Editor's Note: Gavin D'Costa is a Catholic layman and professor of Theology at Bristol University United Kingdom.
The Bangalore and Bose Statements indicate that the Church is required to respond to the "signs" of our time: the reality of interreligious prayer. Should Roman Catholics be involved in such events? Certainly, the main biblical currents would not seem to endorse such practices, especially if and when they appear to be idolatrous. And there is little in the tradition to support interreligious prayer. However, the Holy Father's initiation of and participation in the multi-religious prayer for peace in Assisi (1986), as well as his call to share more deeply with others, while respecting each other's difference and integrity, is an important spur to attend to this question as positively as possible. When speaking of interreligious dialogue, Pope John Paul II specifically enjoined: "Where circumstances permit, it means a sharing of spiritual experiences and insights. This sharing can take the form of coming together as brothers and sisters to pray to God in ways which safeguard the uniqueness of each religious tradition" 1.
At this time it is clear that interreligious prayer is not possible in terms of cultic worship, if by this is meant the formal cultus that publicly defines religious adherence and practice - such as Baptism or Mass. We shall focus exclusively on non-cultic contexts (see the examples cited in the Bangalore document), where there may either be spontaneous shared prayers, the sharing of already existing prayers, or the composition of mutually acceptable prayers or silence, or a mixture of these. As all prayer is "with the church", any such meetings must be accountable to the wider Christian community who may not be explicitly participating.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines authentic prayer in terms of three characteristics: gift, covenant and communion. If we depart from these three 'marks' in interreligious prayer, then it cannot be acceptable. Only such strict criteria can safeguard against idolatry. What follows are generalized reflections which would have to be applied to each specific situation. There are no a priori answers.
Prayer is a gift of the Holy Spirit, hence the Catechism says:'humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that "we do not know how to pray as we ought" are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer"2. Two points are important here. First, the Church has acknowledged the presence of the Holy Spirit in religions and cultures: "The Spirit's presence and activity affect not only individuals but also society and history, people, cultures and religions"3. If that is so, it can also mean that the prayers of other religions are, in part, gifts of the Holy Spirit. It can also mean that the Spirit is active in the hearts of those who pray with other religions. Second, such a recognition can mean that interreligious prayer may well express our being united in the Holy Spirit, so that such prayer is not fundamentally being nice to one's neighbour, but a coming into the presence of God - to worship and adore him "together", even if this "together" is in a limited and fray fashion. Of course, not all prayers are so inspired, nor all hearts receptive, and such judgements require careful and mature discernment.
The second mark of authentic prayer is that it springs from a covenant. Prayer, as the Catechism puts it, "is the place of encounter because as an image God we live in relation: it is the place of covenant ... Christian prayer is a covenant relationship between God and man in Christ"4. Here again, there are two points to consider. First, The Catechism affirms the validity of the covenant with Noah (Gen 9:8-16), and speaks of those who live within it, with an upright and pure heart, as "walking with God"5. Of these, it also says, "This kind of prayer is lived by many righteous people in all religions", and continues "In his undefectable covenant with every living creature (Gen 9:8-16), God has always called people to prayer".6 This does not mean that every prayer is genuine, but that non-Christian prayers can reflect this valid and universal covenant.
However, the covenant spoken of in The Catechism refers to the Christological form of covenant that is of course unique to Christianity. Here we must address the question: do we all pray to the same God? This is our second point. If we answer "yes" then we are guilty of indifferentism, a position specifically condemned by the Church. If the answer is 'no', then interreligious prayer is inadmissible. An authentic answer, reflected in Nostra Aetate, is that amidst important differences which should not be denied, there are also "common" elements. Hence a yes/no answer seems most honest to the complex realities before us. To take one example, while trinitarian belief is a stumbling block for Islam, nevertheless Nostra Aetate affirms that "The Church also regards with esteem the Muslims who worship the one, subsistent, merciful and almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to man."7 Hence, it might be possible to pray together, celebrating what we might hold in common regarding God, as long as we do not deny or obscure fundamental differences that also divide us. The balance between this yes/no dialectic will differ from situation to situation, and wise and mature judgement is required in each context. The local bishop is one obvious reference point for such discernment.
We shall address the Christological element within this question by turning to the final mark of authentic prayer: communion. The question of Christ rightly has a trinitarian and ecclesial dimension: "the life of prayer is the habit of being in the presence of the thrice-holy God and in Communion with him. This communion of life is always possible because, through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ. Prayer is Christian in so far as it is communion with Christ and extends throughout the Church, which is his Body. Its dimensions are those of Christ's Love"8. There are four points worth considering when we turn to the Christological, trinitarian and ecclesial dimensions of prayer.
First, Gaudium et Spes (10,15 and 22) has been reiterated by Pope John Paul II, to affirm that "the Holy Spirit offers everyone the possibility of sharing in the Paschal Mystery in a manner known to God."9 This means that for those who have not explicitly rejected the gospel, a relationship to Christ is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Second, the precise manner in which this can be achieved is left open. Various Catholic theologians have offered theological speculations as to the manner of this relationship, but for our present purpose it is not necessary to decide amongst the many options. It is sufficient to say that authentic non-Christian prayer that is inspired by the Holy Spirit is required theological exploration. It is in this sense that Christian participation in interreligious prayer might be possible. It is equally likely that the non-Christian might see in Christian prayer possibilities and orientations that we might question or not have seen.
Third, this should remind us that full communion with all women and men is an eschatological hope, not an attained reality. Hence, even when a Christian and Jew pray the same psalm together, which belongs to both their sacred scripture(s), it will contain different resonances and significations as well as similar meanings. The very idea of shared prayer implies a trusting gift being made, such that we relinquish control over the meaning of our words and trust that the Holy Spirit will act as an interpreter. Hence, to take another example, were the Christian to share the "Our Father" with a Muslim who share Fatiha" (the opening verses of the Qur'an), the very juxtaposition of these two semantic forms will generate a new field of meanings within these prayers. What emerges cannot be predicted prior to their juxtaposition. Indeed, the juxtapositions of different prayers within the Divine Office have an analogous effect, constantly transforming our continuing relationship with God.
Finally, the boundaries of authentic prayer are seen in the "dimensions of Christ's love". To restrict these without good reason and careful discernment is to reject the life of God that continuously transforms creation. However, to hide the lamp of this love, given to us within the Church, is also to reject the life of God. In this respect, interreligious prayer also has a profound missionary dimension in our invitation to those who join us in prayer to find the fullness of communion with the triune God that we have begun to enjoy. Clearly, such a witnessing dimension may also be present for those whom we join in prayer. And our possible discovery of the riches of God's grace present in the other and their spiritual tradition should bring us joy and hope - and lead us to praise and worship.
The Bangalore and Bose statements, as well as the other essays in this collection, require us to consider seriously the "signs of our times". While interreligious prayer may not be a vocation for most Christians, and those who are called need careful formation and a deep prayer life of their own, we should consider carefully the positive reasons for such practices. For if such practices bear the seal of the Holy Spirit, then those Christians involved in interreligious prayer may be following Christ in ways that we have only come to dimly fathom. We shall know them by their fruits.
NOTES
Can we pray together? Interreligious Prayer: A Protestant Perspective by S.Wesley Ariarajah
Editor's note: S.Wesley Ariarajah is Professor of Ecumenical Theology at Drew University, Madison, New Jersey, USA
'This is my prayer to thee, my Lord –
strike; strike at the root of penury in my heart.
Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.
Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.
Give me the strength never to disown the poor
Or bend my knees before insolent might.
Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.
And give me the strength to surrender my strength
To thy will with love. 1
Several years back, this prayer was given to a groups of Christians with the request that they try to identify its source. Quite a few thought it was a prayer of St Francis of Assisi. Other suggestions included "St Teresa of Avila", "a Christian saint" whom they could not name, "Martin Luther" and "a verse from a devotional hymn by Charles Wesley". The groups was somewhat surprised to leant that in fact the prayer was part of a collection called Gitanjali by the celebrated Hindu Bengali poet, Rabindranath Tagore.
It was interesting that none in the group even suspected that the prayer could have had a source outside the Christian tradition. It is also likely that none expected that a prayer that originated outside the tradition would have been used as a resource in a Christian workshop on Prayer!
WORSHIP: A PRIVATE SACRED SPACE?
Every Christian is aware that people of other faiths pray and have a spiritual life. But, to whom do they pray? Who listens to their prayers? Is there a common ground between the prayer life of our neighbours and ours? These questions do not normally appear as an essential part of Christian reflection on prayer. Through the centuries religious traditions have treated their prayer lives as mutually exclusive; they have seen their worship and prayer as belonging to the central core of their faith and in some sense defining the faith, marking it out from other ways of relating to the transcendent realm. In pother words, religions tend to look upon their prayer and worship life as their "private space" not open to those who do not "belong".
A year before he died, David Brown, the late Bishop of Guilford, England, recorded one of the moments when this reality was brought home to him in a powerful way:
My distance from Islam came home to me in a sad but profound way one evening in Khartoum, when I went to the home of a Muslim leader. There were some thirty men sitting at ease in his courtyard and for an hour or more we enjoyed a good and open discussion about religious matters. The time came for the night prayer, and they formed ranks to say it together. I asked if I might stand with them, but the Shaikh told me I coould not do so, since I did not have the right 'intention' (nijja). I had to remain standing at the edge of the courtyard. Even though I have walked on the approaches of Islam for over 30 years I can only speak of it as a stranger.2
The Muslim in this story was protecting the "private space" of his tradition. There are, however, several other accounts today on how this [private space is gradually opening up as closer relationships are established across the religious barriers. In his book, Encounter in the Spirit: Muslim-Christian Meetings in Birmingham, Andrew Wingate recounts the story of how a Muslim and Christian group of persons grew closer together through years of meeting and sharing each other's faith persepctives. These encounters eventually led to an openness to prticipate in prayer life:
… The other breakthrough came at the end of the evening when Zaheer (the Muslim friend) aksed me to pray, not just with him privately, but with the whole grooup, twelve Christains and seven Muslims, in the small prayer room in Nazir's terraced house…….. I included a prayer for the bereaved Muslim family next door, and for beirut where, in the name of our two faiths, people fought and killed. In that context how much our meeting meant! I prayed "In thy name, O Lord". Iqbal, too, prayed on behalf of us all, and we ended with a common meal, supplied by the Muslim family next door.3
As we live and share life with friends of other religious beliefs, can we pray together? What guidelines can we give to Christians who find themselves in situations where a person of another faith calls upon them to pray? What does a Christian do when a Muslim friend visiting him or her at sick bed offers to pray for him or her? How should one respond when there is a sincere call to persons of different faiths to come together to pray, and to pray together for peace in times of war or social conflict?
THE PROTESTANT HESITATIONS
Protestant hesitation to pray with persons of other faith traditions functions at different levels. In the first instance, the prevalent mainline traditional Protestant thinking on other religions has been deeply influenced by Barth's theology, which made a sharp distinction between 'religion' and 'revelation'. In Barth's opinion, all religion, including Christianity as a religion, is part of the human rebellion against God. Humans, in their pride, have always attempted to have knowledge of God through their own efforts. But the 'wholly Other' can never be grasped by sinful humans. Knowledge of God, in Barth's perspective, can only be received through God's gracious self-revelation. This self-revelation of God took place in God's mighty acts in history and in a more decisive way in the Incarnation. The message of the Gospel, as the unique self-revelation of God, presents a "crisis" in the life of every human person, demanding the response of faith and discipleship.
In his quest to emphasize the radical challenge of the Gospel as demanding a decision, Barth had reduced all religious traditions to "unbelief", and with it, by implication, cast serious questions on the validity of the worship life of other faiths. Hendrik Kraemer, interpreting Barth's theology for Protestant understanding of mission, developed the theory of "Biblical Realism", according to which there was a "radical discontinuity" between the Gospel and other faiths.
Although Protestant Christian theology has since moved beyond Barth and Kraemer, suspicion of other faiths as having any relationship at all with God persists. An average Protestant believer, despite the confession that there is only one God, the creator of all human beings, would find it difficult to believe that this one God might have any ongoing relationship with the rest of humanity. There is even greater hesitation on the possibility that the rest of humanity might have a relationship with the God whom Christians worshipped "through Jesus Christ".
In 1986 the Lutheran Council in the USA brought out a "Counsel for Lutherans" on the broader question of Interfaith Worship. Its concluding remarks show how the Protestant view of worship is believed to be in an inalienable link with its doctrines:
The worship of Christians reflects their Christology. Focusing upon the Triune God, Christians in worship inevitably project what they confess in their doctrines concerning Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. It is especially in the context of worship that the Christian church historically has celebrated the divinity and the humanity of Christ. Through forms and expressions of worship Christians reflect Christological doctrines and apply them to matters of both faith and life.4
This Lutheran view reflects the general Protestant emphasis on the relationship between worship and the doctrines of the church.
Secondly, many believe that a commonly shared faith is necessary in order to pray together. "While there may be only one God" people argue, "there are diverse concepts of God, some bordering even on the affirmation of the demonic. How, then, can people with different conceptions of God pray together?" It is important, however, to note that there are different approaches to this issue among the various religious traditions themselves. Hinduism, for example, affirms a plurality of conceptions and approaches to God. Since what is signified as "God" is an unfathomable mystery, Hindus claim that it is only natural that there are different ways to understand and approach God. They further hold that human beings and the circumstances into which they are born are also so diverse that there would naturally be a vast variety of ways in which people seek to know and relate to God. Thus a plurality of understandings of God and a diversity of ways of relating to the Ultimate are seen as quite legitimate and necessary.
Christians, however, have insisted on the need for "common faith". On this basis some streams within the church would deny the Eucharist to others even though it is believed by many to be central to the identity of the Church itself. While Protestants are more open on the question of sharing the Eucharist, they generally tend to apply the principle of "the need for a common theological basis" when dealing with the question of praying with adherents of other faiths.
At the third level, many Protestants hold that praying with persons of other faiths is not in keeping with biblical teachings. Some would argue that the commandment "You shall have no other gods..." prohibits worship with others. Others equate the use of images in Hindu worship with the rejection of idols in biblical narratives. Still others believe that the Great Commission "to preach, teach and to baptize" by implication rejects any knowledge of God in the prayer life of their neighbours.
What then can we say about praying with others? Was the Christian group in Birmingham wrong when they heeded to the request of the Muslim friend to lead the group in prayer? Was it violating God's law in participating in a prayer led by a Muslim?
DIMENSIONS OF THE ISSUE
Some of the difficulty in dealing with the issue results from not making careful distinctions in the terms used. Words like "worship", "prayer" "liturgy", "spirituality", "spiritual disciplines", etc. are often used by many as if they refer to the same reality. In fact closer examination would show that they refer to different aspects and dimensions of the human quest for the Divine. For the purpose of this specific discussion, it is important to see the relationship and the difference between "prayer" and "worship".
Anthropologists say that all human beings at all periods of history have had some practice of prayer. The urge to pray, it is said, comes both from the sense of mystery associated with the creation that surrounds the humans as well as from their sense of self-transcendence. Prayer, in this context, is an act by human beings to be in communication with the Sacred, the Holy, the Other, or m common parlance, with God. Prayer is the universal aspect of religion. "Prayer to religion" the saying goes, "is what rational thought is to philosophy". Even though not every human being necessarily engages in conscious prayer, it is natural, normal and an inalienable part of being human to have a sense or an attitude of prayer, especially in moments when the human heart is elevated by the sense of the mystery of life or confronted with the finitude of human existence.
"Worship", on the contrary, normally does not refer to a general quest, but to an ordered response to a realized experience of the Sacred within a specific human community. It is significant that the word worship normally does not refer to acts by individuals but of communities. Here the emphasis is not on "search", "quest" or "exploration" but on "communication", "adoration" and "the confession of the faith" that has drawn a group of persons together, knitting them into a religious community. Every worshipping community has a story to tell. In worship, therefore, a community celebrates a central event that has been their "window" into the Divine. For the Jewish community, it would be the revelation of the Torah on Mount Sinai, to the Muslims the revelation of the Quran and to the Christians, the revelation in Jesus Christ. Thus, worship is not an entirely open-ended activity; it has points of reference; it is clothed in manifold symbolism; it is built on a shared story and is performed with the aid of myths, symbols, rituals and forms that carry meaning to those who are part of that "story".
It is, therefore, understandable that there are considerable reservation all religious communities to participate in the worship of other f communities or to freely throw open their own worship to those outside. There is a general tendency to want to respect each other's "sacred space".
ENTERING THE SPACE OF THE OTHER COMMUNITY
Today this notion that the "sacred space" of the religious traditions is: a strictly "private" or a "privileged" space has come under some pressure. The growth of interfaith understanding and of interfaith organizations throw whole communities together into relationships, and often there are calls not only to, individuals but also to the traditions to engage in "common worship". This has remained a difficult subject. Protestants in this context have been willing to worship in the presence of others and to be present when others engage in worship. Common worship remains a problem for many. There are some, however, who argue that communities must gradually try to move into each other's sacred space and learn to be at home in them. Others hold that in addition to the specific ways in which given communities celebrate their faith we must create new myths, new symbols, new rituals and new forms within which all humans can experience the Other. There are many issues that need to be looked at more closely in these proposals, but it is beyond the scope of this present discussion.
We then return to the issue of "prayer" and ask, "Can we pray together?" One of the difficulties within the Protestant tradition is that often people do not in fact distinguish between "worship" and "prayer", especially because much prayer takes place also in the context of worship. As mentioned above, there is a general assumption that one needs to have common faith also to engage in common prayer.
THE CHALLENGE TO PROTESTANT CHRISTIANITY
One of the problems facing Protestant Christianity is that it has paid little or no theological attention to its own confession with the Psalmist that the "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and those who dwell in it". It has placed much more emphasis on the "fall" and on sinful humankind's need to be saved. Some of the Protestant thinking has interpreted the "fall" as total depravation or the complete corruption of the image of God in humans, thereby implying that there is a gulf between God and humans that can never be bridged through human prayer. Although much has been done in contemporary theology to correct this over-emphasis, the view prevails in some streams of Protestant theology and in popular thinking.
If we do not subscribe to Deism, but believe in a creator God who continues to care for creation, it is inconceivable that God is not in a relationship with all human beings. It is also equally inconceivable that all human beings are not in a relationship with God. In the Bible creation is a relational activity ("Let us make man in our own image''); to be human is to stand in a relationship to God. The view that the Bible teaches that the people of other faith traditions have no relationship with God is also questionable. It is of course an account of the faith of the people of Israel and of the church. It has no intention to explore the religious life of others and its relationship to God. But there are significant indications of a prayer relationship between God and non-Israelites. Melchizedek, Jethro, Balaam, Naaman and the Ninevites in the time of Jonah are all represented as people who raise their hearts in prayer to God who responds to them. The prophet Malachi appears to say that all worship reaches the one God: "People from one end of the world to the other honour me. Everywhere they burn incense to me and offer acceptable sacrifices" (Mal. 1.11)5. There are also instances in the New Testament which might be used to show that the biblical evidence is more mixed than it is often thought to be.
The biblical evidence, however, is not overwhelming, and it would be inappropriate to build arguments based on selected texts. But what is indeed overwhelming in biblical theology is the affirmation that God is one, and that God cares for all people. The Psalms are unequivocal in claiming the whole earth to the Lord and proclaiming God's providence over all of creation. Prayer, from wherever it comes, is human reciprocity to the God who provides. It is, therefore, important to distinguish "prayer" as a human longing for God from "worship", a response of a community in relationship with God. We must reclaim and affirm our common humanity before God in the act of prayer.
Prayer then is an act of rooting oneself in that in which all "live, move and have their being"; it is an act of going out of oneself to be in communion with the Other; it is the cry of the heart in times of agony; it is the elevation of the soul in moments of joy; it is the art of being human in a life that has a depth of meaning. In other words, prayer is the language of the heart; unlike the language of the mind, it has no syntax.
Humans have learned to relate to one another and to work together despite speaking different languages, following diverse life-styles, being shaped by a variety of cultures and ideological persuasions. In all these, we have learned to deal with our differences, to see them in perspective and to "adjust" them so that we can still relate and affirm our common humanity.
Should we hold back when it comes to praying with others, which may well mean communicating with them and with the One in whom we all live, at the deepest level of human existence?
The concerns that we have looked at do remain. But to rise above them in order to relate to our neighbours "in depth" may well be the spiritual challenge of our day.
"I boasted among men that I had known you.
They see your pictures in all works of mine.
They come and ask me "Who is he?"
I know not how to answer them.
I say, "Indeed I cannot tell"
They blame me and they go away in scorn.
And you sit there smiling.
I put my tales of you into lasting songs.
The secret gushes out from my heart.
They come and ask me, "Tell me all your meanings.'
I know not how to answer them.
I say, "Ah, who knows what they mean!"
They smile and go away in utter scorn.
And you sit there smiling" (Gitanjali - 102)
We say to you that we cannot join our neighbours in their deepest longing to relate to you because we know you, and they do not.
And You are sitting there, smiling!
NOTES
