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A Critical Analysis of Stanley J Samartha‟S Concept of Christian Dialogue with People of Other Living Faiths

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A Critical Analysis of Stanley J Samartha‟S Concept of Christian Dialogue with People of Other Living Faiths A critical analysis of Stanley J Samartha‟s concept of Christian dialogue with people of other living faiths, and its relevance to the Indonesian context NIMROT RAJAGUKGUK STUDENT NO. 2659650 PH.D. DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D.) IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS UNIVERSITY OF THE WESTERN CAPE DEPARTMENT OF RELIGION AND THEOLOGY SUPERVISOR: PROF. CHRISTO LOMBARD FEBRUARY 2011 DEDICATION I am dedicating this work to my wife, Nur and our three children: Stephany, Hudson and Rebecca Rajagukguk. ii Acknowledgements This thesis has been a process of reflection, requiring me to reassess my thinking on areas of Christian mission, strategy, policy and practice that I am accustomed to working with. Praise be to God, that through this research, He has guided me into new directions, to spheres of theology of mission that I had to engage with, and which I now consider critical to my knowledge and practices regarding Christian living in the world. First and foremost I have to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Professor Dr. Christo Lombard. Not only has he been a wonderful mentor for the past 5 years, but his dedication to the pursuits of objective academic writing and scholarly thought inspired me to embark on this doctoral study. As a supervisor, Prof. Lombard has been critical, supportive, patient and encouraging, values which add immeasurable weight to the process of thesis writing. I am indebted to him for reasoned guidance and firm pastoral leadership. My special appreciation and gratitude also to the examiners: Prof. Hans S A Engdahl, (UWC), Prof. WA.Saayman (UNISA) and DR. Richard M Daulay from Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia My colleagues in the field of theology and mission have also shaped my ideas and thoughts through the years, and for this valuable collaboration I acknowledge fellow missionaries at Christian Concern Muslims (CCM), especially Ashley Cloete and Rosemarie, Maria van Maarseveen who are so faithfully motivated and support my family for years working together. My fellow post graduate student at UWC, Badaruddin (Baddar) Sheik Rashid from Somalia, who became my discussion partner at campus, and who accompanied me to a few Muslims meetings. I must also express my gratitude to the UCT librarians for big help and allowing me to do my research at their Library, and to UWC librarians for preparing literature and material I needed during this process. A special thank you to all staffes and professors at the Religion and Theology Department at UWC for all the support I received at the department during my study period at UWC. I also benefitted greatly from the many afternoon seminars which were held regularly on Tuesdays. My special gratitude, love and appreciation to my wife Nursilen Simatupang, and my three beautiful children Stephany, Sony and Rebecca for their big sacrifice: sometime like living without husband for my wife and without father for my children, when many a day I had to stay at campus and the library until late evening. I wish to express a humble gratitude and thank you to my mission organisation WEC International, especially the WEC leadership in South Africa and Sending WEC in Indonesia, who allowed this study and supported me in it, beside my ministry to students at campus. My personal gratitude and thank you also go to Detmar and Gisela Scheunemann for their moral support and financial help. My friends in Cape Town, who have been patient and understanding through the process of writing this thesis. In particular, I must thank John Duminy for his support, care and sacrifice with his computer and printer every time I needed his help during this process, Freddy and Doris Kammis for their support and encouragement; Marie Louise- Viljoen who is so dearly and faithful in prayer and supporting my family, and to my brother in Christ Prof. Eric Wood at UCT, for his special support since my involvement in the ministry with Student Christians Organisation (SCO) in South Africa. A special appreciation and thanks to DR Veronika Elbers for her encouraging support during this study, and to all friends in Indonesia, Germany and South Africa, too many to name here, thank to all of your prayers and support for our work in South Africa. May God bless you all. iii ABSTRACT Since the Uppsala General Assembly in 1968 the concept of „Christian dialogue with people of other Faiths‟, developed within the World Council of Churches (WCC), has since then been implemented vigorously. This was done under pressure with strong initiatives by Asian theologians who operate in contexts where Christianity is a minority religion, such as in India and Indonesia. The concept of dialogue, influential as it has become, has also been widely criticized in many Christian groups (especially by Evangelical theologians), as being syncretistic and compromising for the sake of „worldly peace‟. This study will investigate the WCC concept of „Dialogue between Christianity and other Living Faiths‟, and its contributions in Asia, more specifically its impact on the relationship between Christians and Muslims in Indonesia. The study will focus on an Indian theologian, Stanley J Samartha, one of the most influential figures in the promotion of this concept within the WCC. The research will entail an analysis of Samartha‟s views on Christian dialogue with other faiths, and a critical assessment of his work in the field of „mission‟, through his publications and various WCC documents. The contextual relevance of the study is highlighted by several spheres of tensions and conflicts: a) in the global context: the clash of cultures; b) in the ecumenical world: the divide between evangelicals and ecumenical; c) in the Asian context: the tension between dialogue and mission, between gospel and context; and d) in the Indonesian context: the ongoing tension between Muslims and Christians, and the tension between „local gospel‟ and the Biblical gospel. With this obvious global relevance and these contexts in mind, Samartha's concept of „Inter-faith Dialogue‟ is studied in detail against the changes in missionary paradigm effected through various developments in the ecumenical arena: the incorporation of the International Missionary Council into the World Council of Churches (as part of the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, the CWME), the stronger focus on finding a way of co-existence and even cooperation with other living faiths, since the Jerusalem assembly (1928) and Tambaram (1938) respectively, and the new paradigm of dialogue developing rapidly after Uppsala (1968), especially when Samartha was appointed as Director of the WCC Sub-Unit for Dialogue in 1971. The main statements that will be analyzed are the „six tentative suggestions‟ by Samartha which apparently became part of Interim Guidelines for dialogue in Addis Ababa 1971, and later was accepted at the Chiang Mai consultation (1977) by the WCC as „Policy and Guideline to Dialogue with people of other faiths' (the Chiang Mai Statement), and the Kingston Revised Statement of 1979. For Christian dialogue with specifically Muslims, the WCC statements which will be analysed are the Ajaltoun statement 1970, the Broumana Statement of 1972, and the Chambesy statement of 1976, The analysis of the development of Samartha‟s concept of dialogue, its strengths and weaknesses, will take place against the concept within Christian and Muslim circles in Indonesia. This part of the study will thus deal with some ministerial decrees and the Indonesian government's declarations about a return to Pancasila (a political iv foundation for living together in respect) and UUD 45 (a constitutional foundation for peace and harmony). The theological assessment will be followed by a constructive proposal towards an alternative to merely dialogue for the sake of peaceful co-existence and social cooperation, which will be incorporating neglected aspects of the Christian gospel and mission in the world, for the sake of honest dialogue and the integrity of Christianity as a world religion. In the concluding chapter, various alternative approaches to the relationship between Christianity and other faiths, such as those of Knitter, Küng, Bosch and De Gruchy, but also from other individuals representing Conservative and Evangelical groups, like Newbigin, Stott, Winter, Hesselgrave, Winter, Howard and others, will be explored. The outcome of the research project will be the presentation of a constructive proposal which combines dialogue with a faithful approach to Jesus‟ “Great Commission” of Matthew 28:18-20. Key words: Asia, culture, dialogue, Indonesia, interfaith, mission, religions, Samartha, syncretism, World Council of Churches. v STATEMENT I declare that A Critical analysis of Stanley J. Samartha’s concept of Christian Dialogue with people of other living faiths, and its relevance to the Indonesian context is my own work, that it has not been submitted before for any degree or assessment at any other university, and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledge by means of complete references. COPYRIGHT I, Nimrot Rajagukguk, hereby cede to University of the Western Cape the entire copyright that may in the future subsist in any research report or thesis submitted by me to the University in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in the Department of Religion and Theology. ………………………………… Nimrot Rajagukguk. vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BEM - Basel Evangelical Mission CCA - Christian
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