INTRODUCTION:

The Church, since the beginning of the Third Millennium, has been facing unprecedented changes never had we witnessed the “whole world becoming plural”¹ According to Timothy Tennent in his book Invitation to World Missions. There are megatrends that are observed in the world that greatly affects how we see and move forward in missions. He begins by pointing out that we are at a time where there is, first, the collapse of Christendom.

The world can no longer be considered that the “Christian culture is the dominant ethos or its worldview. Christendom has collapsed, and twenty-first-century missions must be re-conceptualized on new assumptions.” ²Christendom was once the voice that echoed loudly, but it become one of the many voices that we can heed. Christianity then becomes not at the center but in the peripheries. Second, megatrend highlighted by Tennent is the rise of postmodernism. “There is a growing skepticism in knowledge, that today, the rise of relativistic pluralism, the loss of faith in the inevitable progress of the human race, and an increasing uncertainty about normative truth claims have resulted in a cultural, theological, and ecclesiastical crisis.”³

Third, Globalization as “complex connectivity”⁴ This "complex connectivity" has influenced every sphere of life, including politics, social relationships, economics, technology, science, culture, and religion.” “Globalization is the acceleration and intensification of interaction and integration among the people.” ⁵Undeniably, “we are now witnessing a new religious scenario, a new religious landscape. New forms of piety are emerging and proliferating whose growth is in direct relationship to globalization and migration.”⁶

Lastly, that which is deemed most relevant despite the insurmountable changes occurring is the spiritual hunger that cannot escape the world and humanity. Deep in our hearts there is a great longing to connect with people, to reach out to what the world is about, and through our differences enrich by different cultures and plurality of beliefs, our diversity brings us together. Constantelos, writes “the spiritual unity of humankind is proved by the existence of common or similar spiritual and religious experiences. It is also indicated by the essentially religious nature of the human being.”⁷

The mission landscape is drastically changing; we are faced with the challenges never before experienced. There is a change in the world never seen before, never had we witnessed how things evolve at an ever-accelerating pace, fast-changing, volatile, and multifaceted. The overwhelming change is enough to make this study relevant, for it opens endless possibilities and limitless opportunities for the mission of the Church. Revisiting the Church’s call for missio ad gentes is relevant in our time as we seek unity, communion, and peace in the context of religious pluralism. Religious Pluralism is a world phenomenon, which has emerged. The reality of migration and globalization creates a greater consciousness that there are different religions, different cultures, different beliefs, and different religious experiences. In this specific context that religious Pluralism, the uniqueness of our identity as a Christians, and our openness to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life, can bring about a new face of mission in our Church today.

Reexamining Missio Ad Gentes:

The Decree Ad Gentes on the mission activity of the Church serves to illustrate important points that this paper would like to elucidate. First, to emphasize the Church’s mission is rooted in the truth that it is “missionary by its very nature,” not only what the Church accomplishes, but at its core, its mission is to be caught up in the very life of God. Rooted in God’s Mission, which is the participation in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. As the document puts it “The pilgrim Church is missionary by its very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with God the Father.”⁸ Second, to highlight the mission work itself through being a “Christian Witness” emphasized in Chapter II; Article 1 of Missio Ad Gentes.

In order that they may be able to bear more fruitful witness to Christ, let them be joined to those peoples by esteem and love; let them acknowledge themselves to be members of the group of people among whom they live; let them share in cultural and social life by the various undertakings and enterprises of human living; let them be familiar with their national and religious traditions; let them gladly and reverently lay bare the seeds of the Word which lie hidden among their fellows. At the same time, however, let them look to the profound changes which are taking place among nations, and let them exert themselves to keep modern persons, intent as they are on the science and technology of today’s world from becoming a stranger to things divine; rather, let them awaken in them a yearning for that truth and charity which God has revealed. Even as Christ Himself searched the hearts of women and men, and led them to divine light, so also His disciples, profoundly penetrated by the Spirit of Christ, should show the people among whom they live, and should converse with them, that they themselves may learn by sincere and patient dialogue what treasures a generous God has distributed among the nations of the earth. But at the same time, let them try to furbish these treasures, set them free, and bring them under the dominion of God their Savior.⁹

The passage exemplifies very well the study at hand in trying to understand that as Christians, we are called to witness our way of life in whatever context, country, culture, or tradition we are in and as bearers of the light of Christ amidst religious pluralism. Our task is to create an awareness of how, in this context, shapes how we do our mission today and what attitudes toward others should be required of us to truly become a Christian witness, bearer of the good news, and proclaimer of the truth about Christ.

Religious Pluralism and Diversity:

Pluralism is defined as “a philosophical perspective on the world that emphasizes diversity rather homogeneity, multiplicity rather than unity, difference rather than sameness.”¹⁰Pluralism is a religious perspective that uproots and allows us to see beyond. It is about time to take on a different mindset to form our hearts and minds to understand that the different religious traditions are ways where God communicates His saving will. The wellspring of our diversity lies in three main points, the idea or concept of God.

First, God is experienced in a plurality of ways. We encounter God in more ways than one. The experience of the Divine is pervasive and cannot be put in a box. As Smith pointed out, it is morally not possible to go out into the world and say to devout, fellow human beings we believe that we know God and we are right; you believe that you know God, and you are totally wrong.¹¹ As God is experienced in plurality of ways “religious pluralism, unlike religious plurality, is not a given fact in any society. It constitutes an ongoing process in which different religious traditions learn to interact positively with each other.¹²” Second, The question of goal and the destiny of humankind. In the article of David Basinger, he quotes Karl Rahner, that Christianity cannot recognize any other religion as providing the way to salvation. He continues there is no one true religion and therefore, no one, and only one, path to eternal existence with God.¹³

Third, the nature and characteristic of the religion that we have. “All faith commitments must be held with the humbling recognition that they can be misguided for our knowledge is never sure.”¹⁴ What we know is what we experience. As Immanuel Kant pointed out, we can know God naturally, we can know the truth, however that truth we acquire is always culturally conditioned and experienced. Religion is the matter of the heart. As Felix Wilfred posits, the reality of our relationships with peoples of other faiths is quite evident. It emphasizes that relationship is at the very heart of being Christians. Constantly reminding and urging us to address the issue at hand and not to dismiss it as something that is irrelevant or reduced as a matter of fact.¹⁵

Dialogue as a Missionary Activity:

With the reality at hand, how then can we address mission amid religious pluralism? Religious pluralism and different religious traditions are integrated in the plan of God. Thus, it becomes channels where God reaches out to us in friendship and communicates his love to us for us to be saved.

Mission belongs to God, and God's mission has been a constant reminder that the Church is not the ultimate goal of mission but God’s salvific plan. Charles Edward Van Engen in his book Transforming Mission Theology describes mission, “as the result of God’s initiative, rooted in God’s purposes to restore and heal creation and call people into a reconciled covenantal relationship with God.”¹⁶ It is God’s work to restore, heal, and call people in the world. Emil Brunner states, “The church exists by mission as a fire exists by burning.”¹⁷ It is in participating in God’s mission that the Church exists.

Dialogue as the context of our mission is a form of evangelization based on a threefold theological foundation: anthropological, the basic unity of all humanity by the mystery of creation Christological; the Christic Mystery in human beings and their religious traditions, and pneumatological, the universal economy of the Spirit of Christ. A paradigm shift is in order to move our focus on religion to the “the other”, from religion to people.

One of the issues we have is the work of evangelization of the Church and other religions. Tension is still present between the mission of the Church to preach Christ and the call to respect other religions and recognize that they are also ways toward salvation. A paradigm shift is in order. “Pluralism is not an ideology, but rather the dynamic process through which we engage with one another in and through our very deepest differences".¹⁸

Clearly this recognition of the plurality of religions creates an impact in defining the mission of the Church. In the Vatican II document, Ad Gentes it is stated that “So although in ways known to himself, God can lead those who no fault of their own, are ignorant of the Gospel of faith without which it is impossible to please him (Heb 11:6), the Church, nevertheless, still has the obligation and the sacred rights to evangelize. And so, today as always. missionary activity retains its full force and necessity.”¹⁹

Although, our mission is to recognize freedom of cultures and religions, rooted in deep esteem and respect for other religions. This does not mean we need not proclaim Christ to non-Christians. However, this poses a problem with regard in the work of the Spirit actively present and working in the lives of individuals, cultures, and religions. Does it mean that non-Christian religions are mere preparation for the Gospel? How can we maintain the uniqueness of Christ in religious pluralism? Is that a possibility?

In, 1 Timothy 2:4 it states that, God ^“who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” How can we have the monopoly of truth? Human knowledge cannot fully know God, God is a mystery. Mystery means “not something we cannot know nor understand but rather a reality we can never fully grasp because there is always more to learn.”²⁰ God is mysterious. The vastness of His glory transcends beyond what our eyes can only see visibly. Every human person, no matter what his faith and religion, may effectively be saved by following his own religion and conscience. “All this holds true not for Christians only, but also for all men of goodwill in whose hearts grace is active visibly. For since Christ died for all, and since all men are in fact called to one and the same destiny, which is divine, we must hold that the Holy Spirit offers to all the possibility of being made partners, in a way known to God, in the Paschal Mystery.”²¹

Dialogue has come a long way from recognizing that mutual trust and respect for other religions is imperative to that of facilitating continuous discernment in our present context. The key issue that the author would like to address resides in the reality of pluralism as it gives rise to a meaningful interfaith dialogue. “Pluralists seek to identify and develop the theological conditions for the possibility of dialogue.”²² We are religiously, culturally, and ideologically diverse. Engaging in dialogue moves people towards significant consideration and shared appreciation of one another, that “any moment can be a dialogic one in which interfaith, intercultural, or inter-ideological encounter”,²³ can be experienced.

Dialogue is demanded nowadays by the dynamic course of action which is changing the face of modern society. It is demanded by the pluralism of society and by the maturity of man has reach in this day and age. Be he religious or not, his secular education has enabled him to think and speak, and to conduct dialogue with dignity.²⁴

Towards A Theocentric Approach:

Jacques Dupuis posits that a theocentric approach is an effective way to move to a mission as we dialogue with others.

The theocentric perspective consists in substituting for the Christocentric one, according to which Jesus Christ and his saving mystery no longer stand at the center of God's saving design for humankind. That place belongs to God alone towards whom all the religious traditions, Christianity included, tend as to their end. It needs to be recognized plainly that God, who shows no partiality (Acts 10:34), has manifested and revealed himself in various ways to different peoples in different cultures, and that the various religious traditions of the world embodying each in its own way, such divine self-revelation. It follows that the various religious traditions complement each other in their differences; what is required between them is neither mutual exclusion nor

inclusion of the many into one, but reciprocal enrichment through open interaction.²⁵

We need perhaps to go to the richness of the wellspring of what our faith teaches. A faith that teaches how to love and to respond to such love. Christianity is a religion of love. It is in our concrete experience of loving God and neighbor that allows us to embrace the very teachings of Christ. It is not a new way of being Christians, but rather we are encouraged to be faithful to our call as disciples, of our calling as being universal, in the truest sense of the word, inspired by the Gospel of Christ. “One may respect others as equal moral subjects and tolerate them without caring for them.”²⁶ Seemingly, a dialogue is in order, a creative encounter, in the words of Teilhard’s, to achieve union in which differences are valued as a basis for creativity. A call that evermore seeks the will of God in our life. Towards a Theocentric Approach speaks about God as the center and the possibility of the many different paths to salvation expressed in many diverse religions of the world. Each religion has unique role in salvation. It is neither constitutive nor normative. Our mission is to witness to our faith before the people of other faiths and to engage in a meaningful dialogue.

Theological Response:

“The Spirit emphasizes the gift of love and argues that we know, we are moving in the Spirit when our loving embrace extends further forward.”²⁷ Are we moving forward in embracing others fully in what we are called to do?Is our experience of God as Love lead us to greater understanding of other religions in a genuine sense, with greater openness, deep respect, deep appreciation, building bridges and crossing boundaries as we become one in the name of God, experiencing God’s blessing beyond compare. Only in loving other faiths that we come to the realization of embracing our mission toward others. A love that crosses boundaries, as it pointed out beautifully in the Scriptures “In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians will come into Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth.” (Isaiah 19:23-24) We have different experiences of God, different questions in life, and different answers to each question. One humanity yet many races, one history yet many stories, one God called by many names. Yet, there is one God who loves us and continues to draw us in His loving embrace. Only in responding through His grace can our mission become genuine.

RELIGION AND THE HOLY SPIRIT:

Religions are manifestations of the different cultural experiences of the Mysterious God. Religions are ways to God, and they have salvific values. Religion does not save people. Christianity will not save us. Only God will save us through the richness of His mercy. We are called to a humble acceptance that God’s grace goes far beyond our imaginings. We need to understand that the mission itself is an action of the Spirit toward the world, and the mission is entrusted to the Church as participation in the saving work of God. Missio Dei.

“Spirit-centered sacramental theology could help Catholics to appreciate diversity and enter interreligious dialogue with confidence and trust that the discovery of sacramental encounters in other cultural expressions and religions will lead to a deeper understanding of the Absolute Mystery that lies at the origin and goal of human life.”²⁸ It is also significant to note the need for our theology to be an expression of spirituality and to assume mystical traits. “The Spiritual and Mystical by nature are unitive and integrative. For without Mystery, it is void of redeeming experience and knowledge. This experience of the self-gift of God as life and grace and contemplation within, opens the door for our encounter with other faiths.”²⁹

Religious Pluralism is a religious perspective that uproots and allows us to see beyond. It is about time to take on a different mindset to form our hearts and minds to understand that the different religious traditions are ways where God communicates His saving will. To “transcend which amounts to an opening of heart and mind which is the very essence of pluralist principles.”³⁰ Encouraging us to make a good sense out of it and looking at it in a different light from a different view, in a way that we have never seen before. Does mission have a future in the plurality of religions? Yes, if we are to address the signs of the times: Culture, Religion, and Mission. To make sense is to find meaning and to transcend beyond seeing. To have a new way of looking at the global village, having a mindset of a theocentric pluralist paradigm from the other to inter, to cross-cultural. To build a relationship that seeks to understand, to deepen friendship that genuinely engages, and to enter into dialogue that will allow us to experience a life-giving encounter, enriched by each other’s experiences.

CONCLUSION:

Religious Pluralism should also be in the mind and heart of every Christian. Our Catholic identity speaks of love that extends toward others, embracing and engaging each and every one. As God’s grace is visibly active in the world. The Holy Spirit calls each one towards unity rather than discord, which can allow us to transcend and to seek the good in others because the truth resonates in our hearts that whatever is true, beautiful, and just can also be found in other religions. As Dalai Lama pointed out in his address to his people. “I always believe that it is much better to have a variety of religions, a variety of philosophies, rather than one single religion or philosophy. This is necessary because of the different mental dispositions of each human being. Each religion has certain unique ideas or techniques, and learning about them can only enrich one’s own faith.”³¹

May our experience of God as Love express in the very life of Christ that he so generously offered to us lead us to greater understanding of other religions. So that in the truest sense of our call to love, as Christ loves we can become bringer of the Good News, our mission amidst the challenges of religious pluralism. A Dialogue that transforms our orientation, a way thinking, a way of looking on what is true, good, and beautiful in Other Religions, calling us to commitment to openness and sharing of meaning. As Missio Ad Gentes offers a wealth of understanding how we can share in the mission of the Church. From addressing the challenges in Religious Pluralism and entering a dialogue with the Other that one can discover the richness of God’s love for each one and how in the realization of such love bring others to the realization of the Christ’s perfect sacrifice on the cross. The Spirit of God continue to dialogue with us so we may come to know the person of Christ.

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen emphasizes that “the Spirit of God is a Person of the Triune God who indwells believers and creation in tangible and specific ways.”³² The Spirit, present in every culture, religion, and people graced by God, can have value and meaning. It is the Spirit of God that calls us “to be one with him, to work towards communion; it “emphasizes the ultimate purpose of mission to enable people to share in the communion which exists between the Father and Son.”³³The communion of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit “enables us to enter into the perfect communion of the Blessed Trinity where all things find their unity.”³⁴

REFERENCE:

1. Vladimir Latinovic, Gerard Mannion, and Peter C. Phan, eds., Pathways for Interreligious Dialogue in the Twenty-First Century (New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2016), 246.

2. Timothy C. Tennent, Invitation to World Missions: A Trinitarian Missiology for the Twenty-First Century (Kregel Academic, 2010).38

3. Ibid.68

4. John Tomlinson, Globalization and Culture (John Wiley & Sons, 2013).1

5. Hilal Ahmad Wani. Impact of Globalization on World Culture. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2(2): April-June, 2011, 33.

6. Edgar Javier, “Religious Pluriformity in God’s Global Community: Challenges and Prospects,” Logos Publications, Missio Inter Gentes, 1, no. 1 (January 2015).5

7. Demetrios J. Constantelos, The Greek Orthodox Church: Faith, History, and Practice (Seabury Press, 1967).

8. Catholic Church, Vatican II, Ad Gentes, no. 2.

9. Ibid.

10. Robert Audi, The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2^nd edition (Cambridge: University Press, 1999), 71.

11. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Religious Diversity, (New York: Harper and Row, 1999).

12. Mahendra Kumar Premi, Ravindra Kumar Chapdi. “Issues of Religious Pluralism and Dialogue.” Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences. 5(1): January-March 2014, 73.

13. David Basinger, Religious Diversity (Pluralism) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2010

14. Joseph Runzo, “God, Commitment, and Other Faiths: Pluralism vs. Relativism,” Faith and Philosophy, 5 (1988): 343–364.

15. Felix Wilfred, “A New Way of Being Christians. Preparing to Encounter Neighbours of Other Faiths.”, 39-44.

16. Charles Edward Van Engen, Transforming Mission Theology (Pasadena, California: William Carey Library, 2017), 99.

17. Emil Brunner, The Word and the World (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1931), 108.

18. Diana L. Eck “The Pluralism Project 2006” Harvard University.

19. Vatican II, Ad Gentes.

20. National Catechetical Directory of the Philippines, 200

21. Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 22

22. Paul F. Knitter “Can we put our theological money where our dialogical mouth is? Looking back over the past fifty years.” Journal Of Ecumenical Studies 49 no. 1(Winter 2014): 168

23. Julia Sheetz-Willard, Per Faaland, Rebecca Mays, & Angela Ilic, “Interreligious Dialogue Reconsidered: Learning from and responding to Critique and Change.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 47 no. 2 (Spring 2012): 258.

24. Ecclesiam Suam 9 Pope Paul VI 1964.

25. Jacques Dupuis SJ, Jacques. 1990. "Religious Plurality and the Christological Debate. Paper presented at conference on Dialogue with Living Faiths sponsored by World Council of Churches in Baar, Switzerland, January 9, 1990.

26. Glenn Ambrose. “Religious Diversity, Sacramental Encounters and the Spirit of God.” Horizons 37, no. 2 (2010):271-290

27. Anselm Min. “Loving without understanding: Raimon Pannikar’s ontological pluralism.” International Journal of Philosophy of Religion 68 (2010): 59-75

28. Ibid. 291.

29. Felix Wilfred, “A New Way of Being Christians. Preparing to Encounter Neighbours of Other Faiths.” 39-44.

30. Susan Smith. “Partial Transcendence, Religious Pluralism, and the Question of Love.” Harvard Theological Review 104, no.1 (2011):1-31.

31. Address of His Holiness The 14^th Dalai Lama.

32. Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Pneumatology: The Holy Spirit in Ecumenical, International, and Contextual Perspective (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2002), 9.

33. John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, 26.

34. Francis, Apostolic Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel, (24 November 2013), Acta Apostolicae Sedis 105 (2013), 117.

Received on 20.01.2024 Revised on 09.05.2024

Accepted on 29.07.2024 Published on 05.12.2024

Available online on December 31, 2024

Res. J. of Humanities and Social Sciences. 2024;15(4):329-334.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2024.00052