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Bell 8 Haurell Information and Leaming 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI 48108-1346 USA Prophetic Asceticism in the Wilderness: Dilemmas of Liberation and lnclrlturation in the Interreligious Paradigms of Aloysius Pieris S. J. Mario Bellemare Facuity of Religious Studies McGill Univerçity, Montreal July 1998 A thesis subrnitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial hifilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts O Mario Bellemare 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 191 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliog raphic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. me WbllS- OttawaON K1AON4 OUawaON K1AW Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une ticence non exclusive Licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibtiothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, dismbute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/nlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othenuise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autonsation, Per la min madre che mi ha trasmesso UM fede che m&ina neil' esperienza del deserto immigrante, et pour mon pire qui a inculqué en moi une oision prophétîque envers lrEgtise de sa jnuresse. Thanks to Kathleen Roberts Skerrett for staying with me and for ail the support. Thanks to Gregory Baum for helping me map out the structure of the thesis. And thank you to Tamara Vukov for going over the draft, for the insightful suggestions, and for wallQng with me on this joumey. This work explores the interreligious paradigms proposeci by Sri Lankan theologian Aloysius Pieris from a iiberationist rnethodologïcal standpoint. Pieris' paradigms uncover the exclusivist tendenaes of sorne Liberation theology towd 'religion' and the anti-liberative tendenaes of the inculturationist sch001 of inteneligious dialogue. The Christ-against-Religion paradigm delineates how some Latin Amerïcan liberation theology constructs a sharp dichotomy between "Iiberativefaith" and "popuiar religion." The Christ-of-Reiigion paradigm of the Brahminic Ashram movement in India is fOcuSed on personal Iiberation without regard for systemic poverty and oppression Pieris has endeavoured to bridge the dichotomy between Iiberation and inculturation through what 1 have labelleci a xnethod of prophetic asceticism- Using insights from feminist theology, 1argue that Pieris' dialectical method subtly reactivates the oppositional Chnst-ugaànst-Religion paradigm in his theology. 1propose the Exodus wildemess as an intrinsic part of the liberative process and to cornplexnent Pieris' dialectks. The wildemess is a landscape of survival for God's vanquished people; a landscape of doubt that can b~gforth the bread of heaveh A partir d'un point de vue méthodologique ?ibQationiste,' cette thèse examine les paradigmes inter-religieux proposés par le théologien Sri Lankajn Aloysius Pieris. Ce modèle dkdupar Pieris met en &idence ies tendences promouvant 18dusionde la "religion" dans la théologie de la libération et les tendences 'anti-Iibératrices' du movement pour le dialogue inter-religieux. Le paradigme Christ-contre-Religion expose la manière dont la théologie de la iibthtion latino-américaine met de l'avant une dichotomie marquée entre la "foi libératrice" et la "religion populaire." Le paradigme Chtistde-Reiigion duinovement Brahmanique de l'Ashram en Inde met l'emphase sur la libération personnelle sans considération pour la pauvret6 et l'oppression systémiqye. De son côg, Pieris a tenté d'établir un rapprochement entre les deux paradigmes de la libération et de l' inculturation à travers ce que j'ai nommé une méthode de ascétisme prophéïique. En m'inspirant de la théologie féministe, je soutiens que la méthode dialectique de Pieris réhxrit le paradigme oppositio~elChrist-cmtte-Religion dans sa propre théologie- Dans cette optiqe, Je propose le désert de l'Exode comme une condition inhérente de la libération et comme un complQnent pour la dialectique de Pieris. IR désert est un paysage de survie pour le peuple vaincu de Dieu; un paysage de doute qui peut amméner le pain du cieL Contents chapkr 2 ~nculturationin the Cmn of the Heart. ............. ..... ....e-.-...H ...............-... 52 "Sanslrritic Missiology" "Fulfilrnerit ïhedogy and Anti-Judaism" The Swai Gospel in India" "B hakti, Dalits, and Liberation" C.pm3 Dinlectrcs of the Tnird Ma*stmurn .,..,..e-..-..-..-..--.-.....o............e..........84 "Hearing the ModcGdff "From Jordan to Caivqf' "Meta/ C&c Interdependenœ" 'Toward the 'Hummrirm'" Chapter 4 Vanquishment in the Wildemess..... .-..--..-...---.t--t*...-......-.~~-....... .-........119 "Uphoiding or Dïsrupting the Status Quo" "Survivai as Wildeniess Experience" Wnexpected Bread for the Landless" 'The Exhaton and the Ernpty Tomb" In/Condusiorrs To Walk with Jesus in the Wilde~~tess.....-.. ....~M-...-....-.......~o.......... 158 Dualism is wrong relation. A durlistic epistemology is steeped in a wrong way of knowing and thus generates faise knowledgdlies, about ourselves, others, that which we believe to be divine, and the significance of the Jesus story. Caxter Heywud Reality's ultimate duality, its irreconcilable duality, is properly identified not in the binomiai "transcendence and history" - which can and should be reconciled - but in the irrecondable binomial of Reign and antiaeign, the history of pceand sin. INTRODUCTION Wiping the Icon The work of Sri Lankan liberation theologian and Buddhist scholar, Aloysius Pieris S.J., is among the most chailenging and creative didectical methodologies in the area of interreligious theology and pr-. Pieris has worked out interreligious paradigms that critically ch&u-tl;d liberationist methodologies that do not accord epistemological primacy to the piight of the suffering 'non-christian-' This work will explore the interreligious paradigms proposed by Pieris, and how they pertain to the role of popular religion as an important tool for liberation, as weli as an important source of wisdom for interreligious collaboration. These paradigms stem out of what Pieris has identifieci as the "Third Magisterium:" namely, the experiences of the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. The paradigms developed by the first (Vatican/Bishops) and second (academia) Magisteriums, in Pieris' estimation, do not adequately address the specific history of Asian theology and the context of Asia's ovenvhelming economic poverty and religious diversity. For Pieris, interreligious coilaboration from the methodological location of liberation theology must begin with soteriology - not ecdesiology or christology as the other two Magisteriums have always proposed - in order to mutually transform both the prophetic and mystical streams of the encountering traditions. Hence the methodological foundation for this study is a prms of solidarity with the suffering 'other' that envisages conaete experience as the first act of doing theology and theorizing as the second act in a hermeneutical circle that seeks to overcome dualistic constructs such as theory / action, Chur&/ world, contemplation/action, hith/ religion, as weii as the often neglected liberation/oppression. Feminist and womanist theologians have critically engaged and challenged dualist episternologies that pervade the Christian tradition. This challenge has engendered far-reaching contributions in ail the areas of theological enquiry. In hct, it has lead to an epistemological break with some European schwIs of systematic theology. Liberation theologians have also chailenged dualist ways of knowing - and acting in - the world, espeaally in the areas of ecdesiology and soteriology. This work maintains an epistemological continuity with feminist, womanist, and liberationist theologies that seek to transform the tradition of dualism in Christian theology. Many theologians have argued that the tradition of duaiist knowledge has helped generate the worst atrociües imaginable against the 'other.' One cannot but recaii the "dangerous memory of suffering" (Metz 1980,88) of those executed and tortured during the Casades, the Inquisition and the Witch bumings, those who