I cannot recall the first time I heard the term,
double-belongers. I probably did not
even know what it meant. It is not a
term I see very much; I think it is still fairly rare, at least in the circles
I spend time. I have no idea whether it
is a technical term in the theological world, but it does not matter. It makes some sense to me, even though I am
not sure that I am a double-belonger.
Fortunately I learned some time ago that I could learn a
great deal from people who are not like me and from traditions that are not my
own. The person who introduced this term
to me, Paul Knitter, was until recently a professor at Union Theological
Seminary in New York City. I know
Union. In fact, when I was heading off
to seminary, Union was one of the places I gave very serious
consideration. It was globally famous
even in those days. Before Union,
Knitter taught for a long time at Xavier in Cincinnati.
Knitter is a fascinating man. He is Roman Catholic. He studied in Rome and became an ordained
priest. And then after some time, he
asked to be released from this clerical role and became a university professor
of theology. Later he married, had
children and watched his wife become a practicing Buddhist. So Paul Knitter began his own dance with the
Buddhist tradition. He read extensively,
practiced meditation, etc. Although he
never abandoned his native Catholicism, he nevertheless became significantly
influenced by Buddhism.
I have always liked Knitter’s irenic (peaceful) spirit. He understands not all Christians would
appreciate his perspective. Clearly
there are some in his own Catholic tradition who probably think he has watered
down or lost his meaningful Catholic faith.
I am not here to judge. I
appreciate how he wrestles with the issues and how he helps me understand my
own world. Let me share a few thoughts
from Knitter.
I will highlight a couple sentences from a public lecture
that I heard Knitter deliver. Knitter is
forthright, as he speaks about people like himself. For example, he says, “The teachings of
Buddha help them to understand and more deeply appropriate the teachings of
Jesus.” There is no historical
connection between the one called Buddha and Jesus. The Buddha lived a few centuries before
Jesus. There is no evidence Jesus knew
anything about the Buddha. And yet, as
Knitter tries to show, there certainly are some spiritual connections between
the founders of two major religious traditions.
Notice how Knitter carefully articulates what understanding
something about Buddhist teachings does for the Christian. Understanding the Buddhist teachings helps
the Christian understand the teachings of Jesus. And more importantly for myself, knowing
something about Buddhist teachings helps the Christian deeply appropriate
Jesus’ teachings. Notice the adverb,
“deeply.”
I would claim to understand something about the teachings of
Jesus. However, I am not sure I
understand them “deeply.” To go deeply
into Jesus’ teachings would be to take more and more seriously the commitment
and ministry to which Jesus was dedicated.
To be deeply ensconced in those teachings would mean that I am ready to
give my life to the cause of Love.
One more sentence from Knitter takes us even further. He says, “Buddhist practices of mindfulness,
meditation, active compassion inspire them to combine contemplation and action
in our contemporary ecologically threatened and violent world.” There is much to emphasize here, but let me
begin with the dual focus on contemplation and action. Often the Christian tradition asks us to be
one or the other: be a contemplative and withdraw from the world or choose the
active life and stay in the world to make if different and better. Buddhist spirituality and, I would argue,
Christian spirituality allows and encourages each of us to be both
contemplative and active in the world.
The reason for being active in the world is simple and
Knitter nails it. Our contemporary world
is ecologically threatened and it is too violent. Only the fool would deny either the
ecological threat or the contemporary violence.
And yet, I know too many fools!
And too often I am the biggest fool!
Apart from the spiritually motivated and committed, I am not very
hopeful.
Surely one gets this potential motivation and commitment
from both the Buddhist and the Christian.
(I am sure other major religious traditions play their own role,
too.) But if we are only superficially
into either Buddhism or Christianity---half-hearted, at best---there will be no
transformation. There will continue to
be too much transgression of nature’s laws and God’s love.
Comments
Post a Comment