Mechteld Jansen

JOHN SOBERT SYLVEST AND AMOS YONG REASONS AND VALUES OF THE HEART IN A PLURALISTIC WORLD Toward a Contemplative Phenomenology for Interreligious Dialogue Introduction Our present postmodern situation is characterized by radical pluralism. There is resistance to essentialism in religion and insistence on religious pluralism as a fact, a suspicion about theological metanarratives as opposed to thinking about theological systems or worldviews, and a rejection of any type of philosophic synthesis in favor of epistemological perspectivism and axiological re- lativism. Yet the quest for unity—philosophic, theological, and even religious —will probably never subside, perhaps in large part because there is a com- monality of human experience, as difficult as that might be to identify discur- sively. The key may be to be suggestive rather than definitive about the human condition, proposing a speculative vision that is simultaneously pragmat- ically guided. We are bold enough to suggest yet another way forward, although also chas- tened enough by late modernity to do so tentatively. In brief, the hypothesis we propose is an axiological one concerning human life as a quest for value- realization. The task of axiological discernment, however, will need to proceed along various lines, some confined within a particular community of inquirers and others engaged across various communities of inquiry. More precisely put, if we adopt a contemplative phenomenology that more broadly conceives religious epistemology beyond the traditional philosophical cate- gories of epistemic justification (empirical and logical) and normative praxes (ethical, moral and practical) to include other indispensable human values as well, such as the esthetic, affective, aspirational, relational, and other embod- ied aspects of all that humans experience as true, good, beautiful, and unitive, then these additional perspectives will not only contribute to a more holistic (hence, authentic) anthropology but will, at the same time, challenge the received questions (and answers) that pertain to philosophic, theological, and 170 REASONS AND VALUES OF THE HEART inter/religious dialogue.1 Toward this end, our reflections will traverse a good deal of ground, beginning with the religious life and the interreligious encounter, then considering, in turn, philosophical and epistemological dimen- sions of such a theoretical vision. Our concluding section summarizes the gains made toward what we call a praxis-oriented contemplative phenomenology for interreligious dialogue. We should note, however, that our postfoundationalist orientation—to be commented on further below—means this essay does not provide an argu- ment in the strict sense but rather should be seen as a form of reasoning from the heart that unpacks and presents a “vision of the whole” that may resonate with others.2 The one caveat, of course, is that both authors are Christians, and these Christian commitments are not bracketed in what follows. More precisely, ours is a more fully trinitarian worldview in terms of taking seri- ously not only the incarnation but also the pentecostal reality of the Holy Spirit’s presence and activity in the world.3 At the same time, we also think it plausible that such an incarnational and pneumatological vision is capable of providing insights and maybe even stepping stones to the sought after unity without neglecting the diversity and plurality of beliefs and practices, even across religious lines. Thus our proposal is intended to be fully ecumenical, not only for intra-Christian consideration but also for the wider interreligious encounter. 1 This approach, because of its much wider epistemological spectrum, articulates a third way between or beyond alternating emphases on the pre-theoretical (mystical) religious experience versus that which is more linguistically and textually mediated (Yong 2009), and we offer it as another avenue toward any earnestly sought after quest for commensurability across religious lines. 2 Here we are drawing from but also going beyond Pascal, accepting his claim that “the heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing” but also fleshing out that insight in a late-modern world of not only many cultures and religions but also many philosophic systems. For a more philosophically oriented exploration of this matter, see Wainwright 1995. 3 By “incarnational and pentecostal” we refer first and foremost to the two major biblical salvation history events—the Christ event as manifest in the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to the people of God. Of course, the pentecostal emphasis is also connected to the fact that Sylvest has long been a participant in the Catholic charismatic renewal and Yong derives from the tra- dition of modern pentecostalism—but there is no intention here of thinking these modern movements as being on a par with the mystery of the incarnation. Unless otherwise noted, all references to “pentecostal” in the remainder of this essay are to the biblical episode rather than the modern phenomena. 171 STUDIES IN INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 20 (2010) 2 Reflecting on the Religious Life and the Interreligious Encounter If we take life as a journey made up of individual steps, which we might consider to be value-pursuits, and we measure the distance we travel in terms of milestones, which we might consider to be value-realizations,4 then we might consider each complete movement to require, minimally, three separate motions, optimally four. Those motions would be 1) the descriptive motion where we ask: Is that a fact? 2) the evaluative motion where we ask: What is it to me? and 3) the normative motion where we inquire: How do we best obtain (or avoid) it? There is no value-realization movement that does not consist of these three integrally related motions.5 Arguably, these distinctly human motions and movements are also the very essence of spirituality, which relates to that aspect of life which exceeds our purely material dimen- sions. And we may, through the vagaries of formation, deformation, and re- formation, be variously competent or incompetent spiritually. Also, even if competent, we may be either consciously or unconsciously competent, which is where the fourth motion comes in, the interpretive, which asks: How does all of this tie together? This interpretive motion can be understood to be cen- tral to the nature of religion, which may variously be institutionalized (or- ganized) or not, which may even be theistic, non-theistic, atheistic, or agnos- tic. Thus it is that many can say they are spiritual but not religious or that they are religious but not “believers” (self-described religious naturalists, for example). We may also broadly conceive of these motions as comprising the enterprises of science (descriptive, as in our empirical methods), culture (evaluative, as in our social, economic, political and esthetical methods) and philosophy (normative, as in our moral, ethical, metaethical and logical methods), which together would articulate our cosmology. Religion would function as the interpretive axis around which our cosmology spins. Our cosmology would thus represent what we would consider to be Everybody’s Story, one that we 4 This notion of value-pursuit and value-realization we get from Robert Cummings Neville, especially from across his three-volume Axiology of Thinking series: Neville 1981, 1989, and 1995, respectively. 5 This is not as bold or controversial an epistemological claim as it might first appear for some. Consider it an adaptation of Lonergan’s transcendental epistemology, albeit applied through application of Neville’s work to the human knowing of values. Remember that, for Lonergan, all knowing emerges out of a hermeneutical spiral con- sisting of four moments—experiential perceiving, intelligent understanding, normative judging/deciding, and responsible acting—and any attempt to provide an alternative epistemological account will necessarily proceed through these four “steps.” See Lo- nergan 1972: 13-20; for further discussion, cf. Yong 2002, esp. part II on epistemology. 172 REASONS AND VALUES OF THE HEART all share, a story that is not really up for grabs. That is to recognize that we cannot go around making this stuff up, for what we are dealing with is what has been, so to speak, given. Thus it is that our axiological interpretations will often, in large measure, be about exploring this donative nature of reality as we discover what has been given as the true, the good, and the beautiful. Still, our cultural expressions will enjoy a wonderful diversity because our socio- economico-politico-cultural and esthetical evaluations and value-realizations entail our practice of the art of the possible as created co-creators (Hefner 1993). In our cultural value-pursuits, the created co-creator, as artist, enjoys the privilege of self-expression and self-realization and this liberty gifts us, practically, with a diversity of ministry though not without an underlying unity of mission, and aesthetically, with a plurality of expression of the beautiful though always ordered to the true and the good. A fulfilling spiritual journey thus requires our ongoing development and growth intellectually, affectively, morally, and socially. Optimally, it will also be religious, which, as an interpretive motion, necessarily entails much more than mere propositional assent, descriptively, but also the celebrations of the beauty we have encountered, evaluatively,

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