at an Islamic center in the Los Angeles area.
Robbins said he hoped the momentum for stronger relations and regular
contracts could continue, noting that he had been in conversation with
people there since the commission meeting.

Resources to help with interfaith dialogue will be included in a packet
being sent soon to all United Methodist pastors, according to Robbins.  

In his report as top executive of the agency, he said he was "distraught"
about the crisis in the Middle East and concerned that fragile
Jewish-Christian relations are even more seriously damaged. 

The commission's next meeting is scheduled for Sept.  26-29 in Daytona
Beach, Fla.
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*McAnally retired Dec. 31 as director of United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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