News
by Philip Jenks
"Never has theological confusion and bigotry been expressed so openly and publicly." The comment, on manifestations of religious intolerance in the days immediately following the September 11 (2001) terror attacks in the USA, was made by Dr Diana L. Eck of Harvard University and Harvard Divinity School.
Speaking at a three-day (3-5 October 2002) "ecumenical conversation" on Orthodox churches and pluralism, Eck cited several cases of attacks against US Muslims after September 11. "Getting to know each other has profound theological dimensions," she said. And concluded that the church, especially in the USA, must assume a higher profile in defending minority human rights.
Hosted by Holy Cross dean Rev. Emmanuel Clapsis, the "ecumenical conversation" was held at the Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, Massachusetts, USA. The event was organized in cooperation with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the Boston Theological Institute and Initiatives in Religion and Public Life of Harvard Divinity School. Contributors included Orthodox scholars and hierarchs, and Protestant and Anglican theologians, including WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser.
Pluralism
The tone was established at the outset in a keynote address by Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America. The standard of pluralism, said Demetrios, was set two millennia ago when the Apostle Paul confessed that he had become "all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." (I Corinthians 9:22)
For Demetrios, "pluralism" refers to the wide variety of cultures and religions in a world where the poor and oppressed still vastly outnumber the rich and powerful. As television, computers and other mass media bring people more information about each other, theologians are wondering how tenets of ancient faiths may be affected.
"If we were to attach a label to Saint Paul's approach to evangelism," Demetrios said, "we might call it 'personal pluralism.'" He encouraged Orthodox Christians to practice a "parish pluralism, being all things to all people" to create a "unity in diversity that could be a model for our whole society."
Professor Richard Falk, an international law expert from Princeton University, noted that power centres are shifting dramatically in what he called the "post-modern world". In the past, power was held by "territorial sovereign states". But now power is moving increasingly to potent networks he described as "high finance, criminal or terrorist". Out of that shift has come a growing awareness of a worldwide resurgence of religion.
According to Falk, "The Iranian revolution was absolutely unexpected, only slightly less of a shock to policy-makers than September 11." He also cited Hindu activism in India, Christian fundamentalism in the United States, Muslim fundamentalism and other movements that cause people to think of religion as a "menace". One of the challenges facing the church is the widespread fear "that making religion relevant is an invitation to religious extremism," Falk observed.
But religion is necessary to provide a moral counterpoint to godless capitalism, he said. The church "needs to address poverty as an urgent priority. It is an intolerable condition from a spiritual perspective. Most people live on $2 a day while a very few make millions."
Professor Christos Yannaras of Panteion University in Greece described the contribution of ancient Greeks to human rights, and suggested that continued support for the notion is an Orthodox legacy. "It is no accident," he said, "that the first apostolic [created by the apostles of Christ] Christian communities" were based on the Greek political model, or "ecclesia".
The church and violence
In a presentation on violence and religion in pluralistic societies, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Konrad Raiser described some of the challenges of the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence, among them the fact that many people see ambiguities in the Christian message of peace and nonviolence.
"The Bible, which in large part is common to Christians and Jews, is full of stories of violence and of violent images even with reference to God," he said. "At the very least, the Bible presents a very realistic picture of the potential of violence in human life."
But "violence is not innate in human nature," Raiser said. "Humans are capable of transforming the destructive energy of violence into a constructive force nurturing life."
In reply, Rev. Stanley Samuel Harakas, professor emeritus at Holy Cross, suggested that the New Testament paradox between peace and violence would probably remain "paradoxical". Even so, he said, "the church's task is to do everything in its power to minimize, and make unnecessary, the resort to violence, coercion, the 'use of the sword', or the unnecessary use of 'necessary evil'."
"There is no doubt in my mind that the church has frequently been coopted to support wars and violence in ways that do it no honour," Harakas said. "Yet, I think that it is also too easy to ignore the truth that the church has sought frequently to stand at the side of its people in times of oppression, injustice, attack and subjugation. While appealing to peace... it has stood together with its people in their suffering and defeat."
At the end of the meeting, Archbishop Demetrios characterized the three-day ecumenical conversation as an "act whereby we create the very thing we are talking about. We are living out, albeit in a small way, Orthodox values and priorities in a pluralistic world through this conversation with members of the wider American and international theological community. We are not merely talking theologically; to borrow a modern expression, we are truly 'producing theology' by the words that we exchange here in a spirit of mutual respect, interest and love."
For a full list of participants and complete copies of papers, see the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese Web page at www.goarch.org/en/special/hchc_conference/
Philip Jenks is communications officer in the US office of the World Council of Churches, based in New York.