Religious pluralism is the view that all religions,
certainly all major or ethical religions, are equally valid paths to God or to
ultimate reality. For the pluralist, many religious roads lead to God and
salvation. And yet, given the present cultural milieu of globalism,
multiculturalism, relativism (in both truth and morality), and especially the
postmodern spirit, the growing climate of religious pluralism is growing rapidly.
Entering the twenty-first century, America embodies
significant ethnic, racial, cultural, and religious diversity. Urban and
suburban dwellers come from all parts of the globe. One's next-door neighbor to
the right might come from Southeast Asia or Australia. The one to the left
might originate from India, Africa, Europe, or the Middle East. America, as a
democratic nation, places great value on the principle of tolerance, especially
the tolerance of religious expression. The Bill of Rights guarantees American
citizens the right to free exercise of religion.
Unfortunately, some people take the notion of equal
toleration of religious expression to mean that all religions are equally true,
thus equally valid paths to God. In effect, democracy has been applied to
ultimate truth. This seemingly "politically correct" approach to
religion, though popular in this culture, represents deeply convoluted
thinking. The acceptance of social pluralism (tolerance of diverse religious
expression) does not logically imply the truth of metaphysical pluralism (that
all religious truth claims are equally valid and simultaneously true).
Since I can go on however my point is simple. All
religions and their true book believe in one concept…..”Harm None”…..this is said
and demonstrated in many way since we are talking about religious pluralism.
Some people argue that applying logic to religion is
false or misleading. They insist that ultimate truth comes only through some
type of non-rational intuition. Their argument betrays them, however, because
in arguing against logic they must first presuppose the laws of logic to
attempt a refutation. Well I will say on last comment on this point of
interest. Logic simply does not apply to faith!
I will post more BoS printable when asked.
If you are interested in some new ideas on religious pluralism and the Trinity, please check out my website at www.religiouspluralism.ca, and give me your thoughts on improving content and presentation.
ReplyDeleteMy thesis is that an abstract version of the Trinity could be Christianity’s answer to the world need for a framework of pluralistic theology.
In a constructive worldview: east, west, and far-east religions present a threefold understanding of One God manifest primarily in Muslim and Hebrew intuition of the Deity Absolute, Christian and Krishnan Hindu conception of the Universe Absolute Supreme Being; and Shaivite Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist apprehension of the Destroyer (meaning also Consummator), Unconditioned Absolute, or Spirit of All That Is and is not. Together with their variations and combinations in other major religions, these religious ideas reflect and express our collective understanding of God, in an expanded concept of the Holy Trinity.
The Trinity Absolute is portrayed in the logic of world religions, as follows:
1. Muslims and Jews may be said to worship only the first person of the Trinity, i.e. the existential Deity Absolute Creator, known as Allah or Yhwh, Abba or Father (as Jesus called him), Brahma, and other names; represented by Gabriel (Executive Archangel), Muhammad and Moses (mighty messenger prophets), and others.
2. Christians and Krishnan Hindus may be said to worship the first person through a second person, i.e. the experiential Universe or "Universal” Absolute Supreme Being (Allsoul or Supersoul), called Son/Christ or Vishnu/Krishna; represented by Michael (Supreme Archangel), Jesus (teacher and savior of souls), and others. The Allsoul is that gestalt of personal human consciousness, which we expect will be the "body of Christ" (Mahdi, Messiah, Kalki or Maitreya) in the second coming – personified in history by Muhammad, Jesus Christ, Buddha (9th incarnation of Vishnu), and others.
3. Shaivite Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucian-Taoists seem to venerate the synthesis of the first and second persons in a third person or appearance, ie. the Destiny Consummator of ultimate reality – unqualified Nirvana consciousness – associative Tao of All That Is – the absonite* Unconditioned Absolute Spirit “Synthesis of Source and Synthesis,”** who/which is logically expected to be Allah/Abba/Brahma glorified in and by union with the Supreme Being – represented in religions by Gabriel, Michael, and other Archangels, Mahadevas, Spiritpersons, etc., who may be included within the mysterious Holy Ghost.
Other strains of religion seem to be psychological variations on the third person, or possibly combinations and permutations of the members of the Trinity – all just different personality perspectives on the Same God. Taken together, the world’s major religions give us at least two insights into the first person of this thrice-personal One God, two perceptions of the second person, and at least three glimpses of the third.
* The ever-mysterious Holy Ghost or Unconditioned Spirit is neither absolutely infinite, nor absolutely finite, but absonite; meaning neither existential nor experiential, but their ultimate consummation; neither fully ideal nor totally real, but a middle path and grand synthesis of the superconscious and the conscious, in consciousness of the unconscious.
** This conception is so strong because somewhat as the Absonite Spirit is a synthesis of the spirit of the Absolute and the spirit of the Supreme, so it would seem that the evolving Supreme Being may himself also be a synthesis or “gestalt” of humanity with itself, in an Almighty Universe Allperson or Supersoul. Thus ultimately, the Absonite is their Unconditioned Absolute Coordinate Identity – the Spirit Synthesis of Source and Synthesis – the metaphysical Destiny Consummator of All That Is.
For more details, please see: www.religiouspluralism.ca
Samuel Stuart Maynes