The problem with Christianity is that there are verses in the Bible
that seemingly encourages believers to convert non believers to
Christianity.
The same is the problem with Islam.
The problem with Christianity is that there are verses in the Bible
that seemingly encourages men to exercise authority and rule over
women.
The same is the problem with Islam.
The problem with Christianity is that it is interpreted by many as
the only way to salvation.
The same is the problem with Islam.
Paul "reasoned" with the people. He did not shun public debates on
Christ; instead he took on the thinkers in Athens, the intellectual
capital of Greece, as witnessed by Luke in Acts 18. Paul spoke and
debated in Athens.
How would Paul have reacted had he met people like Swami
Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi. These are some
world renowned personalities of our time respected for their
spiritual enlightenment by many, Christians and non Christians
alike. These are persons who had conviction in their own beliefs,
and were non –Christians by choice, yet were more "Christians" than
many of us, in many ways. As Eldho Kuriakose asked once - after
going through his poems can we really say that Rabindranath Tagore
did not enjoy the presence of God? (see Message # 4236)
Let us for a moment think of a situation when there was a debate about Christ
between St. Paul and some of these people. Let us not bias the debate with
the "irikkada avide" kind of attitude, instead let us try to be a little more
open and let our minds free, and think how a great thinker of his time
St. Paul would have debated and defended Christ in front of these
people. I would like to think that if St.Paul had witnessed Christ
to Gandhi, perhaps Gandhi would not have been so cynical of
Christians. There is merit in that thought. Yet, it would have been
an interesting debate.
Do we really assume that such great men of our time acted without
the power from the Holy Spirit? If we go through the book "My
experiments with Truth" by Gandhiji, we understand how
deeply Gandhi was influenced by the principles of Christ, yet he
never wanted to be a Christian. He was convinced that his faith was
good enough for him.
We are very mature in suggesting to the Protestants that the work of
the Holy Spirit does not end within the pages of the Bible, yet when
it comes to questions about our relationship with other religions,
we hold on to some Bible verses like they are infallible, much more
than our Protestant brothers. Why don't we then quote Bible verses
where God asks Israel to kill other men? We don't use those verses
because we understand (by the God given sense of reason) that these
are not ethical in our society. In the same way, with time, with
changes in the social environment, by the revelations of the Holy
Spirit, we are led to "newer dimensions" of the Truth, where many
old Bible verses become irrelevant.
These will be eternal arguments since no one but Jesus can say for
sure, what He meant by His great commission, about its
implementation details and the scope He had envisioned for it, its
relevance today, true ways to witness Him today etc.. So we all can
have our own interpretations, and as long as the church does not
have an official stand on this, we all are free to have our own
opinions. My personal opinion, after living, growing up, laughing,
crying and learning many nuances of life with people from other
faiths, is that - the philosophy of these other religions are as
strongly engrossed in values and ethics as is ours, these other
religions are spiritually very rich, and inspite of many practices I
do not agree with, I cannot deny that there is God in their
religions, and that God is very much like my God (though not very
apparent on the outside), making me more and more convinced that the
God is the same, the same wonderful Creator who made me, made them
and He hears their prayers too, like He hears mine. I don't own Him,
my religion is not greater than theirs. I respect their thoughts,
they respect mine.
I will not be able to support any action which covertly or
otherwise, wishes to put down another religion (which I have known is good) in
the name of "Witnessing Christ". In that sense, I don't think I can be a
good "missionary". Yet, I firmly believe, that we all are missionaries for
Christ, whether officially appointed or not. If I have an opportunity to
witness Christ to another fellow human being, I would probably direct him
first to seek God through his own religion. Yet, I know only one God and that
God is Christ. I do not think this is denying Christ. This is my way of truly
witnessing Christ.
These thoughts are as per my little understanding, as of today. I
put them before all for corrections and comments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/7670
that seemingly encourages believers to convert non believers to
Christianity.
The same is the problem with Islam.
The problem with Christianity is that there are verses in the Bible
that seemingly encourages men to exercise authority and rule over
women.
The same is the problem with Islam.
The problem with Christianity is that it is interpreted by many as
the only way to salvation.
The same is the problem with Islam.
Paul "reasoned" with the people. He did not shun public debates on
Christ; instead he took on the thinkers in Athens, the intellectual
capital of Greece, as witnessed by Luke in Acts 18. Paul spoke and
debated in Athens.
How would Paul have reacted had he met people like Swami
Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi. These are some
world renowned personalities of our time respected for their
spiritual enlightenment by many, Christians and non Christians
alike. These are persons who had conviction in their own beliefs,
and were non –Christians by choice, yet were more "Christians" than
many of us, in many ways. As Eldho Kuriakose asked once - after
going through his poems can we really say that Rabindranath Tagore
did not enjoy the presence of God? (see Message # 4236)
Let us for a moment think of a situation when there was a debate about Christ
between St. Paul and some of these people. Let us not bias the debate with
the "irikkada avide" kind of attitude, instead let us try to be a little more
open and let our minds free, and think how a great thinker of his time
St. Paul would have debated and defended Christ in front of these
people. I would like to think that if St.Paul had witnessed Christ
to Gandhi, perhaps Gandhi would not have been so cynical of
Christians. There is merit in that thought. Yet, it would have been
an interesting debate.
Do we really assume that such great men of our time acted without
the power from the Holy Spirit? If we go through the book "My
experiments with Truth" by Gandhiji, we understand how
deeply Gandhi was influenced by the principles of Christ, yet he
never wanted to be a Christian. He was convinced that his faith was
good enough for him.
We are very mature in suggesting to the Protestants that the work of
the Holy Spirit does not end within the pages of the Bible, yet when
it comes to questions about our relationship with other religions,
we hold on to some Bible verses like they are infallible, much more
than our Protestant brothers. Why don't we then quote Bible verses
where God asks Israel to kill other men? We don't use those verses
because we understand (by the God given sense of reason) that these
are not ethical in our society. In the same way, with time, with
changes in the social environment, by the revelations of the Holy
Spirit, we are led to "newer dimensions" of the Truth, where many
old Bible verses become irrelevant.
These will be eternal arguments since no one but Jesus can say for
sure, what He meant by His great commission, about its
implementation details and the scope He had envisioned for it, its
relevance today, true ways to witness Him today etc.. So we all can
have our own interpretations, and as long as the church does not
have an official stand on this, we all are free to have our own
opinions. My personal opinion, after living, growing up, laughing,
crying and learning many nuances of life with people from other
faiths, is that - the philosophy of these other religions are as
strongly engrossed in values and ethics as is ours, these other
religions are spiritually very rich, and inspite of many practices I
do not agree with, I cannot deny that there is God in their
religions, and that God is very much like my God (though not very
apparent on the outside), making me more and more convinced that the
God is the same, the same wonderful Creator who made me, made them
and He hears their prayers too, like He hears mine. I don't own Him,
my religion is not greater than theirs. I respect their thoughts,
they respect mine.
I will not be able to support any action which covertly or
otherwise, wishes to put down another religion (which I have known is good) in
the name of "Witnessing Christ". In that sense, I don't think I can be a
good "missionary". Yet, I firmly believe, that we all are missionaries for
Christ, whether officially appointed or not. If I have an opportunity to
witness Christ to another fellow human being, I would probably direct him
first to seek God through his own religion. Yet, I know only one God and that
God is Christ. I do not think this is denying Christ. This is my way of truly
witnessing Christ.
These thoughts are as per my little understanding, as of today. I
put them before all for corrections and comments.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/7670
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