CHRISTIAN
UNITY AMIDST RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
My
entrance to the seminary delighted me so much that my wanting to know more
about the faith I profess will be finally satisfied. Admittedly, I am one of
those nominal Catholics who receive the sacrament and participate in the church
tradition without fully understanding it; hence, a faith in atrophy. Taking a
glance at the curriculum, I noticed some courses on different philosophies and
religions. I was troubled for I thought we will only deal with the philosophies
of Christian religion, per se. I cannot do anything but enroll the subjects
required in the curriculum.
The
Philosophy of Religion opened up my mind to widen my perspective. To give a
room for understanding other religion. As Hegel puts it: Philosophy of Religion
is not the study of a particular Religion but a study of the Religions of all
times and places. We have not discussed so much about other religions yet, but
the thought that we are going to study other religions give me that extra
chill. I did not expect that the curiosity about other religion which I kept
inside of me for a long time will be given a bit of light in this discourse. I,
for myself, has a best buddy who is an Evangelical Christian, who actually
inspired me to get serious in knowing my own faith because of his admirable
Christian way of life. I did not entertain though of transferring to their
religion for the sake of knowing what makes him live like that. Looking back, I
used to attend a protestant bible study when I was 8 years old. My brother
scolded me when he learned about it and I was stopped to attend any session.
Now, I am looking forward to having some discussion with other religions for a
few reasons I perceived to be blameless. For one, knowing the belief system of
other religions will enlighten me in understanding their belief which I can use
in some religious dialogues in my future ministry, or even in some apostolate
while in the seminary. Secondly, knowing their belief system can highlight our
belief leading towards appreciating its growth within me. Thirdly, there will
be truths in their religion which I can use in deepening my own faith and
appreciating it all the more. Fourthly, knowing the essentials of other
religion will give me an opportunity to convert some of them to Catholicism in
a Christian dialogue. Lastly, not winning them over to Catholicism, it will
give me an opportunity to maintain a respectable inter-religious affinity with
them.
My
seminary life is somehow mechanical. Everything is done almost repeatedly. My
class in Philosophy of Religion give me that craving for a non-monotonous
learning which invigorate my desire to learn more of my own religion.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento