JYRI KOMULAINEN Theological reflections on multi-religious identity his article attempts to provide a theological as- which point one religious tradition ends and another sessment of multireligious identity, especially begins. Human identities are much more complex Tin the context of the Hindu-Christian encounter. than simplistic interpretations often divulge.2 There The paper rests on recent post-colonialist literature on are myriad instances showing that the participation religion and assumes that the so-called ‘religions’ are in rituals common to many religious traditions is a open-ended cultural traditions and that the Christian completely normal way of doing things, at least at tradition is capable of encompassing different world- the level of so-called popular religion. Asian religios- views and cultural traditions. ity especially abounds with flexibility to appropriate Following the initial observations, which highlight the different traditions in different situations (Cornille ambiguity of the concept ‘religion’ as well as the radical 2002: 1–3).3 diversity of the so-called religious traditions, the possi- Hence our era does not represent anything totally bility of delineating a Christian identity in the midst of novel. One could even argue that Europeans lived for cultural and religious dynamics is explored. If the com- centuries in the delusion of an isolation that is now mon feaure of Jesus of Nazareth and the theological crumbling due to the accelerated process of globaliza- idea of incarnation are taken into account, the most vi- 4 tal tenets of the Christian faith entail a constant call for tion. Curiously, as our world is, so to say, dwindling contextualization. Since all cultures also display religious due to phenomena as media, air traffic, the internet dimensions, i.e. a fundamental openness to transcend- and migration, our consciousness of the ‘Other’ is ence, this contextualization embraces also those tradi- becoming stronger than ever. This ‘Otherness’ also tions that have been labelled traditionally as ‘religions’. involves religious dimensions, as our neighbour finds In addition to these theoretical observations, two in- the meaning for his or her life through another nar- stances of Hindu-Christianity—Brahmabandhav Upad- rative than ours. hyaya (1861–1907) and Raimon Panikkar (1918–2010)— The contemporary situation entails new and in- are presented and discussed. The article concludes teresting prospects for theology. A new discipline of that from the point of view of Christian theology, the systematic theology; the theology of religions, has Christian faith can also adopt such forms that could be emerged.5 If Christian theology wishes to be up- labeled ‘multi-religious’. The decisive factor is, however, to-date and credible, it cannot ignore the challenge whether the Christian narrative may provide the meta- narrative of multi-religious identity, i.e. whether it is the one that transforms other cultural narratives. 2 Illuminating examples related to South Asian religions are provided in Gottschalk 2000; van der Veer 2000: 25–77; Jørgensen 2008 and Jacobs 2010: The history of religions tells us that religions and cul- 113–22. tures have always encountered and intersected with 3 However, it is often expected that religious elite such as Buddhist monks should be committed to the tradi- each other.1 Sometimes it is very difficult to say at tion they are representing. 4 On ignorance of other religions in European history, 1 See e.g. Halbfass 1990, which provides an ample evi- see Sullivan 1992: 52–3. dence of myriad encounters between Indian religions 5 For a definition of the theology of religions and its and the West in history; and Goddard 2000 for the methodology, see Dupuis 1997: 1–19. A fresh over- extensive common history of Islam and Christianity. view of the field is provided in Race & Hedges 2008. 50 Approaching Religion • Vol. 1 • May 2011 Varanasi is the most famous among many Hindu pilgrimage destinations. Jyri Komulainen posed by competitive religious claims.6 Catalan mother was a Catholic and his Indian father In this article, I will highlight the issue of mul- a Hindu. When Panikkar become acquainted with tiple religious belonging that poses a real challenge his paternal heritage in India, he spoke of it in the for Christian thinking. Religious traditions encoun- following words: ‘I “left” as a Christian, I “found” ter each other, not only in everyday street-life or aca- myself a Hindu and I “return” a Buddhist, without demic discussion, in which various themes could be having ceased to be a Christian’ (Panikkar 1978: 2). exposed and compared, but also more and more in Later he extended his innate multi-religious identity the very existence of such people who are born at the to embrace even secularism, as the following quota- intersections of different religious traditions. tion shows: ‘. I am at the confluence (sangam) of One instance of such multi-religious identity is the four rivers: the Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and to be found in the work of Raimon Panikkar (1918– Secular traditions’ (Panikkar 1981: x).7 2010), who was one of the most distinguished theor- Panikkar is such an exceptional case that it is no ists of interreligious dialogue. It is worthy of note that surprise that he has even been characterized as ‘such his multi-religious identity is rooted in the fact that his a “mutational man,” one in whom the global mutation has already occurred and in whom the new forms of 6 Hans-Martin Barth (1998: 103) states lucidly: ‘Was consciousness have been concretized’ (Cousins 1979: heute denjenigen gefordert ist, die berufshalber oder 143). aus privatem Intresse über den christlichen Glauben If this kind of global mutation is to be expected, nachdenken, ist ohnehin mehr: Es gilt, die einzel- one is obliged to find an answer to the theological nen Lehraussagen im Kontext der nichtchristlichen Religionen gleichsam „durchzudeklinieren“, sie auf scheinbare oder echte Relationen hin zu befragen und 7 For a detailed analysis of Panikkar’s pluralistic think- Übereinstimmung wie Differenz herauszuarbeiten.’ ing, see Komulainen 2005. Approaching Religion • Vol. 1 • May 2011 51 dilemma: is it really possible to be Christian-cum- connected with them.9 something? If so, how could following Jesus be juxta- This does not mean, however, that we should dis- posed with being adherent to another religious tradi- claim the existence of different world-views—such tion? as Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Taoist theologies that have distinctive identities. There are, indeed, a number of structural ideas that On the nature of ‘religion’ shape the inchoate mass of cultural traditions and When assessing the possibility of multi-religiosity, provide them with a transcendental goal—at least the culturally specific nature of the category ‘religion’ from the point of view of the educated elite. should be taken properly into account. There are no The existence of such interpretative ‘meta-levels’ such entities that could unambiguously be recognized does not entail, however, that we should uncritically and defined as ‘religions’ per se. As we comprehend it, speak about monolithic entities as ‘world religions’. the concept ‘religion’ (religio) is forged in the discur- There is no reason to relapse into an essentialist fal- sive tradition of Christianity as well as of the Enlight- lacy that there exists a separate and clearly defined enment. This legacy could be seen, for instance, in category of ‘religion’, comprising different members a strong literary bias and in the way that ‘religion’ is such as ‘Christianity’, ‘Islam’, ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Bud- understood in the context of the questions regarding dhism’. Substantiating this does not rule out that, at truth and falsity. Consequently, adherence to particu- their institutional levels, religious traditions could be lar doctrines or beliefs is often understood as being a clearly demarcated even to the exclusion of double decisive dimension of religious affiliation. Cognitive belonging. Nevertheless, even then ideas and prac- dimensions thus overpower ritual prac tices and emo- tices do interact across the borders.10 tional experiences. With this constructed category of ‘religion’, the West has searched for analogous phe- nomena in other cultures.8 Dynamic traditions having different ends Actually, most of the phenomena labelled ‘reli- In the recent discussion concerning the theology of gions’ could be seen as cultural traditions. The religions, the diversity of religious ends and ways origin al meaning of the Latin term religio had much of lives is highlighted (see esp. DiNoia 1992; Heim more to do with rituals and traditions inherited from 1995 and 2001). The widespread idea that all re- the ancestors than is included in our understanding ligions eventually lead to the same end11 pays no of religion (see King 1999: 35–7). I suggest that we due attention to the fact that the way of life and its should reshape our approach accordingly, and try goal are closely intertwined. The Christian idea of to appreciate the theology of religions more as an ‘Heaven’ as the contemplation of the Triune God and explor ation in cultural dynamics and hermeneutics than as a clearly defined philosophical issue of con- 9 Of course, any ritual implies a certain ontological flicting world-views. liability. On the other hand, rituals which resemble The cognitive contents of cultural traditions are each other as external acts may be part of different not easily explicated or systematized. Think of rit uals metaphysical frames of references. Regarding this, that are conducted to pay due respect to ancestors. see also the astute analysis of Theo Sundermeier Such rituals can be found in most traditional cul- (1997: 388–9, 392–3) which provides support for the tures. Is it plausible, for example, to say that some of distinction between the ritual itself and the doctrinal those rituals are ‘true’ while others are ‘false’ in the conceptualization attached to it.