The Anglican Journal

Well written guide to world's major religions

Christians need not shy away from person of Christ

Review of :

Families of Faith: an introduction to World Religions for Christians,
(Paul Varo Martinson) Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1999.

A Dome of Many Colors: religious pluralism, identity and unity
(Arvind Sharma and Kathleen Dugan eds.) Harrisburg Penn.: Trinity Press International, 1999.

Stories in My Neighbour's Faith: narratives from world religions in Canada
(Susan L. Scott, ed.) United Church Publishing House, 1999.

Three new books each describe world religions and an approach to interfaith dialogue. The first two are more scholarly, while the third is a collection of personal stories. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.

My favourite of the three is Families of Faith. Author Paul Varo Martinson gives us a well written, readable introduction to the major religious traditions of the world. It makes an excellent college level introduction to world religions, also suitable for church groups. Martinson, a Lutheran former missionary and professor of world religions at Luther Seminary, St. Paul Minnesota has lived for long periods of his life amongst people of other faiths. His long term experience in dialogue gives this work real credibility. His attention to detail, and accurate descriptions of world religions are exemplary.

Martinson is clear that holding a position is not inimical to interfaith dialogue. His approach makes good sense at the practical level. People who have spent more than just a few months in the field working amongst people of other faiths will resonate to Martinson's claim that honesty about the reasons for dialogue is essential. There is a sensitively written 50 page section on Judaism which emphasizes that Judaism is a special case.

Martinson is not an exclusivist. He stresses that Christians must be both culturally and spiritually sensitive to adherents of other religions. But for him, the goal of dialogue is: "to make a convincing witness and to heed a convincing witness. Anything less than this would not be honest."(p.198) We would not be impressed if a Muslim were ashamed of the message of the Qur'an, or if a Buddhist were ashamed of the Buddha's teaching. Similarly, Christians do not earn others' respect if they shy away from the person of Christ. Martinson concludes dialogue and evangelism can never really be separated from each other. If the message of the cross rules us, he says, then we will seek to share the good news with everyone.

Those looking for an introduction to world religions that is readable, accurate and fair in its descriptions will not find any work better than this one. Those looking for a sensitive approach to interfaith dialogue will find this book more carefully written than Michael Ingham's Mansions of the Spirit, and ultimately more workable.

A Dome of Many Colors is a collection of essays edited by two leading scholars in the field of religious studies. Arvind Sharma is one of the world's leading authorities on Hinduism. Like Families of Faith, this work describes several religious traditions with accuracy and clarity. The approach here is marked by the scholarly detachment that is found in university religious studies departments: balanced appraisal together with the attempt to understand the phenomenon of religion. An open ended religious pluralism is the goal of the authors.

The reading level is generally the most advanced of the three books reviewed here: this is not for the beginner, and some previous reading in religious pluralism will be helpful. The diligent student can learn much from this book.

The primary strength of the third book, Stories in My Neighbour's Faith, is its easily accessible style. Stories usually are. It is a collection of personal stories of individual pilgrimage, all from non western and minority traditions. However, as can often happen with personal stories, these seem not to be very representative even of their own traditions, let alone others. The inclusion of Wicca and several other small minority traditions will make many people wonder whether the United Church Publishing House has succumbed to trendy agendas over against balanced representation of truly global religions. In several places misleading impressions are created, leaving one wondering whether the author(s) had an axe to grind against Christianity.

The most serious objection to works like this one, however, is that one could read hundreds of such books and still learn little or nothing about the teachings of the various religions they claim to represent. For people with limited time, this will be a crucial factor. Readers who want to learn more about the teachings of our neighbour's faith will be better served by reading either of the first two books in this review.

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Ian Ritchie, Ph.D., taught in Nigeria for five years and wrote a doctoral dissertation on African Theology at McGill University. He writes on pluralism, interfaith issues and ethics.

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