Current Journal

Madhvācārya, the 13^th century propounder of dualism, exemplifies a prophet whose prophetic witness was enacted in a kairos, which demanded his dualist response. The school of Vedānta that he founded was a radical corrective that urged the return to a theistic conception of the universe that was in accordance with the prescriptions of the śruti (the revealed canonical texts). I offer stipulative definitions of three terms and one phrase used in Catholicism, namely kairos, prophet, witness, and the combined, prophetic witness. I use these to show that he is a prophet, and a prophetic witness who acted during a kairos.

Identified for its diversified culture and traditions, India witnessed a process of assimilation and synthesis of cultures during the Indian subcontinent’s medieval period. Undoubtedly, however, the advent of British colonialism during the seventeenth century profoundly altered Indian life, culture, and polity. Ancient Indian customs and values were undermined by the conquering forces, and “Hindu” practices were decried as being superstitious. Consequently, the scathing attack on Indian culture and religion generated vehement criticism from English educated Indian intelligentsia including Ram Mohan Roy, who even alleged that “the British did not want the light of knowledge to dawn on India.”

Robert Wuthnow, Professor of Sociology at Princeton and the Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, has been observing and analyzing American approaches to religion for some decades now.  His distinction of “dwelling” and “seeking” is probably the most helpful way of thinking about attitudes to religion and spirituality today.

Wuthnow explains by saying that there are two mentalities, one interested in stability and security and the other which moves towards exploration and transition.  Many individuals now are looking for the sacred and the meaningful elsewhere than in traditional churches or religious institutions, and finding it in places not usually regarded as sacred.  As Wuthnow comments: “Rather than being in a place that is by definition spiritual, the sacred is found momentarily in experiences as different as mowing the lawn or viewing a full moon.” (1998, 3-5)  The purpose of this article is to build on Wurthnow’s idea and map the movement of spiritual seekers as they travel from their familiar locale in different directions by unknown paths to spiritual “fresh woods and pastures new.”

This article employs an extended metaphor of journey or passage, that is, someone goes from one place to another, chooses a route, makes discoveries on the way and arrives at a destination. The journey is the inner journey of a person seeking, looking and finding a new spiritual home.   The paper provides a framework or map, to enable one to observe where the journey may be headed.  After all, when travellers have a general sense of the countryside, then they are less likely to feel lost.

Here, I argue against Masao Abe’s interpretation of the Christian notion of Kenosis. Kenosis supposedly coincides with the Buddhist notion of Sunyata, through which Abe attempts to build an interreligious bridge. Abe, however, presents Kenosis in such a manner that is too out of sync with most historical western understandings of it, meaning his interpretation cannot actually function as the bridge that he wants. Giving what I believe is a more “orthodox” interpretation of Kenosis, I argue that the idea still finds a parallel in Sunyata, only in terms of the notion of praxis rather than conceptuality.

This paper seeks to understand contemporary Islam in such a way as to suggest new approaches to Christian-Muslim dialogue. However, the general approach it offers is equally useful in the pursuit of other forms of engagement with Muslims and the Muslim community. It is the thesis of this paper that understanding Muslim (and Christian) identity in terms of narrative will provide a more illuminating and fruitful basis for engaging in interfaith dialogue, or at least a better understanding of those with whom we as Christians are in dialogue. A focus on Muslim narratives will also provide an alternative taxonomy of Islamic movements in the hope that this will provide indications of how future dialogue most usefully can be pursued.

Robert Hunt’s essay, Muslims, Modernity, and the Prospects of Christian-Muslim Dialogue is intriguing and interesting.  I especially found his ideas surrounding the narrative taxonomies of Islam and the Muslim world important.  While I agree that not all, but many Muslims struggle within the modern world and Islamic tradition, I think the Western world puts more of a focus on this issue than is necessary.

My primary critique of Hunt’s piece is that while he replaces old categories of religious self-understanding with new categories that supposedly facilitate more fruitful interreligious conversations, I am cautious about the degree to which categories are helpful.  My critique is threefold critique: first, religious identity is only part of the full narrative of the individual. For example, I suspect that though I self-identify as a Lutheran (a principled Lutheran according to Hunt’s taxonomies), my narrative of my religious identity is only part of a larger story - the complex, beautiful, entire story of Kari.

I am grateful to Robert A. Hunt for his thoughtful paper and to the Journal of Interreligious Dialogue for inviting me to respond.  Hunt raises many which resonate with me regarding freedom of religious conviction and expression, interreligious dialogue, cooperation, and egalitarianism.

First off, I’m a memoirist. I’ve been invited to respond to Robert Hunt’s “Muslims, Modernity, and the Prospects of Christian-Muslim Dialogue,” distinctly because I am not a theologian, but a crafter and student of narrative. Or, better yet, the art of narrative—meaning there is an act of creation necessary when humans engage in the parsing and ultimate sharing of narratives.

In his essay, Hunt purports that a deeper understanding of narratives will allow for more substantial, bridge-building dialogue between Muslims and Christians (he specifies that “Christian” is just one lens here, and that the narrative approach to dialogue could and should work for any non-Muslim group). As he explicitly says, “It is the thesis of this paper that understanding Muslim (and Christian) identity in terms of narrative will provide a more illuminating and fruitful basis for engaging in interfaith dialogue…” (Hunt 2010)