Jun

26

Mason Jennings: Great Musician, Not-so-good Philosopher of Religion (Part I)

Filed Under General religion, Religious Pluralism | 1 Comment

In his newest album, In the Ever, Mason Jennings includes this provocative song:

“I Love You and Buddha Too” 

Oh Jesus, I love you
And I love Buddha too
Ramakrishna, Guru Dev
Tao Te Ching and Mohammed
Why do some people say
There there is just one way
To love you God and come to you
We are all a part of you
You are un-nameable
You are unknowable
All we have is metaphor
That’s what time and space are for
Is the universe your thought
You are and you are not
You are many, You are one
Ever ending, just begun
Alright, alright, alright
I love you and Buddha too

Mason Jennings is probably my favorite musician. I have listened to him for years and always enjoy his songs. Actually, my favorite concert of all time was a concert of his I went to in Tucson, Az a few years back.

In “I Love You and Buddha Too” Mason is clearly promoting Religious Pluralism, i.e. all religions are equally valid ways to God. The problem with Religious Pluralism and with Mason’s view is that many religions contradict each other. Thus, Mason is forced to reshape the teachings of various religions in order to make his point.

1. First, he incorrectly applies the Christian teaching about loving God (i.e by loving Jesus) to other religions. Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, never taught that people should love him. This would imply desire and attachment, which is the opposite of what he wanted. The Buddha actually diverted attention from himself at all cost.

I am not sure why Mason included “Tao Te Ching” (maybe because it fit in the song) because this is the title of a collection of works from philosophical Taoism. There is no concept in Taoism about loving “Tao Te Ching.”

Moreover, in Islam there is no concept of loving Muhammad. He is the last prophet, the perfect man, but he is not seen as an object of love and adoration (at least in orthodox Islam). There is not even the idea of loving Allah in Islam (except in Sufism).

Mason adopts the Christian belief that God is a personal deity that is to be loved and erroneously tries to apply it to other religions.

Jun

13

Is it ok to “baptize” the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths?

Filed Under Buddhism, Communicating with those of other faiths, Great Commission | 4 Comments

The Buddha’s teachings can be boiled down to The Four Noble Truths and The Eight-fold Path. The Four Noble Truths are:

1. Life is dukkha (suffering, dislocation, transience. Life is not the way it should be)
2. Dukkha is caused by tanha (desire, thirst for permanence)
3. Dukkha can cease when tanha is removed…cessation of tanha is Nirvana.
4. Tanha is removed through the Eight-fold Path:

                1. Right views
                2. Right intent
                3. Right speech
                4. Right conduct
                5. Right livelihood
                6. Right effort
                7. Right mindfulness
                8. Right concentration

In “Evangelism in the New Millennium: An Integrated Model of Evangelism to Buddhists Using Theology, Anthropology, and Religious Studies” Ubolwan Mejudhon advocates presenting the gospel to Buddhists with a Christian version of the Four Noble Truths.* His “baptized” Four Noble Truths are:^

1. Suffering is a fact of life
2. The cause of suffering is sin
3. The cure for sins is the suffering of Christ
4. The way to deliverance is through faith in Jesus Christ

At first I thought it was a clever idea. However, I then began to question my initial judgment since these Four Noble Truths clearly do not contain the full gospel message. They contain truth but not the entire truth. Nevertheless, I still think these “baptized” Noble Truths can be useful in communicating the gospel to Buddhists as long as they are supplemented with the rest of the message.

*Article is in Sharing Jesus in the Buddhist World, edited by David Lin and Steve Spaulding (2003).
^He credits J.T. Seamand with this version of the Four Noble Truths. Seamand, J.T.. Tell It Well: Communicating the Gospel across Cultures (1981).

Jun

10

The Gospel in Chinese

Filed Under Chinese Religion, Communicating with those of other faiths, Great Commission | Leave a Comment

I just finished reading a great book on Christianity in China.  In Confucius, The Buddha, and Christ: A History of the Gospel in Chinese Ralph R. Covell presents an outstanding history of Christianity in China.  He discusses the traditional Chinese worldview, Nestorian Christianity in China, the various methods missionaries have used among the Chinese, how Christianity has interacted with Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, and modern attempts of making Christianity Chinese.

Although the book is dated (1986) and only includes limited discussion of the underground house church movement and the amazing growth of Christianity in China since the 80s (some estimate over 100 million Christians in China), it is still a great work for those who are planning on working in China or among Chinese in the Diaspora.  The book is even a great resource for those who are not planning on working among the Chinese people.  Throughout the book Covell discusses the issue of contextualization, which all cross-cultural communicators of the gospel must deal with.  At times Covell does advocate too much contextualization for my theological liking, but he does raise some good points.  I would recommend this book to anyone planning on engaging in cross-cultural gospel communication. 

Jun

1

The Namesake- A look into Hinduism

Filed Under Hinduism | Leave a Comment

Although I am not a film critic, I would like to recommend a film I saw tonight. The Namesake follows the story of a Hindu family in the U.S. If you are interested in India, Hinduism or in studying cross-cultural communication you will particularly enjoy this film.

*The film contains a few questionable scenes (PG-13).