Convergence
as a Paradigm for Multi-Faith Dialogue
“Unity” has been the dominant paradigm
of the ecumenical movement, but
the concept of unity has lacked dynamic character. This can be seen in the ecumenical document of
Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry, which by itself is a great achievement. Yet we
need a dynamic concept of unity for the ecumenical movement: A “convergence” of the diverse and divergent. Especially
in multi-faith dialogues, we should explore how different wisdoms of life can
converge, not merely overcome differences and contradiction. Such
a process should, however, be radically differentiated from scientific and
technological convergence. Convergence is a transcending leap towards an
omega-point which opens a new horizon of unity. Christ as the Omega Point is theologically
suggestive.
Interfaith Dialogue for Convergence
A journal on the
subject states:
“Studies in
Interreligious Dialogue is concerned with the encounter
between religious traditions and world views.” The terms interfaith or
interreligious dialogue could refer to cooperative and positive
interaction between people of different faith traditions.
Dialogue is a way of conviviality:
M.M. Thomas once advanced the notion of “living
dialogue” in community for the Asian ecumenical movement.
Martin Buber’s notion of “I-Thou” relationship is also relevant here.
Dialogue is
communication and sharing of experience and wisdom for common life. Dialogue involves mutual
self-transformation, toward a new horizon of convivial relationship. Any
encounter in dialogue is an experience of mutual transformation; and there are qualitative
differences before and after the dialogue.
In Asia, where all major world
religions rose historically, inter-religious interaction has been a normal
course of life. This is the historical reality for all the peoples throughout
Asia from West Asia (Middle East) to East Asia. Dialogue is a constant reality
of community life. Dialogue is for conviviality.
Why then dialogue? It is to
realize a journey from Inter-faith dialogue towards a religious convergence
among different religions for common visions of life.
Inter-religious dialogue is
not merely a philosophical and intellectual exercise to exchange different
religious views for mutual enlightenment and learning, still holding one’s own religious views without change. This may help
the involved parties toward mutual understanding and tolerance. However, this
kind of dialogue cannot bring about mutual transformation and convergence for
life.
Authentic dialogue among
living subjects that is ontologically open, is a pivotal point that leads the
dialogue partners to new experience, new wisdom, new vision and new destiny—that is, a holistic change and evolution through
mutual self-transformation.
Religious Conflicts and Contradictions Lead to Mutual Destruction
In the history of the world
and of religions there have occurred tragic conflicts and confrontations that
destroyed the common life of people. This is well demonstrated in the history
of religious genocide as well as in the history of the last two centuries. The Crusades
and gender-cide (witch-hunts) were horrible events of “democide” at a great magnitude. Today, Christian-Islam
conflict is growing towards major global conflict that could bring grave
consequences for the whole community of living beings. Today’s discourse of Islamo-phobia is the contemporary “witch-hunt,”
justified by political ideology and religious doctrines. This is manifest in
the talk about “civilisational clash,” and in condemnation of Islam by some Christians.
We must recognize that the Christian
religion has been the chief perpetrator in these tragic historical events. The Holocaust
is only one example. In present history, Christianity is involved deeply in the
regime of the global empire, which seeks absolute hegemony. It is in this
context that we seek serious dialogue for the world –
for a world of justice, peace and conviviality. The purpose is to overcome
mutual destruction through religiously sanctioned hatred, for example, to
overcome the story of anti-communism in Korean Christianity, and to overcome
the story of Islamo-phobia in the West. Therefore, this presentation is
directed to the Christian movement in the world.
On the part of
Christianity it is not merely a matter of generosity and tolerance, but one of
self-transformation, repenting and recreating our religious wisdom for the common
life of all living beings. It is to root out the original hatred that brings
about “thanatological”
catastrophes.
From Dialogue to Convergence
Asian Christians have
been afraid of syncretism which might “dilute” the truth of Christian faith. They have excluded
the faiths of their neighbors and relegated non-Christian religions and
cultures and their national communities to the status of “pagan” and “gentile.”
In recent decades
ecumenism through dialogue has made great strides in helping people learn from
each other and overcome mutual religious hostility. The task of profound
transformation, however, is yet to be undertaken seriously. This lag is by and
large the “heritage” of the Western
missionary movement.
But there are
increasingly new opportunities as well as necessities to overcome the gaps
among the religious communities of the world. The movement is from dialogue
among religions to convergence among religions for a common vision of life on
earth. Much greater efforts are being made for dialogue in all dimensions,
which is a sign of hope.
From Power Paradigm to Kenosis Paradigm
If it is true that
modern triumphalist missiology has brought the creation of exclusive and
hostile positions by the powers that are associated with Christianity, our priority is to transform the missiology
from a power paradigm to a kenosis paradigm. This means that Christianity as the
religion of the powerful, of colonial power and power of empire or religion in collusion
with the global empire must be radically transformed.
Also Christianity has
been a captive of Western civilization, both traditional and modern. It is
associated with Western modernity, Western capitalism and the Western imperium.
This situation makes dialogue with non-Christian religions impossible.
We need to radically
reorient missiology from ecclesio-centric to people-centered and life-centered.
All nations (peoples) and all living beings are the subjects of the mission for
conviviality in this all-inclusive perspective. The poor, the meek, the
captives and all living creatures are the subjects of justice, peace and life in
servant partnership with God, Christ and the church. God, Christ and church are
servants to make all living beings the subjects. In
the Bible this is clear and decisive.
One Mission of All for the Whole of Life: Missiological
Convergence
In the 21st century “life”
emerged the life as the focal concern of mission. Life is whole and radically
inclusive, but has come to be subjugated and victimized by the powers that be.
It is the subject that the mission agencies are to serve. All the Minjung, all
nations and all living creatures are to be an integral subject in the holistic
matrix of life.
Mission affirms the
wholeness and fullness of life, rejecting any fragmentation or subjugation. Life
is the whole subject: it holds the
spiritual mystery as its heart, begets itself, nourishes itself, heals itself,
educates itself, realizes its growth, fulfills its meaning, builds its oikos and
community, cohabits among living beings and forms its cosmos. For this mission
for the whole life of all living beings, all religious wisdom may be able to
converge for the conviviality of all.
Dialogue as a Way to Convergence for Justice, Peace and Conviviality
Convergence
for Conviviality is:
·
To overcome Christian sins and evils which have
been perpetrated by the established churches and Christian mission agencies and
Christian groups and organizations.
·
To overcome theologies of triumphalism, exclusive
claims and self-righteousness that justify hatred and even genocide of the
people of different cultures, ideologies and religions.
·
To be a religion of Servanthood (Doularchy) for
Life on earth! To be a religion of Conviviality.
·
To explore avenues of convergence for common life.
I was born in the
multi-cultural, multi-religious context of Korea and grew up in the world to become
a theologian and educator. In spite of my being a member of the Presbyterian
Church of Korea, I have to live within East Asian cultural history and East
Asian religious convergence. I live within this convergence despite my country’s having gone through Western encroachment for 150
years, enduring ideological conflict under Pax Americana, and am still seeking the
wisdom of convergence for the future.
What is the way of Christian
Movement toward conviviality? Should I be post- Christian? Yes, surely, in
post-Christendom!
We must consider “paradigmatic Islam”
as our chief partner for convergence! Once a famous professor of missiology
identified communism as modern Islam.
Kairotic Encounter with the Story of Multi-religious
Movement for Convergence:
Our proposal is a
multi-religious, multi-cultural, ecumenical methodology, including linkage
between religious and secular, for the praxis of new life. This methodology is
not merely for Asian Christian communities, but for the whole global Christian
community. [i]
Just as the T’aiping Christian Movement connected itself with
Chinese religious traditions, Korean Christianity practiced its multi-religious
ecumenism, joining in the Messianic religious tradition of Ch’ondokyo (the Heavenly Way), which was a synthesis
of the Christian connection with Ch'ondokyo in the March 1st Independence
Movement—the political
manifestation of the Messianic movement of hope among the Korean people. Ch’ondokyo is an indigenous Korean religion that
contains the Shinson folk utopian tradition, the folk apocalyptic tradition of
Chungkaprok, and Messianic Buddhism, as well as the Messianic Christian
language.
We can find many
Christian connections with Asian religious traditions such as Islam, Hinduism,
and other indigenous religious traditions. These are not merely inter-religious
dialogue, nor just inter-religious cooperation without touching religious
practices. When we refer to inter-religious ecumenism, we mean the deepest
connections among Asian religious traditions for the praxis of the messianic
movement. Christian messianic wisdom is inclusive of all the energies and
resources of the struggle for new life that rises in the history and life of
the peoples in Asia. The Biblical praxis of new life is strengthened, and it
catalyzes the dynamics of new life among the Asian peoples.
The Christian
connection with progressive social thought in modern times cannot be treated
lightly. Although Western secular thought carried with it the colonial and
imperial baggage, it connected with the aspirations and struggles of the
peoples in Asia, and gave them the dynamic energy of hope. Asian national struggles drew their resources
from Western progressive thought. In so far as it provides energy and wisdom
for struggle for new life to the Asian peoples, the Christian community needs
to make connections for the praxis of new life among the Asian peoples.
The Praxis of New Life Must Consider Asian Traditions of
Cosmic Messianic Vision.
Basic Theological Affirmations of Life: Convergence of
Inter-linked Dimensions of New Life è Pivot in Roundtable (Taeguk;太極)
God and Life (God’s Created Life) are partners in the drama of the cosmos,
in which the Garden of Life is the centerpiece. This is the cosmo-politics of
God’s reign.
1. Life of Peace: Against War and Destruction of Life
Human history has been
filled with wars among human groups and against nature. Some hold the view that
civilization has developed in the process of creating weapons of war. The 20th
century has experienced two World Wars; and now science and technology, with their
cybernetic and technetronic developments, have enabled humans to engage in omnipotent
wars to destroy human and cosmic life in its totality.
New life demands a
matrix of security for the peace of all life, one that is capable of overcoming
all wars: local, national, regional,
international and global. A comprehensive peace movement with studies and praxis
at all levels is needed for new life on earth.
2. Just and Healthy Life: Against Starvation, Hunger and
Poverty
Economy’s historical development has brought mixed,
paradoxical blessings for life. OIKOS + NOMOS = OIKONOMIA is the original root
of economy. Originally, economy is human activity caring for life in the home
and in the garden. Kyeongse Jemin (= 경세제민 = 經世濟民), the East Asian notion of political economy, means “caring for people according to the canons of the
scriptures.”
Human greed,
manifested in many different forms, has brought starvation, hunger and poverty
as the economy has grown and developed into new stages. At each stage of human
history, riches have been amassed by the powerful. Now the power of global
capital and its transnational corporate institutions dominate the global
market. Its monopoly of science and technology gives it almost unlimited power
and influence. In recent years the monetary system victimizes people more and
more ruthlessly. All exchanges and dealings among people are controlled by
global market agencies to meet the insatiable greed of capital. Profit
maximization and absolute control are the goals of the game they play.
New life in the cosmos
demands a new economic justice: a true
OIKONOMIA, to be articulated according to the needs of life on earth. For this
we need to overcome the separation of the economy from other dimensions of
life; a life-enhancing concept of economy is required. The orientation toward
economic growth and profit maximization should be transformed. Local
communities need to have self-reliant, self-sufficient resources for economic
well-being and economic justice as they live in the local-global situation.
3. Life of Direct and Common Participation in Solidarity
Network: Against Oppression
Political institutions
have oppressed the people in many different ways. Nations and peoples have suffered under
despotism, autocratic rule, imperial domination, national totalitarianism,
state dictatorship, military dictatorship, religious-political symbiosis,
colonialism and ideological rigidity, in many different forms. Western liberal
democracy has not brought about full participation by the people. It has
enhanced liberal political rights such as human rights and other individual
political freedoms, but it also has opened the door for the powerful and the
rich to dominate the weak and the poor. Recent neo-liberal developments are a
sequel to liberal political democracy. The liberal tradition has failed to
control either the global market or national markets.
Globalization has made
political boundaries of nation states and national security measures obsolete
to an increasing degree. Already we have experienced the domination of the
superpowers; now transnational corporate powers override all conceivable
boundaries that used to inhibit their activities. The nation state no longer
fully represents the people, preserving and securing their sovereignty. Often
it succumbs to the power of transnational agencies and corporate entities.
The people themselves
demand direct participation and intervention in the global market, as well as
radical democratization of the existing political institutions. Truly the
people must realize their political selfhood on the local, national, regional
and global levels.
This requires a
local-national-regional-global network of participation and solidarity
commensurate with the global powers and principalities. We will need new
political institutions on all levels for global-local participation and
solidarity across the boundaries set by the global powers. This is a new vision
of ecumenical politics for new life on earth.
A radically new
political process of direct participation and solidarity networking is coming
of age all over the world. This may be the only way to control and overcome the
tyranny and domination of despotism, military dictatorships, imperial and
colonial powers, and transnational corporate powers.
4. Life of Shalom (Secure Well-being with Justice):
Against Social Conflict and Violence
Human history
represents, to a great extent, a jungle where the strong eat the weak and the
fittest alone can survive. This process has been manifested in social relations
in many different ways. The classical contradictions—ethnic and racial, class and
caste, gender and social status—formed
the vortex of social violence. In this jungle there has been no justice, no
community, no cooperation or peace.
Globalization has
brought a newly emerging social process, dictated by the so-called new social
Darwinism. Conflicts and contradictions not evident before, such as conflicts
between information “haves” and “have-nots,” have appeared. Injustice is deepening; and
intensity of conflicts is mounting to cause greater violence and its cyclical
acceleration.
Social justice, social
security, social peace and social reconciliation are being redesigned under a
global process in which neo-liberal ideology calls people to worship the idol
of competition. In this ideology the victor is glorified regardless of the
means used to win. People need a new approach for common living at all levels,
in local, national and global communities.
The social security
systems in both the welfare state and the socialist state must be transformed
to establish dynamic human community in justice, peace and harmony. The
prerequisite for this may be people’s
participation in their local communities, in close connection with the network
of common human security throughout the world.
5. Life of Meaning and Beauty: Against Desertification of
Cultural Life
Culture is the soul of
civilization, the art of common life, which enables people to attain their
identity, value orientation and aesthetic sense, and to enjoy the feast of
life. Culture gives people their perceptual apparatus and orientation for
understanding. Culture is the reservoir of wisdom of the life of peoples in the
cosmos.
Globalization has a
strongly detrimental effect on the cultures of peoples and nations, due to its
accelerating technetronic and cybernetic processes, its hi-tech information and
communication systems. Ethnic, national
and cultural identities, the inner core of community life, are radically eroded
under the impact of globalization. Powerless and marginalized ethnic and
national communities are especially affected.
People’s perceptions, values orientations and world-views
are being shaped by hi-tech media and communication, which in turn are dictated
largely by the global market forces. Mammonism and consumerism, materialism and
hedonism are spreading in the minds and hearts of people throughout the world.
Hi-tech communication and cybernetic informatics lead the market, politics and
social processes. What is “beautiful” is redefined in terms of the entertainment market
and the pleasure mechanism. Knowledge is reduced to the level of technical
know-how.
Culture contains the
wisdom of life in the cosmos. Culture is the spiritual home of life, and
spirituality is the vital energy of life. This foundation is eroded by the
globalization process. Modern philosophy, science and technology have reduced
or uprooted the spiritual core of life, reducing life to rationality.
The religious
dimension of culture and therefore life itself is being eradicated from the
roots. Religions are the substance of civilizations, and cultures are forms in
which religious truths and spirituality find expression. Modernity has reduced
religion to the minimum of what is rational; and the spiritual mystery of life
is suppressed in the name of rationality. This suppression of religious
vitality has shrunken the vitality of life.
Perhaps most
distressing is the global market’s
buying and selling of cultural commodities, which may occupy the main process
of the market. Globalization commercializes popular, mass and indigenous
cultures into market commodities, causing problems such as homogenization,
cultural desertification and identity crises, as well as injustice in the use
of cultural powers of communication and information. As information is
commoditized, the information gap exacerbates the power imbalance; it will
replace the economic gap between rich and poor.
There is a demand in
the local communities for new cultural movement that is truly life enhancing.
Asian civilizations enshrine great religious truths and their manifestations,
which may provide a wellspring of wisdom and resources for new life of the
peoples in the cosmos. Asian civilization may become the cradle of a new global
civilization that can counter the current cultural process under the dictates
of globalization. What is demanded is cultural creativity for life, not for
profit in the market.
6. Blissful Life of Celebration Against Cursed Life of
Tragedy
The greatest bliss is
to glorify God and enjoy life with God. The foundation of such bliss and
celebration is based on faith in God who has made with us the covenant of life
in Shalom. Life is life when it overcomes the power of death. Life is truly
life when it has an eternal dimension. Life is truly life when it is fulfilled
in wholeness and fullness. This is the foundation of new life according to
Biblical teachings. This reality of blissful life should be realized on earth
in a kairotic way. This is the beginning and the culmination of the study of
life.
I have discussed the
role of the Bible and religious traditions for new life among Asian
peoples. Theology should be
interconnected with all studies of life; it cannot be separated from other
studies. As a study of new and eternal life, theology cannot function without
this inter-connectedness. Therefore we are proposing an Advanced Institute for
the Study of Life, a new name for a graduate school of theological studies. The
faculty will be formed as a multi-departmental community of scholars who will
carry out the study of life (生命學) in a comprehensive and
inter-connected way. Theological/religious study of life will be the foundation
upon which all other dimensions of the study will be conducted.
7. Life of Conviviality
in Macro- and Micro-Cosmos: Against the Destruction of Life
Modernity caused a
fatal split between life in human community and life in nature. It further
reduced the reality of life to the bio-chemical process. This, in a word, is modern
reductionism’s understanding of
life.
Industrial
civilization, which is based upon modern science and technology, has sought
progress through the conquest of natural forces, but instead has created the
current crisis of environmental destruction. Unless the fundamental paradigm of
the industrial economy and its civilizational assumptions are radically
altered, there can be no solution to the ecological crisis. The fundamental
attitude of modernity is also present in the life sciences, where the genetic
modification methodology in food production is one among many cases of
reductionism and domination of life.
Life is a whole, to be
cared for in the Garden of Life. The gardening of life demands respect for
cosmic life in its entirety and its integrity. Enhancement of life in the
cosmos demands a completely new paradigm of life, one that abandons
manipulation of life and allows life to prosper against death and destruction.
Convergence of the East and the West for a New Discourse
on Life and Ecology
The Western scholars
and thinkers on the issue of ecology are beginning to appreciate Eastern
religious, philosophical and cultural wisdoms, even of “primitive
societies.” This is good progress. However, it is still being
taken as a corrective to the Western discourse on ecology. We have noticed many
scholars of the East taking seriously their traditional wisdom on ecology; but
at the same time it is taken as secondary to the prevailing understanding and
discourse of the West on ecology. The reason is that Eastern wisdom is regarded
as insufficient to overcome the current ecological crisis. Eastern wisdom needs
to be studied and developed to discover practical ways to deal with the
ecological crisis.
One example is a
theological paper that attempts to fuse the East and the West. It “argues that
aesthetic cosmologies in the Daoist and certain Buddhist traditions (Zen
Buddhist) as well as their respective artistic traditions can provide
Christianity with helpful ecological resources. In addition, examples of contemporary
environmental art in the West (are) examined for their ecologically sensitive
messages. The aesthetic traditions of East Asia display well the vision of
nature in which every element of the universe is celebrated for its particular
contribution. According to this model, humanity's role is not to dominate
nature; rather, as members of the cosmic community, humanity needs to align
(itself) with the rest of the universe. Since our culture is deeply visual,
East Asian aesthetic traditions together with contemporary ecological art
provide important insight (into) how to envision an environmental ethics of
care.”
This means that there
are attempts to forge a convergence of the ecological thinking and, therefore,
the discourses of East and West. What would be the nature of this convergence?
It is a complex question. In fact the convergence may be an open process, radically
open only to the ultimate “Omega” point. Such a convergence would bring about a new
horizon which would conceive new discourse on a new plane. This convergence
would not nullify the diversity, or the divergence, of East and West, but would
be inclusive of the diverse and divergent wisdoms with their identity and
integrity.
Then we will be free
from the problems of Westernization, modernization, orientalism, acculturation,
indigenization, contextualization and even hybridization in Asia, for we will
seek a convergence for justice, peace and conviviality among all living beings.
This is what the integral study of life (Zoesophia) seeks for conviviality of
life in the cosmos.
·
In this context, the ecological discourse rises out
of the organic cosmic order of life, which is holistic and integral. It cannot
be reductionist, fragmentary, subject-object splitting, human-nature
separating. The ecology is the cosmos (house) of convivial life for its
fullness.
·
Political discourse of life establishes the right of
life for all living beings. There should be ecological rights for all living
beings in heaven and earth.
·
Social discourse on justice and harmony is not a
separate part of the relationships among living beings; it is eco/social
discourse. The whole society becomes the cosmos (OIKOS) and the whole universe
is the society of all living beings. Discourses of justice, harmony,
reconciliation, cooperation and care are an integral part of ecology. Physical
and scientific laws converge with ethical principles as shown in the cosmic
love of Christ among all living beings.
·
Economic discourse is easy to understand in
ecological terms. Oikonomia as in agriculture is closely related to the
ecology. The common prosperity of all living beings is the aim of economy, not just
human survival. It is the common-life (SangSaeng: 相生=conviviality)
economy, that is the economy of life.
·
Wholesomeness of life is not an isolated condition
or event of the human body. Discourse on the body and spirit in health and
disease is macro- and micro-cosmic and biological, religious and cultural. The
ecological environment is the womb of the overall health of all living beings.
Eastern medicine demonstrates this clearly; and it can be converged with
Western medicine.
·
Cultural and spiritual discourse cannot be
separated from ecological nature discourse. The fiesta of life among all living
beings involves the cosmic orchestration of music and dances. Cultural and
social anthropology has been moving in this direction. Culture is not human
artifice; it is co-creation among all living beings.
·
Religious and ethical discourse cannot be separated
from the discourse of sciences such as physics and biology. Discourse on life
ethics is cosmic, social, biological and spiritual. Spirituality and faith is
the soul of the OIKOS (the household of life), which ecology manages.
·
Geopolitical discourse on war and peace is seen in
the context of the convivial life of all living beings, not merely in the
context of nation states and in the context of geo-political groups. In East
Asia peace means the great peace, the cosmic peace (T’aiping
太平). On the contrary,
existing military weapons systems can destroy not merely all human beings but
all living beings in the entire ecosystem.
As we have indicated
in shorthand form above, the ecological concern permeates the entire discourse
of life, which is multidimensional. All the above eight (and more) dimensions
converge at the “Omega point” of the cosmos of life, just as they have emerged
from the “Alpha point.”
Omega and Alpha points are one in convergence as expressed in the Asian notion
of T’aeguk (태극=太極=the Great Absolute) of the
universal OIKOS of life of all living beings.
There is no way that
we can isolate ecological discourse from the integral discourse of life. We
believe that the East Asian philosophical perspective can be developed and
converged with its Western counterpart. This may be a good way to construct an
integral discourse on ecology as well as on the life of all living beings.
Lynn White argues that
Christian cosmology, expressed in the doctrine of Creation, is one of the chief
factors in modern Western civilization with its industrialization and its
modern technocracy. This is a great, critical question not only for the church
but for the whole of Western Christianity.
Western Christianity in Asia and in the world has been deeply implicated
in the history of destruction of the life of living beings on earth. The
ecological crisis on earth is at the center of this process.
One way to respond to
this situation is through the radical convergence of religious wisdoms of all
the world religions and popular religions, in which the Christian faith
experiences radical transformation in the new context. Christianity within the
framework of Western civilization may not have any hope for such
transformation. It is in this sense that Jesus of Galilee must be rescued and
liberated from the Western trappings of the global cultural, political and
economic powers of the world market and global empire.
Fresh Bible Reading in Convergence of the Scriptures
The Western
theological dogmas have influenced the reading of the Bible in Christendom, and
modern Western hermeneutics and biblical studies have been influenced by modern
Western historical studies and hermeneutics. Fiorenza’s critique makes sense (Union Theological Review, 2004).
A Cross-Textual Reading (Archie Lee) has been proposed in Asia. The significance
of reading the Bible with the texts of Chinese classics has been recognized,
for these Chinese texts are influential in the life of the people. In the
socialist countries of Asia the social philosophies have influenced their
reading of the Bible as well as their doing of theology.
Fresh Hermeneutics: Kairotic Reading of the Bible for Life Wisdom
in the context of the global empire in the 21st century.
Jesus the Galilean in
the context of the Roman Empire is a hermeneutical key. Convergent reading of
the Bible in time and space for Zoesophia requires reading of the Scriptural
texts of Asian religions, Asian cultural texts and sin
philosophical texts.
Methodology of
Convergent Reading: Convergence with
liberation theologies and their reading of the Bible may be recognized. The
Bible is an Asian text. Modern historical methodology as well as dogmatic
reading of the Bible may not be appropriate. The reading of the Bible is to aim
at the Kairotic convergence of all dimensions of life, all wisdoms of life and
all visions of fullness of life in the cosmic order.
OIKOTREE Movement Towards life-giving civilization
We noted
that ‘civilization’ in its imperial
form is death-dealing and stands in marked contrast to the life-giving civilization
of Ubuntu and Sangsaeng. Ubuntu is an expression of human
relations lived in community and in harmony with the whole of creation (African
anthropology and cosmo-vision lived in community). Sangsaeng is an
ancient Asian concept of a sharing community and economy which allows all to
flourish together.
We believe
that the convergence of the search for justice and the affirmation of God's
creation and humanity should be central in the quest for life-giving civilization.
In this new horizon, we are made aware of the following:
·
The convergence of Ubuntu and Sangsaeng
highlights the conviviality and relatedness of all God's creation, while
offering the possibility of reflecting, analyzing and protecting life based on
the Ubuntu principle "I am because you are, you are because I
am." Both these principles are about the eradication of hatred, anger,
private wealth without sharing, oppression, and exploitation, as well as about
harmony and peace with the cosmos.
·
Ubuntu and Sangsaeng
are exemplified through life-giving agriculture/gardening which is a process of
connecting our cycle of life with that of God's creation, emphasizing the
capacity to give birth, to nurture, to heal and to grow into maturity—thus exhibiting
the convergence of economic justice, ecological justice and the oneness of the
whole of life.
We
recognise the need to unearth similar concepts to Ubuntu and Sangsaeng
which highlight the centrality of justice, diversity and interconnectedness.
This will facilitate the deepening and understanding of these in ways that they
can embrace diversity and promote reconciliation and wholeness.
Conclusion and Summary
???
[i] The Christian
connection with Messianic Buddhism has been made throughout the history of
Asian Christianity. The first evidence is found in the development of T'ang
Nestorian Christianity (635-), in which the Christian Messianic language was
closely connected with the Buddhist messianic language of Maitreiya Buddha. (
Messiah=彌施阿.) In the monument of T’ang Nestorianism, Christianity is presented in the Chinese Buddhist
language. Moreover, the language of the messianic Maitreya Buddha showed close
connections with the Nestorian Christian language. T’aiping
Christianity was closely related to the White Lotus Buddhist sect, which is
also messianic. The clearest example is the Korean inter-religious ecumenism
that was manifest in the March 1st Independence Movement of 1919, when the
Korean Christian Movement joined with the Tonghaks and Buddhists as well as
indigenous/national religious and cultural messianic movements in the struggle
of the Korean people against Japanese colonialism.
The Christian connection with Shilhak (Realist School of Confucianism) is
another clear example. Roman Catholicism gave hope to the Korean people in 17th
and 19th century Korea. The inter-religious synthesis of Roman Catholicism and
the Realist School of Chosun Confucianism became the language and praxis
movement for social transformation in Chosun society. The T'aiping Christian
Movement in China also used the Confucian language in its endeavor to transform
Chinese society in the middle of the 19th century. Confucianism is often
regarded as a kind of utopian romanticism of the past Yao Sun age, the primeval
golden age. But Chung Yak-Yong, a scholar of the Realist School of Korean
Confucianism, used the language of the Golden Age as a messianic language of
hope and social transformation.
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