Christianity at the Religious Roundtable , livre ebook
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183
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2002
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Publié par
Date de parution
01 novembre 2002
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781585586158
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
2 Mo
Publié par
Date de parution
01 novembre 2002
Nombre de lectures
0
EAN13
9781585586158
Langue
English
Poids de l'ouvrage
2 Mo
© 2002 by Timothy C. Tennent
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com
Ebook edition created 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
ISBN 978-0-8010-2602-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Acknowledgments
1. Interreligious Dialogue: An Evangelical Perspective
Part 1 Christianity and Hinduism
2. Doctrine of God: Brāhman
3. Doctrine of Creation: Līlā, Māyā
Part 2 Christianity and Buddhism
4. Doctrine of God: Dharma-kāya (Śunyatā/Citta)
5. Doctrine of Ethics: Karuṇā, Maitrī, and Dāna
Part 3 Christianity and Islam
6. Doctrine of God: Allah
7. Doctrine of Christ and the Incarnation: ʿĪsā, Ḥulūl
Part 4 Case Studies and Conclusion
8. Was Socrates a Christian before Christ? A Study of Justin Martyr’s Use of Logos Spermatikos
9. Can the Hindu Upanishads Help Us Explain the Trinity? A Study of Brahmabandhav Upadhyay’s Use of Saccidānanda
10. Can Sola Fide Be Understood Apart from the Specific, Historic Revelation of Jesus Christ? A Study of A. G. Hogg’s Distinction between Faith and Faiths
Epilogue: Closing Thoughts about Evangelicals and Interreligious Dialogue
Glossary
Bibliography
Notes
Subject Index
Scripture Index
Back Cover
Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the trustees and faculty of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary for granting me a sabbatical to write this book. The particular encouragement I received from Haddon and Bonnie Robinson during my months away from the seminary will long be remembered. I would also like to express my gratitude for two of my former professors and now colleagues, David Wells and Garth Rosell. David Wells first taught me the importance of theology in understanding, interpreting, and responding to the ongoing challenges that the church faces. Garth Rosell’s ability to ignite one’s passion for church history is well known. I am particularly indebted to him for the broad, global view of the church’s life that he so ably gives to his students. As a missiologist at Gordon-Conwell, I now find myself striding the two wonderful worlds of theology and church history. Under the able leadership of Garth Rosell, the Division of Christian Thought at Gordon-Conwell nurtures a wonderful and needed relationship between missions, theology, and church history. As my dear colleague Peter Kuzmič is fond of declaring at our divisional meetings, “Good missions must be theologically grounded, and good theology must be missiologically focused!” To work alongside Christian leaders like David Wells, Garth Rosell, and Peter Kuzmič in this kind of cooperative environment is truly one of the greatest joys of my professional life.
I also appreciate my students at Gordon-Conwell. Without the interaction with students in my classes over the years, many of the ideas in this book would not have been realized. I am particularly indebted to Sean Doyle, Allen Yeh, and Jeremy John who have served as my Byington research assistants over the last three years. They have each spent many hours in the library on my behalf, and, undoubtedly, this book reflects their hard work.
I divided my sabbatical between the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut, and the New Theological College in Dehra Dun in Uttaranchal, India. I am indebted to Jonathan Bonk, the director of OMSC, and his staff for their encouragement and support during my studies at Yale. Likewise, the time spent each year in Dehra Dun is always a time of intellectual and spiritual refreshment. I am deeply grateful to the founder of NTC, George Chavanikamannil, whose missionary vision and heart for church planting in India is, in my mind, without parallel.
I am dedicating this book to my wife Julie, whose steadfast commitment to Jesus Christ and joyful spirit remain a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. Besides being a gifted musician, she has brought music and joy into my life and the lives of our two children, Jonathan and Bethany, in more ways than can be recounted here.
Timothy C. Tennent
1
Interreligious Dialogue
An Evangelical Perspective
I confess that although I have read dozens of books on interreligious dialogue, I have enjoyed precious few of them. Yet I am now in the curious position of writing such a book. Upon reflection, the basic reason for my dissatisfaction is that the average Christian would hardly recognize the Christianity that is often presented in such works. Certainly, the apostles the eye- and ear-witnesses of Christ’s life and the first to testify about him would go away scratching their heads in bewilderment. The Christian gospel is often presented as one among many different paths to God. Christianity is ranked side by side with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism in much the same way as films are displayed at a multiplex cinema. The Islamic Qurʾān or the Hindu Upanishads are as likely to yield spiritual light as the Sermon on the Mount.
I do not believe that the authors of such books distort the gospel message intentionally or maliciously. Rather, most of them simply do not affirm the historic Christian confessions; yet curiously they continue to identify themselves as Christians. Even scholars among the non-Christian religions have begun to recognize this phenomenon. For example, Grace Burford, a practicing Buddhist scholar, comments on this in a recent Buddhist-Christian dialogue titled Buddhists Talk about Jesus Christians Talk about the Buddha . [1] Her chapter is insightfully titled “If the Buddha Is So Great, Why Are These People Christians?” She bluntly asks about these scholars, “If they were so taken by Buddhism, why did they hang on to Christianity?” [2] Her remarks are limited to the Buddhist-Christian dialogue but could easily be observed throughout the whole field of interreligious studies. Why would people be prepared to surrender every central claim of historic Christianity and yet be so doggedly determined to remain spokespersons for Christianity? The same point is made by evangelical scholar Ron Nash in his excellent book Is Jesus the Only Savior ? [3] He points out how John Hick, who is widely regarded as one of the leading voices in the Christian dialogue with other religions, continues to call himself a Christian despite having abandoned the historic faith. Nash goes on to say, “I mean no ill-will when I say that Hick is not a Christian in any historical, traditional, or biblical sense of the word. This is not being unkind; it is only being accurate.” [4] These observations from a Buddhist scholar and a leading evangelical scholar testify to the current state of interreligious dialogue. People who stand outside the boundaries of historic Christianity are representing Christianity. The tragic result is that many readers assume that the positions taken by these scholars reflect a broad consensus among Christians around the world.
This is not to say that there have not been several excellent books written to defend historic Christianity in light of the particular challenges of world religions. Lesslie Newbigin’s The Gospel in a Pluralist Society , J. N. D. Anderson’s Christianity and Comparative Religion , and Ravi Zacharias’s Jesus Among Other Gods , are a few examples of excellent contributions to this field. [5] However, these books are not examples of interreligious dialogue per se. They are defenses of historic Christianity in light of growing religious pluralism. These books are extremely important and we need more like them, but we also need more evangelical Christians involved in genuine dialogue with members of other religions. This book seeks to meet that need and to prepare Christians as they begin to take more seriously our obligation to listen and respond to the objections of non-Christian religions.
Genuine dialogue can occur in a way that is faithful to historic Christianity while being willing to listen and genuinely respond to the honest objections of those who remain unconvinced. This underlying premise for the current work serves to challenge the perspective of both conservative and liberal Christians for several reasons.
Conservative Christians and Interreligious Dialogue
Many Christians who have embraced the historic Christian confessions and who hold fast to the faith remain reluctant to listen and respond to the objections of Hindus, Buddhists, and Muslims. Dialogue is discouraged because non-Christian religions are dismissed out-of-hand as examples of human blindness and the fruit of unbelief. Sometimes non-Christian religions are regarded as the direct work of Satan. The result has been to avoid any serious dialogue lest Christians unwittingly place the gospel on equal footing with other religions. It is one thing to personally hold fast to the faith; it is entirely different to share it with another person. This is even more daunting if the person belongs to another religion and has many questions about Christianity. The temptation is to go on the defensive and to avoid such encounters. This “safety box” approach has the initial appearance of preserving the gospel. Because the gospel is so valuable, we should lock it up for safekeeping. But the gospel is not nearly so fragile. Christianity is a faith for the world. It flourishes when challenged by unbelief, ridicule, and skepticism. Early Christians defended their fa
