Tuesday 28 September 2010

Inter-Religious Dialogue

Over at 'A Thinking Reed' blog they have posted on 'Stendahl's Rules'. They are a set of three rules attributed to Krister Stendahl, meant for use with inter-religious dialogue. Supposedly they were formulated when he had dialogue regarding the building of a Mormon temple. The rules are:

(1) When you are trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.

(2) Don't compare your best to their worst.

(3) Leave room for "holy envy." (By this Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith.)

Whether the are actually his or not I think these are a great place to start. Too often Christians go in all guns blazing trying to force Christ upon non-Christians and beat them into submission rather then acting with grace and as 1 Peter 3: 15-16 states; "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." (My emphasis)

I think that Acts 17: 16-24 is a great place to start in understanding a Christian response to other religions. Here Paul seems to do at least two of Standahl's rules. Here Paul is evangelising to the Athenians including Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who wished to know more so invited him to share. Here we see a genuine interest in communicating from both sides, rather then Paul just shouting at random people. Paul has, before this interaction, studied the iconography of the city (TO AN UNKNOWN GOD and studied the poetry of its adherents (Rules 1). I think it's not too much of a stretch to assume that Paul had learnt this from adherents and also since he uses it positively that he is using their best to compare with Christianity (Rules 2). For Rule 3 we need to move away from Paul and see that when Paul talked of the resurrection some of the philosophers stayed open (although it was contrary to their beliefs, and asked to hear more on the subject.

I'm not suggesting that we copy exactly what Paul did as he worked within their culture, (As Verse 21 says, "All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas"), but the concept are there I think.

With that said I think we need to add one more rule:

4) [Do not be] "ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Rom 1:16).

Too often with inter-religious dialogue it seems that if people aren't at each others throats they are so concerned with finding similarities that they are ashamed, or at least refuse, to share the things which are unique and in the Christian case that is the good news that can save. What is the point of Inter-religious dialogue? I can only see two:

A) Bring about/ keep peace between differing groups

B) Evangelise

I believe both parts are important and all 4 rules are needed for a base point to achieve the purposes of inter-religious dialogue.

Till Next Time!

Monday 20 September 2010

Things I love in England



Those who know me know at least 2 things about me:
1) I live in the south of England and work for a church.
2) I love Japan and that is where my heart too often is.

The last few weeks I have been feeling home sick. The problem is that I feel like my home is Japan, not in England. Being that God has blessed me with such a great community and a wonderful job I feel that I need to ground myself here a little so below I am going to make a list of things that I love about England especially, but not exclusively, those that I won't get in Japan. (Not in any particular order)

1) Good Indian tea.
2) Good coffee.
3) Good cheese.
4) Having a conversation where I can express myself properly.
5) Fully understanding the culture and rules that come with it.
6) A 'Christian' culture even if it's mostly nominal.
7) Plenty of churches and Christians to interact with.
8) The loving community at St. Peter's, Woodmansterne.
9) My family which I so often take for granted but are important to me.
10) The NHS.
11) A rent-free house. (Or more generally, affordable rent)
12) Easy access to good books
13) Christian conferences and meetings
14) Pubs with British ales
15) Bread which doesn't make you think of marshmallows
16) Sandwiches that aren't made with fruit and cream :S
17) British humour
18) Friends
19) Multi-cultural society
20) English comedy

Please feel free to comment about that things you love about the UK below.

Till Next Time!

Thursday 16 September 2010

Let's Love Japan!


Some of you may remember my post 'Wadaiko X Black Gospel Fusion' where I shared a video made by Paul Nethercott over at 'Worship and the Arts' blog. Well, praise the Lord, he's at it again. Please check out 'Let's Love Japan' where they are trying to reach the Japanese with the good news of Jesus through entertainment media including the 'Mobile Site Initiative!™'. A new Christmas video trailer had just been released and I for once cannot wait to see the whole thing. I can't repost it so please go here to watch it. I promise you won't have wasted your time.

Till Next Time!

Saturday 4 September 2010

Um, what do you want me to say?

Anyone that has tried to learn a new language has come across this problem. Somebody has found out that you are trying to learn, or that you speak, another language so out comes the command, "Oh, say something in [target language]!" Then comes the panic. What do I say? It has to be something better then, "Hello. My name is..." but simple enough that I don't screw it up.

Over the last year I've been trying to learn Japanese with varying success. I try to fit it in where I can including on the bus and train, in parks and in cafes. Not long after I get my books out I get the inquisition and this week I think I've come up with the best response possible. Romantic enough to attract the ladies and scare off blokes, lol.

あなたは春の最初の桜より美しいです。
anata wa haru no saisho no sakura yori utsukushii desu。

In English that comes across as:
"You are more beautiful than the first cherry blossom of spring."

Warning: Don't just blurt this out a Japanese girls. The only response it will have is likely to be the opposite of what you expect it to!

What are your favourite phrases in your target languages?

Till Next Time!