Autor: Walsh, David

Buch: The Third Millenium

Titel: The Third Millenium

Stichwort: Christentum - Zentrum einer pluralistischen Welt

Kurzinhalt: Christianity is ... the limiting differentiation through which reason becomes what it is;

Textausschnitt: 151a The he observation that Christianity is the sustaining differentiation at the heart of the modern world is a hard saying. It relegates the independence of scientific rigor and the pride of human rights achievements to a subordinate position. They no longer stand on their own, or, if they do, it is with less self-assurance. But what can we say? The reality is that the space of differentiation is unfolded through the revelation of Being and not otherwise. Illuminative experiences are the mode in which reason is discovered and its continued differentiation is sustained. As the limiting differentiation of transcendent Being, Christianity is also the limiting differentiation through which reason becomes what it is. Differentiation arises in no other way, and to turn our back on it would be to choose less rationality, if not unreason. We can even sense the inner resistance of reason against such a possibility, but we cannot provide the illuminative glimpse by which the movement of resistance is sustained and enlarged. Transcendent reality is beyond all access, except through the gift of its self-revelation. Given the increasing incoherence of modern self-referential reason, we have no other option but to acknowledge its transcendence of all foundations in the opening of Being itself. (Fs) (notabene)

152a Reason cannot consistently function in the absence of existential order. Only if we are open to the promptings from the divine side will we be sufficiently attuned to the flash of Being by which we become more fully rational. Uncomfortable as it may be to admit, reason is not an instrument through which we extend our control over being. It is first of all the intimation through which we ourselves are controlled. A responsive unfolding of the invitation that comes toward us from the Beyond is the source of what enables us to live in order. Substantive reason, rather than the iron cage of formal or instrumental rationality, is created only when reason is constituted by the luminosity from what is beyond itself. The sterility of the postmodern debates about foundations is compelling testament to this dynamic. What is sorely lacking is the illuminative glimpse that would render the irretrievable contingency of all possible points of reference transparent. Our postmodern predicament is on the verge of the Christian boredom of the world, but it is incapable of understanding itself as such because the source of the disenchantment is beyond its grasp. It stands in need of the touch of transcendent Being that reveals itself as its own adequate manifestation, but thereby becomes more fully present in all things. The world from which God is absent is the Christian one in which his presence has been fully revealed in Christ. Secular reality is never simply secular. It is a provisional pointer toward what it knows it can never adequately represent; yet through its transparence, it radiates transcendent Being. In other words, the limit of rational differentiation depends more than ever on the recurrent, but unroutinized, encounter with God. The inconvenience of the theophanic structure of reason may have prompted the amnesiac temptations to render it manageable by means of formulas and dogmas for over two millennia, but they have not been able to abolish it.1 (Fs) (notabene)

152b A large part of our hesitation in contemplating this existential character of reason can be explained by our reluctance to confront the judgmental consequence it suggests. We are uncomfortable with acknowledging the revelatory dependence because we sense that it involves a ranking of the spiritual traditions of the world. Those that propel the movement of differentiation furthest are the ones that represent a higher claim to truth. In particular, the linking of Christianity with the modern secular civilization of scientific method and human rights seems to constitute an undue privileging of the Western religious tradition. Is it not enough that Western science and morality have extended their global reach, without imposing the presumption of spiritual preeminence as well? Discomfort with the suggestion of Christianity as the formative source of the modern world becomes palpable in the recognition of its incompatibility with a plurality of spiritual traditions. How can we sustain mutual toleration and respect among religions if the link between modern civilization and Christianity is more than historical? How can the other traditions survive if the rationality of our world is shown to derive its essential justification from Christianity as well? Spiritual imperialism is suspected as the unspoken agenda behind the modernizing advance, and talk of a clash of civilizations draws its inspiration from such inarticulate murmurings.2 It is no wonder, therefore, that the secular vanguard of science and rights often deny even more vigorously their Christian lineage in order to assert modernity's independence of all ultimate questions. (Fs) (notabene)

153a Our meditation has proceeded far enough to recognize the bluff entailed, but we have not yet found a way of assuaging the fears that have provoked its necessity. The concerns are legitimate. To the extent that modern civilization becomes global, it carries a set of religious implications whether it wills to or not. We have already seen the protective reaction of religious communities, both in the West and elsewhere, to the perceived secularizing threat. Fundamentalism has been the most defining feature. But what if the threat was to be perceived as religious in nature rather than merely irreligious? Can we expect the Hindu or Islamic or Buddhist traditions to submit before the acknowledged differentiations of Christian revelation? And if we cannot anticipate the Christian conversion of the world, what should our mode of conversation be? How is it possible to sustain a global modern civilization while acknowledging the diversity of spiritual traditions surrounding it? The problem is formidable because even the delineation of the relationship between modernity and its own Christian background has proved challenging enough. What prospect do we have of sorting out the relationship of modernity to the other world religions and then engaging them in dialogue with Christianity and one another? It is not an easy task, but the difficulty is not sufficient reason for avoiding it. The modern world itself puts us more in contact with one another at this millennial moment than at any other time in human history. Our calling is to rise to the occasion, no matter how daunting the challenge may be.3 (Fs)