Please see the Cover and Contents in the last pages of this e-Book Online Study Materials on INTERFAITH STUDIES AND ECUMENISM 1 INTRODUCTION TO INTERFAITH STUDIES WHAT IS INTERFAITH? The term interfaith or interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions, (i.e. “faiths”) at both the individual and institutional level with the aim of deriving a common ground in belief through a concentration on similarities between faiths. It is distinct from syncretism or alternative religion, in that dialogue often involves promoting understanding between different religions to increase “tolerance” towards others, rather than to synthesize new beliefs. The history of religion shows that conflict has been more the state of affairs than dialogue. The term inter-religious relations refers to relationships between religions, (rel. comparative religion). HISTORY • Early 20th Century—dialogue started to take place between the Abrahamic faiths—Christianity, Judaism and Islam. • The 1960s—Interfaith movement gathered interest. ¿ 1965—the Roman Catholic Church issued the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate, instituting major policy changes in gay rights in the Catholic Church’s policy towards non- Christian religions. ¿ Late 1960s Interfaith groups joined around Civil Rights issues for African-Americans and later were often vocal in their opposition to the Vietnam War. Michael Wyschogrod, an American professor of philosophy, has claimed that there are just as many theoretical or creedal reasons for Muslims and Jews drawing closer to one another as there are for Jews and Christians coming together. 2 Judaism Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, and Conservative Judaism encourage interfaith dialogue. Interfaith dialogue is a controversial issue within the Orthodox Jewish community. Some Orthodox Jews refuse to participate in interfaith dialogues because they believe that Judaism’s prohibition of proselytism, combined with other religions’ missionary zeal, creates an unbalanced power dynamic such that the “dialogue” effectively becomes a monologue. However, some Modern Orthodox Jews participate in interfaith dialogue. Bahá’í Faith Interfaith and multi-faith interactivity is integral to the teachings of the Bahá’í Faith. Its founder Bahá’u’lláh enjoined his followers to “consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship.” Bahá’ís are often at the forefront of local interfaith activities and efforts. Through the Bahá’í International Community agency, the Bahá’ís also participate at a global level in inter-religious dialogue both through and outside of the United Nations processes. In 2002 the Universal House of Justice, the global governing body of the Bahá’ís issued a letter to the religious leadership of all faiths in which it identified religious prejudice as one of the last remaining “isms” to be overcome, enjoining such leaders to unite in an effort to root out extreme and divisive religious intolerance. Among the several organisations interested in interfaith dialogue, The Institute of Interfaith Dialogue has been very active in the different states of the US. With about 15 branches in several states including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Kansas; IID (The Institute of Interfaith Dialogue) organises interfaith dinners, intercultura trips, conferences, panel discussions in these states. While there are many basically religious organisations geared to working on interfaith issues (see Inter-religious organisations) there is also a less common attempt by some governmental institutions to specifically address the diversity of religions (see Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau for one award winning example.) In India, many organisations have been involved in interfaith activities because of that India is a country in which there may all religions and faiths of the world. Minhaj-ul-Qur’an International is a non-sectarian and a non-governmental organisation (NGO) working in over 81 countries around the globe. Its main aims and objectives are to promote interfaith dialogue and to live peacefully within society. Minhaj-ul- Introduction to Interfaith Studies 3 Qur’an was founded by Shaykh-ul-Islam Prof. Dr. Muhammed Tahir- ul-Qadri. FAITH Faith can refer to a religion, or to belief in one or more deities. It has two general implications which can be implied either exclusively or mutually: • To trust: ¿ To commit oneself to act based on sufficient evidence to warrant belief, but without absolute proo. Mere belief on the basis of evidence is not faith. To have faith involves an act of will. For example, many people saw Blondin walk across the gorge below Niagara Falls on a tightrope, and believed (on the basis of the evidence of their own eyes) that he was capable of carrying a man on his back safely across. But only his manager Harry Colcord had enough faith to allow himself to be carried. ¿ Believing a certain variable will act or has the potential to act a specific way despite the potential influence and probability of known or unknown change. m To have faith that one’s spouse will keep a promise or commitment. m To have faith that the world will someday be peaceful. m To have faith that a person will pay you back. m To have faith that you will be okay despite adversity. m To have faith in one’s full dependence on the will of supernatural forces or deities. • To believe without reason: ¿ Believing impulsively, or believing based upon social traditions or personal hopes. • A means to possess something. ¿ To have faith in a process. (Faith in the Law) ¿ To have faith in a source or resource. (Faith your pay check or employment) ¿ To have faith in a method to obtain. (work hard, lie, cheat, buy, trade, be attractive, etc.) ¿ To have faith in the pathway to a specific desire. (The fastest way to a man’s heart is his stomach.) 4 m Faith is the development of pathways through doubt. With certain resistances to life, wishing to obtain more life force cause us to develop means and methods to overcome the resistance. For example: With the development of farming and grocery stores the ability to get necessary food has become easier, takes less time and allows for more living. Everyone still has to eat, but the means of obtainment has shifted. Our forefathers used to pray to God for a good crop, as that was part of their faith. Many farmers still do that for us, but now many of us pray that the paycheck hits the bank before the cable bill. m When something is wanted and there stands doubt between your current condition of need and the thing desired, systems of faith are employed. A person will first work existing pathways already established by faith. If they fail, they will seek to develop other pathways by faith, not knowing for sure if the path they pursue will provide the object they seek. m The desire for things dominates the application of faith. Many of those actively applying faith to specific pathways seek less tangible things, such as love, peace, harmony, or even eternal life. Faith is an individual path. Just because it worked for one person, doesn’t mean it will work for another. Just because I went to my place of employment and got the paycheck with my name doesn’t mean that my brother can do the same. He has to establish his own means to obtain things. In either case, faith is based upon the interpretation of the intangible (feelings, emotions, etc.) instead of the physically tangible and is primarily associated with religion in modern times. EPISTEMOLOGICAL VALIDITY OF FAITH There exists a wide spectrum of opinion with respect to the epistemological validity of faith. On one extreme is logical positivism, which denies the validity of any beliefs held by faith; on the other extreme is fideism, which holds that true belief can only arise from faith, because reason and evidence cannot lead to truth. Some foundationalists, such as St. Augustine of Hippo and Alvin Plantinga, hold that all of our beliefs rest ultimately on beliefs accepted by faith. Others, such as C.S. Lewis, hold that faith is merely the virtue by which we hold to our reasoned ideas, despite moods to the contrary. Introduction to Interfaith Studies 5 Fideism In Christian theology, fideism is any of several belief systems which hold, on various grounds, that reason is irrelevant to religious faith. According to some versions of fideism, reason is the antithesis of faith; according to others, faith is prior to or beyond reason, and therefore is unable to be proven or disproven by it. The word is also occasionally used to refer to the Protestant belief that Christians are saved by faith alone: for which see sola fide. This position is sometimes called solifidianism. Many noted philosophers and theologians have espoused the idea that faith is the basis of all knowledge. One example is St. Augustine of Hippo. Known as one of his key contributions to philosophy, the idea of “faith seeking understanding” was set forth by St. Augustine in his statement “Crede, ut intelligas” (“Believe in order that you may understand”). This statement extends beyond the sphere of religion to encompass the totality of knowledge. In essence, faith must be present in order to know anything. In other words, one must assume, believe, or have faith in the credibility of a person, place, thing, or idea in order to have a basis for knowledge. One illustration of this concept is in the development of knowledge in children. A child typically holds parental teaching as credible, in spite of the child’s lack of sufficient research to establish such credibility empirically. That parental teaching, however fallible, becomes a foundation upon which future knowledge is built. The child’s faith in his/her parents teaching is based on a belief in their credibility.