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Jurnal
Teologi
KERAJAAN ALLAH DALAM DUA
WAJAH
STEPANUS ISTATA RAHARJO DATANGNYA RATTI ADILDAN KERA,JAAN ALLAHPEWARISAN DAN PENDIDIKAN IMAN ANAK
SEBAGAI
OKTAVIANUS HERY SETYAWAN TANGGUNG JAWAB ORANGTUA MENURUT ECCLESIA DOMESTICASTUDI KA5U5 PAROKI SANTO YOSEP PURWOKERTO T!MUR
EFEKTIVITAS SISTEM LINGKUNGAN BAGI PENGEMBANGAN UMAT BERIMAN SESUAI KDPL KEUSKUPAN AGUNG SEMARANG
SPI RITUAL!TA5 TH ERES IA DARI KANAK. KANAK YES US
DAN WAJAH SUCI STUDI ATAS KETERKAITAN ANTARA PENGENALAN DAN PENGHAYATAN SPIRITUALITAS KONGREGASI SUSTER.SUSTER ABDI KRISTUS
.
MULTIPLE RELIGIOUS BELONGING AND THE NEW WAY OF DOING THEOLOGY
IMAM MENGHADIRKAN KRISTUS DALAM GEREJA MELALUI KEPEMIMPINAN MANAJERIAL PAROKIAL STUDI KEPEMIMPINAN PASTOR PAROK! DI PAROKITRINITAS CENGKARENG MASA BAKTI 2011.2011
PERAN BUDAYA DALAM KEHIDUPAN BERACAMA
.
KAJIAN ATAS KEHIDUPAN BERAGAMA UMAT KATOLIK SUNDA.
DI CIGUGUR.
PLURALITAS PEMAHAMAN AKAN IDENTITAS GEREJA KATOLIKPERKEMBANGAN PEMBARUAN EKLESIOLOGI GEREJA KATOLIK ROMA
ANDREAS BUDIYO
MARGARETA DWIWAHYUNI
ALEXANDER HENDRA DWI ASMARA
ALOYSIUS WAHYU NUGROHO
CORNELIUS IMAN SUKMANA
FRANSIsKUs PURWANTO
ToL03, No.02, November 2014, hlm. 153-164
MULTIPLE RELIGIOUS BBLONGING AND THE NEW
WAY
OF
DOING THEOLOGY
Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara
ABSTRACT:
Realitas tentang identitas keagamaan ganda telah membawa teologi Kristiani menuiu pada arah yang baru, yatmi teologi lintas-iman, teologi yang bertumpu pada konteks da-ripada tel<s, pengalaman daripada pemikiran yang abstrak. Identitas keagamaan ganda
telah menjadi bahan trajian teologis. Namun, kajian teologis kerap
kali
berhenti padaabstral<si yang
jauh
dari kenyataan. Makn, analis atas pengalaman nyata dari pelaku keagamaan ganda akan memberi nuansa baru pada kaiian teologis tersebut. Tulisan ini membahas kompleksitas istilah keagamaan ganda dqn analisis teologis atas fenomenatersebut. Analisis atas pengalaman konlcret
dari
individu dan kelompok yang memiliki identitas keagamaan ganda pada bagian akhir dari tulisan ini menjadi bentuk terapan teologis.Key Words:
Multiple religious, methodolo gy, context, doing theolo gy.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The history of theology shows the shift of its focus and discussion as a response to new
ques-tions in each different time. In this recent time, the phenomenon
of
multiple religious belongingof-fers
a
new contextof
theology,a
"sign
of
the time" asit
were, where the Churchis
striving tosee "what the Spirit is saying to her" (Apoc.2:7) through this situation. Multiple religious belong-ing shows a new theological concern where plural-ity of religions deeply influences Christianity:
Theology
is
movingtoward
a
Pluri-confessional theology that we could also call inter-religious or multi-religious, or (always
paymg attention to the nuances of the word) trans-religious. There are those who also
'
speak of a post-religional theology (religiousbut beyond the religions, on a level that is
!
deeper), secularin
that sense, and with aplanetary awareness in this new knowledge society that in some way is being brought
about little
by
littleall
across the planet, even in those places where they think it isn't evident.lThis phenomenon raises a question for
theolo-gy:
Why
could therenot be an
inter-religious,multi-faith
theology?The
"world
theology," atheology that is multi-religious, global, planetary
which
is
more than "interreligious," something also more than a theology pointed toward a preoc-cupationfor
"interreligious dialoguewill
be the concern for theology."2Jacques Dupuis and Aloysius Pieris are among the theologians who have responded to this issue. Their theological project aims
to
build
an open theology, a theology that gives emphasis on reli-gious pluralism, including on the issue of multiple religious belonging. Arguing from the inclusivistpoint
of
view, Dupuis'
Trinitarian Christology offers a doctrinal approach for multiple religious belonging; meanwhile, Pieris offersa
symbiosis approach anda
strong critiqueof
inclusivism.Multiple Religious Belonging and The New Way of Doing Theology (Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara)
Thus, Pieris develops an inductive theology, aris-ing out
of
and respondingto
everyday encounter among religions.He
argues that religion ryould not need to be brought into dialogue; they are dia-logical and identities would not need to be multi-plied; they are multiple.3 These theologians show different approach: Dupuis represents the religious elite, for he approaches the issue as an intellectual problem; while Pieris is recognized as the practi-cal theologian on account of his solidarity with thepoor.4
Multiple religious belonging
is
not simply atheoretical object which manifests in a doctrinal or intellectual level, but
it
is
a lived experience; anexpression of ordinary people. Van Braght points out that the phenomenon of multiple religious be-longing
in
Asiais
their everyday cross-religious participation.5 Thus, their experiences of multiple religious belonging involve more with the practic-es, symbols, meditations, prayers, chants rather thanthe
theologicaland
doctrinal issue.6 The theological issue is not absent from their experi-ence, butit
is usually a secondary concern. Their experiences certainlygive
another perspective beyond the level of religious elites in the doctrinal reflections of theologians since there are real and fluid practices of the "masses" than can shed lightas well.
The following
paperwould
like
to
discuss multiple religious belonging through theological lens, especiallyin
Dupuis and Pieris' theological works. However, since multiple religiousbelong-ing
is
not simply an abstract reality but a living experience, this paper would like to offers a theo-logical analysis to the real issues, the o'grassroots" experiencesof
ordinary people who deeply prac-tice multiple religious belonging so that based on that analyses, an actual and concrete reflection can be formulated.2.
MULTIPLE
RE,LIGIOUS
BELONG,
ING: THE CATEGORY AND ITS
COMPLEXITY
The core idea
of
"multiplereligious
elong-ing"
primarily refersto
peopleof
faith whoen-gage
in
the communities and practicesof
more than one religious tradition.T However, since the phenomenonof
multiple religious belonging isexperienced differently and the field research is so
widely dispersed, there are various interpretations on this new phenomenon.
It
is regarded as a termfor 'New Age"
syncretism and"dual
identity"(self-identification)
with no
referenceto
institu-tional belonging,s a hybrid religiositye, a processof building Christian identitylO, a process that prr-supposes interreligious dialogue,ll a form of
re-sistance
to
the
authoritativefigure
and other Thus, to find a precise definition which represints various interpretations seems overconfidence.To solve this difficulty, I
will
refers to Cath:-rine Cornille's approach. Comille uses a range 11degrees or scale where each may be seen as bipc-lar, having two extremes (a "non-ideal soft weal
implicit" and an "ideal strong hard explicit" forr'
of multiple religious belonging), between which r range
of
options exists.It
variesfrom
a
lighl-hearted flirting with different religions to a seriouscommitment to more than one tradition.l2
At
th. soft pole of the scale is New Age spirituality,i:
which the absolute truth claims of all institutionai ized formsof
religion is rejected; thusit
can b: understood as the absence ofreligious belonging In this soft scaleof
multiple religious belonging"there are no conscious identification
with
areL-gious community and recognition by that corrmlh.
nity as a member.
At
the hard poleof
scale, one finds a stron5sense of multiple religious belonging, namely har-ing two equally strong religious identities simulta-neously. In this point, we can cite the famous
sel,t-describing words
of
RaimundoPanikkar:"I
'lefr" as a Christian, 'foundmyself
a Hindu andI
're-turn'
as a Buddhist, without having ceased to b=Christian."l3
It
is
an
ideal sense, as CatherinoCornille points out, which demands a total
com-mitment and willingness to adopt and live the
be-liefs, moral rules, rituals, and monastic practicei
of
religious traditions other than hisor
her ouz religion.la In other words,it
is more than a"sut-jective sense
of
sympathyor
endorsementof
:selective number
of
beliefs and practices.It
ir-volves the recognition
of
one's religious identilby the tradition itself and the disposition to subd: to the condition for membership as delineated b1
that tradition."ls Religious belonging is about th; complete surrender
of
one's ownwill
and judg-ment to a truth and power that lies beyond orbe-neath one's ovtm rational and personal judgment. In my opinion, Robert Schreiter also offers
i
significant interpretation on multiple religiousbe-longing as he is able to bring the issue in relatior
with Christian identity. For him, this phenomenor
is
a partin
the processof
forming the Christiar identity.l6 The formationof
Christian identityir-volves three types: formation through resistance"
through hybridity, (including syncretism and
mul-tiple
religious belonging)
and
from
Itol.03, No.02, November 2014, hlm. 153-164
is formed from an erasure of a boundary between
two
religious entities and a redrawingof
a new boundarywhich
involvestwo
other processes:syncretistic process and multiple religious
belong-ing.18 Syncretism is connected to the issue of puri-ty and fidelity where a syncretistic community has
become impure and apostate due
to
their falling away from the true faith or true religion.19Meanwhile,
multiple religious
belonging touches the issueof
identityin
a pluralistic con-text, which can be divided into three types:(1)
those where Christianity and theother religion are perceived as two distinct
religious
tradition
with
both
beingpracticed side by side; people follow both
sets of rituals and see no contradiction in
doing so; (2) those where Christianity is primary, with some selection
of
elements from second religious tradition, which is nonethelesspracticed
separately fromChristianity;
(3)
those where
it
is necessaryto
practice
other
religious traditionin
orderto
practice Christianity deeply ("Can one really be Burmese or Thai without being Buddhist?").20Schreiter argues that the practice
of
multiple religious belonging shows the mutual relationship where religions mutually enrich in order to deepenthe faith. Paul F. Knitter in his book Wthout Bud-dha
I
Could Not Bea
Christian shares the sameidea that how his understanding of particular ide-as, doctrines and practices
of
Christianity were challenged, enhanced and given fresh meaning after learning about and experiencing analogous ideas, doctrines and practices of Buddhism.2l The Christian identity deepen through the encounter with other religious traditions.ln
Schreiter's perspective, multiple religious belonging doesnot
primarily mean that people "belong"to
multiple
religionsin
the
standardsense of adding or simply combining several
affil-iations, but
it
means that people of faith construct their senseof
religious belonging using beliefs, expressions and practices of various religiousha-ditions, without
even bothering whether they wouldlike to
be
recognized as "belonging" to those traditions by the traditions themselve s-22 In other words, multiple religious belonging begins by choosing or rooting in a single tradition, while seeking its constant transformation by the inspira-tion of others.23Peter C. Phanviews that multiple religious be-longing shows the absence of one exclusive
affili-ation
to
a
certair,or
single religion, but this ab-sence does not necessarily indicate an absenceof
religious commitment.
In
fact, multiple religious commitment is necessary as the way of deepening and enriching one's religionor
mutual comple-mentarity among religions. To belong to aparticu-lar religion does not necessarily involves
exclud-ing
alternative religious options,but
acceptanceand tolerance.
In
the
Church history, Christian identity is formed not by excluding but includingthe Jewish and Roman traditions.
To conclude the discussion, there are several important points that can be observed. First, there
is a gap between the lived reality of multiple reli-gious belonging and the theological discourse on it. The various interpretations shows that there are
various forms and experiences
of
this phenome-non. Therefore, what we needis
a theology that can bridge this gap: theology thatput
emphasismore on the context (the "sign of time") than the text (the Bible and the Tradition). The inductive theology
is
more preferablein
this context. The negative appreciationto
the reality
of
multiple religious belonging certainly is caused by the lack of appreciation on the practical level.Second, theological question on whether
mul-tiple religious belonging
is
possibleor
coherent from a dogmatic standpointis still
relevant con-cern. The growing numberof
the
adherentsof
multiple religious belonging shows that there areneeds
for
theological reflections and guidelines. Therefore,in
the following part,I
would like to discuss theological perspectives andits
develop-mentin
discussing the phenomenonof
multiple religious belonging.3.
DUPUIS' AND
PIERIS' THEOLOGI.
CAL
RESPONSEDupuis' doctrinal approach and Pieris' practi-cal approach represent general theological
obser-vation
to
this
phenomenon.Dupuis'
theology maintains the uniqueness and universality of JesusChrist and at the same time, offer an acceptable
account
for
complementarityand
convergence. Pieris begins his theology from his own experi-ence as dual belonger,a
Christian-Buddhist be-liever, and gives analysisof
mutual enrichment between Buddhism and Christianity.3.1. Jacques
Dupuis
andTrinitarian
Chris-tology
For Dupuis, the key point of doing theology in p,pluralistic context
is
the deep experience andrelationship with other religions
in
dailylife,
notMultiple Religious Belonging qnd The New Way of Doing Theology (Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara)
with propositions and theories. Its point of depar-ture
is
a practiceof
inteneligious dialogue itself which helpsfor
Christian interpretationgf
reli-gious plurality.In
other words, theology must beattentive
to
three hermeneutical process, namely text or the "given" faith, contemporary historical context and today'i interpreter.2a Theology is not circular, but triangular: going from the"text"
of
the Christian memory
in
sacred scripture andsa-cred tradition (including the magisterium); to the
"context" of the surroundirtg religio-cultural
reali-ty;
to the "interpreter" which is the local church. Therefore, Dupuis bringsthe
necessityof
notjudging deductively but theologizing inductively
on the mater.
For Dupuis, the conditions for the possibility
of
multiple religious belonging can be based ondoctrinal
teaching,in
Christological teaching. Dupuis' Christology is a Christology in a Trinitar-ian perspective which gives benefit in allowing usto "recognize the ongoing presence and activity
of
the Word of God and of the Spirit
of
God which make it possible to affirm a multiplicityof
'ways' and 'routes' toward human salvation."2s Theele-ments of truth and grace in other religions (AG 9) permit for "mutual complementarity" which is no
other than a form of multiple religious belonging. Dupuis
is
ableto
affirm
that multiple religious belonging is theologically necessaryto
Christian by revisiting teachingin
Christology and Trinity. Dupuis goes deeper to offer a new model ofmul-tiple
religious belonging called mutual comple-mentarity.Dupuis' Christology primarily aims
to
move beyondthe
traditional perspectivein
Christian theology of religions, called the fulfillment theol-ogy. The fulfilment theologyis
the extensionof
the fulfilment
of
the Old Covenantby
Christ, to the fulfilmentof
other religions [religious plural-ism]by
Christ.26 Its core argument is that other religious traditions finds their fulfilment inChris-tianity, the locus
of
Jesus Christ. Other religions function as merely a human stepping stone which must eventually befulfilled by
Christianity. The fulfilment theologyfails
to
create condition for interreligious relationship,since
"Christianitywould have nothing
to
receive but onlyto
give, nothing to leam but only to teach."21Dupuis argues for a mutual fulfilment or
mu-tual
enrichment between Christianity and other religions where each participant can be enrichedand strengthened in their faith in God.28 To pursue this mutual fulfilment, Dupuis focus on a model
of
Trinitarian Christologywhich affirms
"the
ele-ments of truth and grace" in other religions (AG 9)
from which Christians can learn and be enriched.
A
Trinitarian Christology allows us to "recognize the ongoing presence and activity of the Wordof
God and
of
the Spiritof
Godin
other religious traditions."2g Trinitarian approach focuses on thereal distinction between the three persons
of
theTrinity, which means that one person of the Trini-ty cannot be reduced to or subordinated to another.
If
thereis
"real differentiation and plurality" be-tween the Word of God in Jesus and the Spiritof
God in other religions we can expect that the reli-gions are going
to
have "different" and "new" things to tell Christians.30Thereforeo
if
non-Christian religions contain an "element of truth and grace" through the work of the Word and the Spirit andif
they may be con-sidered ways of salvation from which Christianitycan and should benefit through dialogue, then there should be no theological objection against
someone wishing to be a Christian and at the same
time following some doctrinal teachings and
reli
gious practices of other religions, as long as theseare
not
patently contradictoryto
Christian faith and moral. Thereis no
theological objection to commit oneselfto
other religious traditions sincethe true aspects of the divine mystery can so stand
out and be expressed in other traditions that even Christians
can
profit
from
contactand
self-immersion with them.Dupuis argues for inclusive pluralism, a
mod-el
that qualifu the pluralistic approachwith
theinclusivist argument that Christ event as the
un-surpassable reference point for God's dealing with humanity.
It
combines the universal God's savingwill
with the Christ event as the centerof
God'splan of salvation. Thus, God is revealed in, but not
exhausted by, Christianity. Christians do not
"pos-sess a monopoly
of
truth."3l Inclusive pluralism leadsto
a
relational convergenceof
religions which brings to mutual religious belonging.Mutual interaction and enrichment on an equal footing is the inevitable reality for to-day and all the days to come. Different
reli-gions
will
contribute to each other inarriv-ing at the content of the faith-experience of
each. The different 'paths' are no more
en-tirely different, isolated paths. Each path
be-..
comes a path by receiving insights fromoth-er paths. Hence, the important point is the
question of the uniqueness of one path as
compared to other paths does not arise any
more. Now, what we are interested in is the
to-Yol.
0i,
No. 02, November 2014, hlm. 153-164gether for the emergence of the creatively
new in each ofthe earlier paths.32
"Complementartty" is understood here not in the sense
of
the fulfillment theory according to which Christian truth 'brings to completion'in
aone- sided process the.fragmentary truths
it
finds sown outside. Rather, "complementarity" refers to "an exchange and a sharingof
saving values or adynamic interaction between Christianity and oth-er religion.33Dupuis is open tci the possibility that some aspects of the divine mystery may be found
stressed more vividly in other religions than in the
Christian revelation. This therefore calls for inter-religious dialogue
in
which participants may findtheir own faith stimulated and deepened by anoth-er's. For Dupuis, the process
of
dialogue is two-way.It
is therefore possible that Christianitywill
find its own fulfillment through engagement with other traditions.By focusing on the mutual com-plementarity among religions, Dupuis opens up the possibility
of
adopting andliving
out
other beliefs.For Dupuis, the reality
of
multiple religious belonging can be a partial anticipation of the fuIlrecapitulation in Christ
if
all religions, whichwill
only be disclosed at the end
of
time.3a Learningfrom the example
of
HenriLe
Saux (Abhishik-tanada) and the conceptof
Christ the Omega inTeilhard de Chardin, Dupuis concludes that the
complementarity among religions is a teleological convergence that "the Church must never cease to grow toward her Fullness through encounter with other faiths."35 Jesus Christ is the aims, the telos where
all
religions convergein
Him, the fullest and deepestof
God's self-communicationto
hu-man beings.
Dupuis theology
of
religions centersits
dis-cussion on the Cbristological perspective that the humanityof
Jesus Christ opento
the unlimited work of the Word among religions. The criticsof
Dupuis is particularly on his a priori approach that bring the asymmetrical principle. For Dupuis, theinevitable consequence of his inclusivist
perspec-tive brings to the centrality
of
Christ as the "cul-minatingpoint"
for all
religions. Therefore, themutual relationship between Christianity and other religions is asymmetrical relationship. This means
that the acknowledgement
of
additional andau-tonomous values
of
truth and gracein
the other religions doesnot
cancel out the unsurpassabletranscendence
of
God's
revelationand
self-,communicationin
the person and workof
JesusChrist.36
3.2. Aloysius
Pieris
Aloysius Pieris has acknowledged
that
his theologyis
inspiredby two
fundamental experi-encein
Asia: his immersionin
Buddhist studies and his exposure to Asia's massive poverty.3T For Pieris, Christianitywill
achieve real inculturationin
Asia and becomeof
Asia only by receMng adouble baptism: at the "Jordan of Asian
Religiosi-ty"
and on the "Calvaryof
Asian Poverty." Thefirst baptism aims to enter the deep encounter with Asian religiosity and leam from it; meanwhile the
second is the option of the Church toward the poor and oppressed people in Asia. These are the basic themes
running
throughoutPieris'
theological works.Some theologians
dwelling
on the
subject such as Dupuis and Phan cite Pieris as a strong proponent, even as a pioneer and a modelof
thephenomenon
of
multiple religious belonging. In the contextof
Sri Lanka the question can be for-mulated as, can therebe
hyphenated religiousidentity
suchas
Buddhist-Christianor
Hindu-Christian? Pieris central argumentson
multiple religious belonging can be seenin
several points. Firstofall,
Pieris offers a "core to core" dialogue, a"communicatio in sacris" in which Christianity's teachingswill
be enrichedby
Buddhism'steach-ing
and vice versa. Secondly, Pieris also insists more strongly on the uniqueness of religious tradi-tions, yet he aimsfor a
"symbiosis"of
mutual work and instruction, a symbiotic multiple belong-ing.Pieris focuses
to
build the
Churchof
Asia through "the Jordan baptism" to be truly incultur-atedwith
the Asian religions.It
means that for Pieris, interreligious engagementis
not
much about intricate doctrines and histories,but
it
isabout concrete relationship. One cannot build rela-tion only through texts and theories, but
it
is pos-sible only under the tutelageof
an experienced guide, through a baptismin
the Jordan, through tradition, rites and practices. On this level, Pieris calls the inteneligious dialogue a communicationin
sacris, a religious communication through the total immersion in the religious practice and learn-ing the language. However, the truly interreligious dialogue is when on penetrate the experientiallev-el
to
the core level and build o'coreto
core dia-logue."39 Pieris points out his immersion in Bud-dhism brought him to experience the necessityof
a "coreto
core" dialogue between Christianity's agape and Buddhism's gnosis andvice
versa.Love (agape)and wisdom (gnosis) are not mutual-trfexclusive; rather agape and gnosis are each by
Multiple Religious Belonging and The New Way of Doing Theology (Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara)
itself
inadequateto
experience and express theUltimate and therefore need each other.3e
What must be borne
in
mind is tfiat bothgnosis and agape are necessary precisely be-cause each in itself is adequate as a mediung
not only for experiencing but also for
ex-pressing our intimate moments with the Ul-timate Source
of
Liberation. They are, in other words, complementary idioms thatneed each other
to
mediatethe
self-transcending experience called "salvation."
Any valid spirituality, Buddhist or Christian,
as the history of each religion attests, does
retain both poles of experience
-
namely the gnostic and the agapeic.The dialogue with a Buddhist is not "from the
core
of
Christianity" but"with
the coreof
Bud-dhism."4o Thus, Pieris has provided a more com-pelling foundation for multiple religious belongingas he encourages the internalization
of
those two poles of which Christianity and Buddhism. Pieris affirms the multiplicityof
cores not just the coreof Christianity.
Pieris argues that each religion constitutes
ir-reducible differences; therefore the goal
in
an in-terreligious encounteris
neither syncretism nor synthesis but rather symbiosis.al Pieris avoids theterms "s1mcretism," and "synthesis"
in
interreli-gious encounter because they tendto
imply theviolation of the unique individual identity of each
tradition and because they gloss over differences. Syncretism, as Pieris identifies, is an unsystematic way
of
mixing of religions according to thepref-erence or convenience of a person or group.
Simi-larly, Pieris call synthesis, the creation
of
some-thing
altogethernew
out
of
two
religions (or more) which destroys the uniqueness and identityof
the original religions. The term "syrnbiosis" pointing out to a process of mutual supportive re-lations among religions withoul degrading one's religious traditions. Symbiosisis
a movement inwhich
membersof
different religionslive
and work togetherin
basic human communities (andnot just base Christian coflrmunities) especially in favor with the poor.a2
Pieris,
in
contrast to the Dupuis' principleof
asymmetry, offers symbiosis
of
religions thatef-fects one's
conversionto
thespiritual heritage cofilmonto all
religions (beatitudes) and also aconversion to the specificity (uniqueness) of one's own religion as dictated
by
other religionists intheir
common strugglefor
total
liberation. The principle of asymmeky entails that other religious traditions find their fuIfilment in the revelationof
God in Jesus Christ.
It
holds together, at once, themutual complementarity and asymmetry of God's revelation and salvation between the Christ-event
and
other divine
manifestationsto
huuran-kind.a3However, Pieris,
in
contrast,in
his
ap-proach of symbiosis of religions strictly maintains the irreducible, nonnegotiable and distinct'ocore"
of
each and every religion. Elisabeth Harris, rec-ognizing Pieris' rootedness in his Christian faith, comments on Pieris' position concerning multipleand double religious belonging as follows:
Pieris
in
fact holds together the need forrootedness
in
one retgious tradition and need for a plurality of insights into Truth. It is not a case of multiple belonging or dualbelonging but a search for the Word that
goes beyond structures, mediated through
the language of one's own faith in encounter
with that of others.
It
is this, perhaps, thatthe Sri Lankan experience can offer to this debate.
Pieris criticizes Dupuis' principle
of
"mutual-asymmetrical-complementarity" sincethis
posi-tion runsin
the directionof
"fulfillment theory" that asserts the elements of "truth and grace" (AG. 9) present in other religions finding their fullnessin
the mysteryof
JesusChrist.
For Pieris, theidentities
of
all
religionsat
the
corelevel
are"multiple"
expressedin
the
two
liberative lan-guages, namely, "Wisdom" and "Love." Never-theless, each religion legitimately usesits
domi-nant idiomatic language, though not exclusively, to communicate their unique experience oflibera-tion and their religious identity. Thus, Pieris does
not see himself as multiple belongers. He seems
uninterested indescribing himself as
a
Christian-Buddhist, rather, his goal is to encounter a deeperunderstanding and engage
in
a richer practiceof
Christianity.aa
4.
THE
GRASSROOTSSTORIES OF
MULTIPLE RELIGIOUS
BELONC-ING
Theological
and
academicals analysespre-sented above help us to entff into another level
of
discussion, the living experience of ordinary peo-ple. Different frbm theological approach, the focus in this part is in the living experiences, the "grass-roots stories"
of
the ordinary peoplein
Indonesia which certainlywill
deepen the discussion in this issue. There are two stories presentedin
thispa-per: the first story is an individual story
of
a fe-male students who deeply engage in multipleYol. 0i, No. 02, November 2014, hlm. 153-164
beliefs which have been discriminated by the In-donesian government.
The first story is a story ofone of my students who belong
or
commit herselfto two
differentbeliefs : Catholic and PangudiRahayuningB aw arra,
called Paraba, a local belief system in Central
Ja-va. Paraba, a Javanese mystical belief, was
initiar
ed by R. Soetisno
in
1959 as the result of his spir-itual journey seeking God's will. At the beginning,he actually did not want to begin a religious group or a sect; however, in order to get protection and
appreciation from the govemment, on December 7th,1959, Soetisno formally established Paraba in Semarang,
Central
Java. Nowadays, hundreds members of Paraba's believers have spread acrosslndonesia.The central teaching
of
Parabais
self-awareness that human personis
God's creation; thus they must seek and direct theirlife to
God Himself. For Paraba, the fullnessof
God-human relationship is attained through spiritual exercises,like
meditation, fasting and praying. Paraba be-lieves in God as Tri Purusha, namely God as theUlimate Reality, God as the Ultimate Teacher and
God as the Holy Spirit which point out the func-tional reality of God in God relationship with
hu-man beings.a5
In the interview, she shared that she began his joumey as Paraba's believer when she was in
Jun-ior High School at the age
of
14. She was inspired by her father who was Paraba's believer; thus shedecided to
join
their ritual and committed to their teachings. She certainly does not begin hermulti-p1e belonging in intellectual and theological level, but in her daily life together with her parents and
neighbor who are the adherent of this belief.
It
is interestingto
noticethat her
awarenessto
thetheological
"conflict,"
as
it
were, comes later when she begins her study in a Catholic school.Another story
I
wantto
show perhaps thecommon situation
in
Indonesia regardingto
thelocal religions and their believers, where they are
practicing,at the same time, the local religious tra-ditions and Indonesian "formal" religion.a6 This multiple religious belonging is a solution or nego-tiation since the Indonesian govemment "forca"
all crtizen to embrace formal religions. There are
cases
of
the
adherentsof
AratSabulungan in Mentawai, SundaWiwitanin
Kuningan, Kaharin-ganin
Palangkaraya and Marapuin
Sumba who have to practice his/her loca1 and formal religionsaltogether.aT Based on the government regulation
UU
Nomor
1/PNPS/1965, the adherentsof
thelocal beliefs had to choose "folrnal" religions.as
It
is
interestingto
noticetheir
opinions regardingthis multiple religious belonging. Most
of
thesedual belongers are able
to
integrate this duality. They share that their local beliefs are more like aculture, a way of life than a religion with structur-al entity which can be "mixed" with Christianity and Hinduism without any theological and ptacti-cal problems. Other share that their local beliefs are their primary religion; meanwhile, the formal
religion
is
the secondary that hasto
adjust andadopt the primary religion. They argue that their
local beliefs are deeply rooted and determined their identity as a human person. Moreover, their local beliefs are more appropriate for their culture and situation than the "export" religions. Other also say that syncretism is the way out to deal with
this
duality. The blending andmixing
of
both teachings are inevitable consequencein
the
fu-ture.49
Arr,lyzng the Grassroots Stories:The
Multi-ple Religious Belonging's and Its Challenges
Rose Drew shows that there are two-fold chal-lenges facing one as a multiple religious belonger. First, one must find satisfactory ways
of
integrat-ing the Christian wayof
thinking and being andthe local belief way
of
thinking and being.Sec-ond, one must, at the same time ensure that the
unique character, insight and integrity ofeach tra-dition is preserved and what is special and atttac-tive about each is not 1ost.50
In
other words, thechallenge
is
on howto
integrate both traditions without losing the identity of each traditions.The key point in my analysis in the first story is that Paraba is considered as a way of life, a
Ja-vanese mysticism which focuses more on the
es-sence of the inner man (spirituality) than doctrinal teachings. Mysticism
is
different from monothe-ism. The logic of monotheism seems quite impos-sible to have multiple religious commitment, par-ticularly in its "oneness" paradigm: "Their mono-theistic (Abrahamic faiths) character encourages all of them to call for the primary commitmentof
their members which means demands total com-mitment, a singular identity.sl Phanalso points out how multiple religious belonging creates a prob-lem when it meets with monotheist religion:Multiple religious belonging emerges as a
problem only in religions that demand an ab-solute and exclusive commitment on the part "
of their adherents. This seems to be the case
with the "Religions of the Book" namely
Ju-dasim, Christianity and Islam. Not so with
most other religions, particularly in Asia, in
.
Hinduism, Buddhisnq Taoism and other1o-'
cal beliefs.J2Multiple Religious Belanging and The New Way of Doing Theologt (Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara)
In
my interview, she shares that therelation-ship between Paraba and Christianity
is
.not acompetitive relationship but mutual comp lem en
ta-rity:
"Parabais
the inner
essence; meanwhile, Christianityis
the
outer entity.
Both
are
im-portance and complementarity each other."53 Sheexperiences that Paraba enrich Christian faith in many ways. First, Paraba enrich her Christian spir-ituality through the practice
of
meditation (sujudand semedi) and fasting. Second, Paraba deepens her understanding
on
Christian's teachings. For example, the law of love in Christianity is anab-stract commandment. However, Paraba makes
it
clearer by giving concrete ways
in
loving others.Meanwhile, Christianity contributes to the
adher-ents
of
Paraba a conceptof
personal God, JesusChrist
who
is
immanent and transcendent. Shehonestly says that Christianity's strong monothe-ism centered on the oneness of God, Jesus Christ
has helped her to find God as an immanent figure who is very close and real. She shares that com-mitting to Christianity and Paraba have helped her to be more faithful and mature as a person.
In
the second case,in
the multiple religious belonging caseof
Arat
Sabulungan believers inMentawai, Christianity is considered as the inclu-sive rcligion which can embrace and tolerate the
local
beliefs more than other formal religions. Therefore, they prefer Christianity as the second-ary religion. However, different from the previouscase, believers of AratSabungan and Marapu em-brace Christianity due to the govemment policy.sa They do not have freedom to choose. In the case
of postcolonial studies, their multiple belonging is a survival strategy,
a form
of
resistance against colonialism's projectof
domination andefface-ment.Ss Their experience shows another model
of
multiple religious belonging called the "hybrid," a
model for multiple religious belonging where the identity of these hybrids is both double and partial. Hybrid identity is double because
it
affrmsmulti-ple realities;
it
is
partral becauseit
never com-pletely at home in any of them.56 They neverreal-ly
synthesizeor
make agreementto
bridge both religious traditions. They do not resolve the ten-sions between traditions even though they engageto
both
traditionin
their
{aily
life.
Thus, forAratSabungan and Marapu believers, their multi-ple belonging does not reach a significant mutual complementarity as it happens in the first case.
Multiple Religious Belonging is Not "spiritu-al Marketplace".
A
critical perspective considers that this reality as syrnptoms of a postunodern wayof thinking, particularly
in
a New Age religiosity characteizedby
individual autonomy andrejec-tion of all truth-claims of religions; a shallow con-sumer
culture through
derisive metaphors oishopping in the spiritual marketplace.5TMulti reli-gious identities are sometimes seen as, or
associ-ated with, a superficial "pick and
mix"
approachto religion, to what Peter Phancallsa "postmodern-formof syncretism
in
which a person looks uponvarious religions as
a
supermarket"from
which one selects what ever one likes, "without regardto... truth value sand mutual compatibilities. " 58
However, from the two cases,
I
can conclude that multiple religious belonging is not a superfi-cial attitude as a symptom of New Age religiositycharacterized by "believing without belonging." In fact, there are several points that show a deep
the-ological
commitment exceedingthe
negativejudgment given by some theologians. In this
anal-ysis, I would like to focus on the first story,
Chris-tian-Paraba believer.
First, both cases demonstrates that
it
is possi-ble to be immersedin
two traditions and to takethe demands
of
both traditions seriously without reservation. The fact that they have committed toboth traditions
for
many years certainty provides evidence that they do not simply superficially pickand mix without commitments.
Second, multiple religious belonging
is
not duality in faith. Based on my interview in thefrst
story, she does not think that she has dual faith combined together,
but
she considersit
as onefaith
inspired, transformed and deepenedby
theother. She does not see it as duality in religions, an "either/or"
way
of
thinking.As
Kwok
Pui-Lan views that multiple religious belonging begins by choosingor
rootingin a
single tradition, while seeking its constant transformation by the inspira-tion of others.se In the same way, Schreiter views that multiple religious belonging does notprimari-ly mean that people "belong" to multiple religions in the standard sense of adding or simply combin-ing several affiliations, but it means that people
of
faith construct their sense
of
religious belonging using beliefs, expressions and practices ofvariousreligious
traditions,
without even
botheringwhether they would like to be recognized as "be-longing" to those traditions by the traditions them-selves. The primary identity
is
her local beliefs (Parabp) as she were born on that religious tradi-tions, while their secondary identityis
Christian. Following Claude Geffre argument, there is inex-tricable union between religion and culture,espe-cially in Asia and hence on the person's identity as
Yol. 03, No. 02, November 2014, hlm. 15i-|64
transformed and inspired
by
her Christiantradi-tion. Meanwhile,
for
AratSabungan and Marapu believers, Christianity playsa
function as other identity which affirms their primary identity. ktother words, the mingling
of
multiple traditionsfor Marapu and AratSabungan can be a means
of
affrrmingtheir
marginalized identity asa
local belief. Christian's identity helps them to be recog-nized and affirmed as legal religions.Third, there is a possibility for multiple reli-gious belonging
to
aniveata coherent world- viewand self-understanding informed
by
both
tradi-tions. In the first case, the common element is theconcept
of
God as Tri Purusha which, according to her, is very close to the concept of the Trinity. Tri Purusha believes that God has three functions:God
asthe
Ultimate Reality,Go
asthe
True Teacher and God as theHoly
Spirit. These threeGod's manifestation is easily to be understood as
the Christian's Trinity.
What
is
the Contributionsof
MultipleReli-gious
Belongingto
Christianity?The
Church through the documentof
Pontifrcal Council for Culture entitled'o Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture" stresses the importance of dialogue with culture, for "faith that does not become culture is afaith not
fully
accepted, not entirely thought out, not faithfully lived."61 The Church acknowledges that human person are rooted in the culture. How-ever, the Church warns that human person are not totally determined by culture:It must also be admitted that man is not
ex-haustively defined
by
that same culture'Moreover, the very progress
of
cultures demonstrates that there is something in manwhich transcends those cultures. This
'some-thing' is precisely human nature: this nature is itself the measure of culture and the cond!
tion of ensuring that man does not become
prisoner ofany ofhis cultures, but asserts his
personal dignity
by
livingin
accordancewith with the profound truth of his being.
The Church open to dialogue with the culture
even though she also has the obligation to
evange-lize the culture and inculturate Christian faith into
culture.62
Multiple
religious belonging gives positive contributionsto
Christianity. Ffust, multiple reli-gious belonging deepensthe
spiritual aspectof
Christian faith. The values of meditation and fast-ing helps Christians to be more aware of the spir-'itual aspect in their faith. Christianity is too focuson the hierarchical, liturgical and doctrinal aspects
of
their faith and set aside the spiritual depthof
our inner being. Many people today are seeking a
new who lanes and that is why so many people are
turning to meditation, in need of "a time and place for quietness and spiritual nourishment." 63
Second, multiple religious belonging
encour-ages Christian to engage in interreligious dialogue. Raimundo
Paniktar
suggeststhat
interreligious dialogue presupposes intra-religious dialogue, apersonal encounter with other in the depth of the
heart by entering emphatically into the experience
of
the
other,or to
understandfrom
within'64 Therefore, multiple religious belonging is a formof
intra-religious dialogue which bringsto
ideal dialogue, a dialogue that begins not with theologi-cal conception, but with empathy and openness by deeply entering other way of thinking.Third, multiple religious belonging bring to the mutual transformation. The shock
of
the en-countffwith
other religious traditionswill
often raise question and force Christiansto
revisegra-tuitous
assumptions,and
destroy deep-rooted prejudiceof
overthrow certain narrow concep-tion.65It
brings towarda
deeper conversionof
each to God. The same God speaks in the heart
of
both partners; the same Spirit is at work at both. John Cobb contends thatif
Christianity is a livingmovement,
it
mustbe
readyto
learn
evenif
threatens my present belief.
5.
CONCLUSION
This paper begins with a simple statement that the phenomenon
of
multiple religious belonging brings us to the future of theology, a theology that multi-religious and multi-faith,a
theology that Christians-along with their brothers and sisters in other traditions- come to see themselves as heirs to the whole religious historyof
human kind andto
embrace,within
the contextof
dialogue, the challenge of working out how the insightsof
the various traditions of the world relate to each other. However, this future theology is not a set of theo-logical conception formulatedfrom
Biblical
or doctrinal teachings, butit
is a theological method-ology as a way of doing theology characterized by openness, empathyand
love
among religions. Therefore,by
focusing on the methodology, we choose to focus on the living experiences of peo-ple so that we can learn from the other, being chal-lenged and transformedby
the other uniqueness.This requires that theologians learn to be "system-atic without being systemic" and while holding on to their religious identity, they must engage
in
a "t[eology of dialogue," not merely build aMultiple Religious Belonging and The New Way of Doing Theology (Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara)
ogy
for
dialogue."66 The model that needs to bedeveloped in the multi religious context
...is not that of mutual assimilation through
a reduction offaith-content but that
ofinter-penetration and cross- fertilization of the var-ious traditions in their diversities; not a
lev-eling of religious identities but a dialogical openness and mutual enrichment through
conversation.6T
This paper also begins
with
the premise that multiple religious belonging is possible in the con-text of religious pluralism. However, as we moveto
a deeper discussion, isit
also desirable as theway people living their religions? Cornille argues
that multiple
religious belonging certainly cangive benefits in their religious life. However, this does not necessarily mean that
it
should or could be advocated as an ideal. Cornille is partly true that committing seriously and deeply into two or more religions would not be easy choice. But,if
we
reflecton
theliving
experienceof
ordinary people, committing to two or more religious tradi-tionsis
considered as wayof
life,
as the way todeepen personal faith and to build the community.
In
this ordinary experience, theology renews andbegins its reflection.
Alexander Hendra Dwi Asmara
Program Studi llmu Pendidikan Agama Katolik, Fakultas IKIP, Universitas Sanata Dharma
Yog-yaknrta, Email : hendrasj @gmail. com
ENDNOTE
I
Jose Maria Vigil, ed., Toward a PlanetaryTheolo-gy: Along the Many Paths of God (Montreal, Cana-da: Dunamis Publishers, 2010), 8.
2
Wilfred
CantwellSmith,
Towardsa
WorldTheologlt (Maryknoll,
NY:
Orbis, 1986),112.3
Devaka Premawardhana, "The UnremarkableHy-brid: Aloysius Pieris and the Redundancy of
Multi-ple Religious Belonging," tnJournal of Ecumenical
Studies, 46: 1, Winter 2011, 53.
a
Michelle Voss Robert, "Religious Belonging andthe Multiple," in Journal of Feminist Studies in
Re-ligion, Yol.26 (Spring 2010),47 and 60-61.
5
Van Bragt, Jan, "Multiple Religious Belonging ofthe Japanese People," in Catherine Cornille, (ed.),
Many Mansions? Muhiple Religious Belonging and Christian ldentity, (Maryknoll: Orbis 2003), 7-19.
6
Ibid., Devaka,49.7
Ibid, Voss Roberts, 44.8
Catherine Cornille, "Double Religious Belonging:Aspects and Questions,"
n
Buddhist-ChristianStudies, Y ol. 23 (2003), 43-49.
e
Tinu
Ruparell, "Interreligious Dialogue andInterstitial Theology
,"
in Catherine Cornille, ed..The Willey-Blaclapell Companion to Interreligious
Dialogue (NY: John Wiley & Sous. Ltd. Published.
2013),118.
10 Robert J. Schereiter, The New Catholicity: Theolog'
between the Global and the Local (MaryknolL N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1997),73-75.
1r Ibid.,Comille, "Double Religious Belonging: As-pects and Questions," 45.
12 lbid, 48.
13 RaimundoPanikkar, The Intrareligious Dialogue (New York: Paulist Press, 1978), 2
la
Peter C. Phan, "Multiple Religious Belonging:Op-portunities
and
Challengesfor
Theology andChurch,"
in
Being
R"eligious Inteneligiouslv (Mryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books), 2004,61.ls
CatherineCornille, "Introduction: The Dynamicot-Multiple Belonging," Many Mansions? Multiple
Re-ligious
Belonging
and
Christian
ldenfin(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003),3.
16 The core question in discussing multiple religiou:
belonging and its challenges
to
Christianidentitl-has been elaborated deeply by Peter C. Phan, Robert
C. Scbreiter, Jacques Dupuis, John Cobb, Jr,
Cathe-rine Cornille, Pieris and many other theologians.
l7
Formsof
resistance, especially "because powerplays such a strong role in cultural encounter, and because that encounter is often intrusive, unequal and violent, the reaction to the encounter isnot
in-frequently resistance.
A
second set of identityfor-mations might
be
called hybridities (explained above). A third formation of religious identity might be called hierarchical. By this is meant that churchleadership or its intellectual elite try to move the
cultural and religious mixing in a certain directiou.
(Robert
J.
Schereiter,The
New
Catholicin':Theologt between
the
Globaland the
Locai (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1997),73-75. 18 lbid,74.le
For a deeper discussion on syncretism, seeTinuRu-parell, "Interreligious Dialogue and Interstitial
The-ology,"
in
Catherine Cornille, ed., The Wille* Blachuell Companionto
Inteneligious Dialogut (NY: John Wiley& Sons. Ltd. Published, 2013) aniRobert J. Schreiter, Constructing Local Theologies
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1985), chapter 5 and 7.
20 Ibid.,schereiter, The New Catholicity,T5.
2l
Ibid.,Phan, "Multiple Religious Belonging," 69.22 Ibid.,Sck eiter, The N ew Catholicity,
7 3 -7 5.
23 Kwok Pui-Lan,"Interfaith Encounter,"
in
Arthw Holder, ed., the Blackwell Companion to Christior,Spirituality (USA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005). 534.
2a Jacques Dupuis, Toward
a
Christian Theology o.iReli gi ous P lur al is m, (NY : Marykno ll, 1997 ), 1 5 -20.
25 rbid,l64.
26 Adam Sparks, "The Fulfillment Theology of
Jean
Vol.03, No.02, November 2014; hlm, 153-164
28
29 30
ll
32
ll
34
35
36 37
39 40
4t
42 43 44 45
Blaclcfriars, Vol.89, Issue 1024, (November 2008), 634.
Dupuis, "Christianity and Religions:
Complementa-rity and Convergence," in Conrille, ed., Many
Man-sions? Multiple Religious Belonging and Christian
Identity (Maryknoll, NY; Orbis Books, 2002),65. Dupuis, Christianity
and the
Religions:From Confrontation to Dialogue (NY: Maryknol| 2003), 25Ibid, 144.
Ibid,206, 197-198.
Dupuis, Christianity
and the
Religions: FromConfrontation
to
Dialogue(NY:
Maryknoll,2003),382.
Ibid,345.
Dupuis, Christianity
and the
Religions: FromCo nfr o nt ati on to Di alo gue, 257
Kwok Pui-Lan, "Interfaith Encounter," 542. Voss, "Religious Belonging and the Multiple," 48.
Dupuis, Christianity
and the
Religions: From Confrontation to Dialogue, 256.See A. Pieris, "Two Encounters in My Theological Journey," tn Frontiers in Asian Christian Theologt: Emerging Trends,
ed. R. S.
Sugirtharajah(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1994),141-146.
FrederixGlorieux, "Does Christ Have
an
AsianFace? An Analysis of Aloysius Pieris' Theology
of
Religions," in Louvain Studies 30 (2005), 336. Peter C. Phan, "Jacques Dupuis and AsianTheolo-gies of Religious Pluralism," 77-78.
Ibid.,Devaka, 84.
Phan, "Multiple Religious Belonging: Opportunities
and Challenges for Theology and Church," 76.
rbid,77.
Dupuis, Christianity
and the
Religions:FromConfront ation to Di alo gue, 13 6 and 257
Ibid.,Devaka, 87.
Purwo Adi Prasetyo dan Waskito, Aiaran
Organ-isasi Penghayat Kepercayaan terhadap Tuhan Yang
Maha Esa Pangudi Rahayuning Bawana (Jakarta:
Depdikbud, 1996).
In this second grassroots story
I
primarily refer to Tempo Magaztne, "Yang Lokal, Yang Tersisih," 27 October-
2 November 2014, pp. 57-70.In Indonesia, this situation is very common when the government obligates the Indonesian citizens to
choose one formal religion. Many Indonesian who
are the adherents ofthe local religions are forced to
abandon their belief and they compromise it by pub-licly confessing the official religion, but privately practicing their local religion. (See Tempo
Maga-zine, "Yang Lokal, Yang Tersisih," 27 October
-
2November 2014, pp. 57 -7 0).
Therefore, Kaharingan in West Java and Aluk Tod-olo
in
Tana Toraja believers chooseto
embraceHinduism, for it has similar teachings. Others local
believers chose Christianity as the primary religion,
like Arat Sabulungan in Mentawai and Marapu tn
Sumba, for Christianity shows more respect and
tol-erance to their beliefs.
See. Tempo Magazine,'Yang Lokal, Yang Ter-sisih," 27 October
-
2 November 2014,pp. 57-10. Rose Drew, "Christian Self-Understanding and theQuestion
of
Dual Belonging,"tn
CuruentDia-lo gue(Special Issue) December, (201 l), 62. Voss, "Religious Belonging and the Multiple," 53. Phan, "Multiple Religious Belonging : Opporlunities
and Challenges for Theology and Church," 59.
In
this
part,I
furd out the similarity betweenDupuis' theological ideas on mutual
complementa-rity with her experience as Christian-Paraba
believ-er.
Some of Marapu's believers share that they have to
embrace Christianity
or
Islamin
orderto
beacknowledged as the legal citizens. Otherwise, they would get any services from the local government.
Ibid., Voss Roberts, 44.
Ibid.,5l.
Catherine Comille, "Double Religious Belonging:
Aspects and Questions,", 43-49.
Ibid., Peter C. Phan, Being Religious Inteneligious-Iy,62.
Ibid.,Kwok Pui-Lan," Interfaith Encounter, " 5 3 4.
Gef&e reminds us the fact that
in
some culture,one's identity is deeply influenced and determined
by his/her culture. He points out a forceful remind-er: "What would the Indian identity consist of out-side of Hinduism? What would comprise the
Chi-nese identity without the complex religious mixture
of
Taoisnr, Confucianism and Buddhism?" Ama-ladoss shares the similar argument that for hinqHinduism is part of his identity, as the religion
of
his ancestor. Therefore, in Javanese culture,
particu-larly in the remote area, people are inherited their
Javanese beliefs as their primary identity. In other
places in Indonesia certainly experience the same
thing.
Towards a Pastoral Approach to Culture, fuom
http ://www. vatic an. valroman-curia./pontifi cal-coun cils/cultr/documents/rciclccultldoc-03 061999
-pastoral_en.html
The document defines culture as particular way in
which persons and peoples cultivate their
relation-ship with nature and their brothers and sisters, with
themselves and with God, so as to attain a fully
hu-man existence (Qf. Gaudium et Spes,53)
Ibid., Drew, "Christian Self-Understanding and the Question of Dual Belonging," 65.
Paul F. Knitter, Introducing Theologies of Religions
(Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2003), 128-130.
Ibid., Dupuis, Christianity and the Religions,234.
Ibid., 84:'
Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious
Pluralism (NY: Maryknol| 1997), 5.
50
5l
52 53
55 56 57
59
60
61
65
66 6't
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