I have a book I have been working my way through for a while. It is one of those theological books that I work at for a while, put down to digest the thoughts, and then fail to get back to for a few weeks. The author, Paul F. Knitter, has some profound thoughts that I want to share and dig into a little. The book is entitle IntroducingTheologies of Religions.
I will get to his point in a moment but first I want to point out a disturbing line of thought from other sources. There are mega-church ministers and evangelicals today who make the claim that Christianity “fulfills’ other religions. They would say for instance that Hinduism or Buddhism can find their salvation or their enlightenment by finally finding Jesus. This thought disrespects and discounts the validity of other religions.
There is another approach, one that is promoted by Rob Bell in his book entitled, Love Wins, in which he essentially says there is no hell. I might agree with him there but that is for another article. What he says is that the ‘all-forgiving’ Jesus is going to greet us when we die, forgive all our sins, and with open arms, welcome everyone into heaven. This approach says essentially God’s love is big enough for every one and no one goes to hell. This also discounts all other faith practices and disrespects everyone by saying, “that’s okay, have your way now, in the end you’ll see we Christians were right all along.”
Now here is a quote from Paul Knitter’s book. “Jesus, and the Christians trying to follow him, reveals his fullness through his emptiness, his uniqueness through his service, his excellence through his humility. So if Christianity “fulfills” other religions, it does so through this self-emptying word of love; and that means by respecting, embracing, and learning from them.”
If we accept others as Jesus accepted others than we must accept their religion, their sexuality, their “differentness” in all ways so far as they are not hurting, bringing pain to, or creating ‘separateness’ among humankind.
I have to agree with Mr. Knitter and urge our respect for other religions while encouraging taking the opportunities to learn from one another. As we learn we grow.
Blessings friends!
Next week I will be on vacation. I look forward to writing again when I return home.
