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Dialogue begins with a single act -- one person's decision to be open to another person of a
different religious tradition. In many places small beginnings have
resulted in the growth of communities that have built strong ties across religious barriers. The WCC's Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies was first published in 1979. Nearly twenty years later, it is still much in demand. We hope that these Guidelines will encourage you to take up the practice of interfaith dialogue and that you will be part of an ever increasing group of people who are committed to building up a culture of dialogue in a world that is so much divided. |
Click to any of the following or scroll down for: Introduction: Dialogue in Community
Part I: On Community
Part II: On dialogue
Part III: Guidelines recommended to
churches
for study and action |
Why the theme "Dialogue in Community"? As Christians live together with their neighbours of
other
faiths and ideological persuasions the emphasis has come to be placed not so much on dialogue
itself as
on dialogue in community. The Christian community within the human community has a common
heritage and a distinctive message to share; it needs therefore to reflect upon the nature of the
community Christians seek together with others and upon the relation of dialogue to the life of the
churches, as they ask themselves how they can be communities of service and witness without
diluting
their faith or compromising their commitment to the Triune God. Such an enquiry needs to be
informed
both by a knowledge of different religions and ideologies and by insights gained through actual
dialogues
with their neighbours. The enquiry needs also to take into account the concerns, questions and
experiences of the member churches of the WCC.
The Central Committee which met at Addis Ababa (1971) recognized that "the engagement of the
World
Council in dialogue is to be understood as a common adventure of the churches". The World
Council
of Churches comprises various confessional heritages and a wide variety of convictions. The
plurality
of cultural situations as well as the varieties of religions, cultures, ideologies, political structures and
social backgrounds which Christians bring to their common life together play a significant role in
the
discussions. Political attitudes and economic forces influence the power relationships between
communities. In an age of worldwide struggle of humankind for survival and liberation, religions
and
ideologies have their important contributions to make, which can only be worked out in mutual
dialogue.
It is a responsibility of Christians to foster such dialogue in a spirit of reconciliation and hope
granted
to us by Jesus Christ.
It is easy to discuss religions and even ideologies as though they existed in some realm of calm quite
separate from the sharp divisions, conflicts and sufferings of humankind. Religions and ideologies
often
contribute to the disruption of communities and the suffering of those whose community life is
broken.
Therefore the statements made here on the relationship between Christian communities and
communities
of their neighbours should be read with a recognition that they have a place in the total WCC
programme
which includes major Christian involvement in political and economic stresses and social problems
as
well as in issues raised by science and technology for the future of humankind. Further, they should
also
be evaluated in relation to other WCC concerns and in their bearing in such discussions as the unity
of
the church and the unity (community) of humankind.
It will be noted that the statement and the guidelines touch religions more than ideologies. This is a
conscious self-limitation because so far the sub-unit on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and
Ideologies (DFI) has more experience of actual dialogues with people of living faiths than of
ideologies.
However, this does not mean that the dialogue programme is not concerned with ideologies. It is
part
of its mandate, recognizing that religions and ideologies interact and influence each other in the life
of
the community. The manner in which ideological factors affect religious structures and attitudes has
been
considered in some of the consultations. Ideological questions touch many parts of the World
Council's
work. Christian-Marxist meetings were part of the programme of Church and Society for several
years. In many countries Christians live and work together with neighbours who hold very definite
ideological convictions. In its various programmes on science and technology, the search for a just,
participatory and sustainable society, international affairs, development etc., the issues raised by
ideologies play an important role. Therefore where reference to ideologies is made in the statement
and
guidelines, it is recognized that continuing work in this area cannot be done by the DFI alone but
has
to be done in cooperation with other sub-units, and drawing on the previous experiences of the
World
Council as a whole in this matter.
The words "mission" and "evangelism" are not often used in this statement. This is not because of
any
desire to escape the Christian responsibility, re-emphasized in the Nairobi Assembly, to confess
Christ
today, but in order to explore other ways of making plain the intentions of Christian witness and
service.
Christian integrity includes an integrity of response to the call of the risen Christ to be witnesses to
Him
in all the world.
A. Communities and the community of humankind
2. Men and women are all born into relationships with other people. Most immediately there are the
members of their families, but quickly they have to explore wider relationships as they go to school
or
begin work. This may take place in the complexity of relationships within a village society, or
within the
modern urban centres of town and city which attract ever larger populations. They experience still
wider
associations within nation, race, religion, and at the same time they may belong to different social
classes
or castes which condition their ideological outlooks. Then the newspapers they read, the radio and
T.V.
programmes they hear and see give them an awareness of the multitude of ways in which the lives
they
live are dependent on people in other parts of the world, where ways of life are amazingly varied.
From
these, and many related contexts, they derive their sense of being part of some communities and
apart
from others. The sense of identity with some communities and of alienation from others is
something
never completely understood but it remains reality for us all at the many levels of our existence.
3. Within each particular community to which people may belong they are held together with others
by
the values they share in common. At the deepest level these have to do with their identity, which
gives
them a sense of being "at home" in the groups to which they belong. Identity may be formed with a
long
historical experience, or in the face of problems newly encountered; it may express itself in
communal
traditions and rituals shaped through centuries, or in newer forms sometimes less coherent and
sometimes more rigid. Religions and ideologies have formative influence on communities; but
religions
and ideologies have themselves been shaped by other elements of the culture of which they are
part-language, ethnic loyalty, social strata, caste. Some communities may tend to uniformity in this
regard, while others have long traditions of pluralism, and it is not infrequent that individual
families may
share more than one set of beliefs.
4. Human communities are many and varied. They are involved in a constant process of change
which
evokes their comparison with flowing rivers rather than stable monuments. But if change is always
present, there can be no doubt that it has been accelerated in the present times, especially by
scientific
technology, economic forces and the mass media. Some changes are so rapid and dramatic as to
give
the experience of the loss of community and of the human isolation which follows. In other
instances
communities are structured and reshaped: once closed communities being thrown into relationship
with
others with which they find themselves engaged in the task of nation building; communities
formerly of
a single cultural identity being opened to a cultural pluralism and plurality of religious systems;
communities in which traditional religious systems may undergo far-reaching change, and,
revitalized,
provide renewed identity and continuity with the past. Amidst these changes many people are
alienated
from all community and have either given up the quest for community or are seeking it from many
sources.
5. An important aspect of this accelerated change has been brought about by the complex network
of
relationships which has been created between human communities in recent times. More urgently
today
than ever in the past, the traditions of our individual communities are being drawn towards one
another,
sometimes into a new harmony, sometimes into a destructive whirlpool in the flowing rivers. The
inter-relatedness of human communities brings with it many new challenges to mutual concern and
pastoral care, the response to which, both individually and collectively as communities, will
determine
the character of the reality of "the community of humankind".
6. The response is often given in the form of ideologies. In fact the accelerated change has made
people
more sensitively aware of the need for conscious social and political action, because they find
themselves
in the midst of many ideological projects which attempt in various ways to shape or reshape
society. Traditional communities do not escape the impact of ideological thinking and action and
their
varied responses may bring conflict as well as renewal.
7. There are dangers inherent in this situation, but experience of human inter-relatedness in different
local
situations deepens awareness of the richness of the diversity of the community of humankind which
Christians believe to be created and sustained by God in His love for all people. They marvel and
give
thanks for this richness, acknowledging that to have experienced it has given many of them an
enriched
appreciation of the deeper values in their own traditions and in some cases has enabled them to
rediscover them. But at the same time they feel sharply conscious of the way in which diversity can
be,
and too often has been, abused: the temptation to regard one's own community as the best; to
attribute
to one's own religious and cultural identity an absolute authority; the temptation to exclude from it,
and
to isolate it from others. In such temptations Christians recognize that they are liable to spurn and
despoil the riches which God has, with such generosity, invested in His human creation ... that they
are
liable to impoverish, divide and despoil.
8. Because of the divisive role to which all religions and ideologies are so easily prone, they are
each
called to look upon themselves anew, so as to contribute from their resources to the good of the
community of humankind in its wholeness. Thinking of the challenge to the Christian faith
Christians are
reminded both of the danger of saying "peace, peace" where there is no peace and of Jesus' words in
the
Sermon on the Mount: "Happy are those who work for peace: God will call them His children."
(Matt.
5. 9). As workers for peace, liberation, and justice, the way to which often makes conflict necessary
and
reconciliation costly, they feel themselves called to share with others in the community of
humankind
in search for new experiences in the evolution of communities, where people may affirm their
interdependence as much as respect for their distinctive identities. At the Colombo consultation of
1974
the vision of a worldwide "community of communities" was discussed. Such a vision may be
helpful in
the search for community in a pluralistic world; it is not one of homogeneous unity or totalitarian
uniformity, nor does it envisage self-contained communities, simply co-existing. Rather it
emphasizes
the positive part which existing communities may play in developing the community of humankind
(cf.
para 6). For Christians the thought of a community of communities is further related to the kingly
rule
of God over all human communities.
10. Our experience as Christians in this widely scattered community is very varied. There are
churches
who live in situations of social, cultural and national suppression, where their identity is threatened
and
their freedom restricted. There are times and places where Christians may have to stand apart from
others in loyalty to Christ but this does not absolve Christians who have indulged in the temptations
of
cultural arrogance and communal exclusiveness, both consciously and unconsciously. Thus they
have
contributed to the divisions within the community of humankind, and have created antagonisms
between
different groups within the Christian community itself. Christians, therefore, must stand under the
judgement of God. We believe that there is a real sense in which our unity with all peoples lies in
our
common participation in- all that has so tragically created divisions within the world. It is in this
way that
we relate to our theme the experience of the empirical churches that they constantly need God's
forgiveness.
11. But amidst this complex, confusing and humbling situation we believe that the Gospel of our
Lord
Jesus Christ retains its divine given-ness. The Gospel cannot be limited to any particular culture, but
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit sheds its light in them all and upon them all. Nor is the
truth
of the Gospel distorted by the sinfulness of its Christian adherents. Rather, the Gospel calls them
individually and in community to repentance and confession, and invites them into newness of life
in the
risen Christ. This reality of renewed Christian community pertains to our very deepest experience as
Christians. There are many ways of speaking of this experience. For example:
12. We must acknowledge the close relation between our concern for dialogue and our work for
visible
Church unity. It is not only that the different confessional traditions have been an influence on the
different approaches to dialogue and that questions concerning dialogue are seriously discussed
within
and between churches, but also the contribution of Christians to dialogue is distorted by division
among
them.
13. In the WCC we experience both the possibility for common confession of faith and worship
together
and also the obstacles to Christian unity. We are agreed in giving a vital place in our thinking to
Bible
study and worship; we are able to worship our one Lord in the very different ways of the churches
represented among us. Yet we are also aware of problems concerning the authority of the Bible
remaining unsolved among us and of the fact that we are not yet part of one eucharistic fellowship.
It
is not surprising therefore that there is controversy among Christians about the meditative use
(rather
than simply the intellectual study) of the holy books of other faiths and about the question of
common
worship between those of different faiths. There is need for further careful and sensitive study of
these
issues, and we request the DFI to encourage such study among the member churches of the WCC
and
with our partners in dialogue.
14. As Christians we are conscious of a tension between the Christian community as we experience
it
to be in the world of human communities, and as we believe it in essence to be in the promise of
God.
The tension is fundamental to our Christian identity. We cannot resolve it, nor should we seek to
avoid
it. In the heart of this tension we discover the character of the Christian Church as a sign at once of
people's need for fuller and deeper community, and of God's promise of a restored human
community
in Christ. Our consciousness of the tension must preclude any trace of triumphalism in the life of the
Christian Church in the communities of humankind. It must also preclude any trace of
condescension
towards our fellow human beings. Rather it should evoke in us an attitude of real humility towards
all
peoples since we know that we together with all our brothers and sisters have fallen short of the
community which God intends.
15. We understand our calling as Christians to be that of participating fully in the mission of God
(missio
Dei) with the courage of conviction to enable us to be adventurous and take risks. To this end
we
could
humbly share with all our fellow human beings in a compelling pilgrimage. We are specifically
disciples
of Christ, but we refuse to limit Him to the dimensions of our human understanding. In our
relationships
within the many human communities we believe that we come to know Christ more fully through
faith
as Son of God and Saviour of the world; we grow in His service within the world; and we rejoice in
the
hope which He gives.
1. Christians begin their reflection on community from the acknowledgement that God as they
believe Him to have come in Jesus Christ is the Creator of all things and of all humankind; that
from the
beginning He willed relationship with Himself and between all that He has brought to life; that to
that
end He has enabled the formation of communities, judges them and renews them. When Christians
confess Him as one Holy Trinity, when they rejoice in His new creation in the resurrection of Christ,
they
perceive and experience new dimensions of the given humanity which God has given. Yet, the very
nature and content of our Christian confession draws Christians to pay the closest attention to the
realities of the world as it has developed under God's creative, disciplinary and redemptive rule. So
they
are led to attempt a description of communities and the community of humankind in the light of a
basic
Christian confession but in terms which may also find understanding and even agreement among
many
of other faiths and ideologies.
B. The Christian community: The churches and the
Church
9. Scattered within the world of human communities, we as Christians look for signs of God's
kingly rule
and truly believe in our community with Christians everywhere in the Church, the Body of Christ.
Being
fully in the world, the Christian community shares in the many distinctions and divisions within and
between the communities of humankind. It manifests immense cultural variety within itself, which
we
are bound to acknowledge as affecting not only the practice but also the interpretation of the faith by
different groups of Christians. This is exemplified in South Asia by Christians who speak of their
struggle, within cultures moulded by Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam, to express their Christian
faith in
a spirit at once obedient to the Gospel and related to the cultural context. In Europe and North
America
the understanding and practice of the Christian faith has been deeply influenced by western
culture.
Though we may express our conviction of the reality of this community in different ways, we hold
fast
to God in Christ who nourishes His church by Word and Sacraments.
C. Reasons for dialogue
Most Christians today live out their lives in actual community with people who may be committed
to
faiths and ideologies other than their own. They live in families sometimes of mixed faiths and
ideologies;
they live as neighbours in the same towns and villages; they need to build up their relationships
expressing mutual human care and searching for mutual understanding. This sort of dialogue is very
practical, concerned with the problems of modern life - the social, political, ecological, and, above
all,
the ordinary and familiar.
But there are concerns beyond the local which require Christians to engage in dialogue towards the
realization of a wider community in which peace and justice may be more fully realized. This leads
in
turn to a dialogue between communities, in which issues of national and international concern are
tackled.
17. No more than "community" can "dialogue" be precisely defined. Rather it has to be described,
experienced and developed as a life-style. As human beings we have learned to speak; we talk,
chatter,
give and receive information, have discussions all this is not yet dialogue. Now and then it happens
that
out of our talking and our relationships arises a deeper encounter, an opening up, in more than
intellectual terms, of each to the concerns of the other. This is experienced by families and friends,
and
by those who share the same faiths, or ideology; but we are particularly concerned with the dialogue
which reaches across differences of faith, ideology and culture, even where the partners in dialogue
do
not agree on important central aspects of human life. Dialogue can be recognized as a welcome way
of
obedience to the commandment of the Decalogue: "You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbour". Dialogue helps us not to disfigure the image of our neighbours of different faiths and
ideologies. It has been the experience of many Christians that this dialogue is indeed possible on the
basis
of a mutual trust and a respect for the integrity of each participant's identity.
18. Dialogue, therefore, is a fundamental part of Christian service within community. In dialogue
Christians actively respond to the command to "love God and your neighbour as yourself". As an
expression of love engagement in dialogue testifies to the love experienced in Christ. It is a joyful
affirmation of life against chaos, and a participation with all who are allies of life in seeking the
provisional goals of a better human community. Thus "dialogue in community" is not a secret
weapon
in the armoury of an aggressive Christian militancy. Rather it is a means of living our faith in Christ
in
service of community with one's neighbours.
19. In this sense dialogue has a distinctive and rightful place within Christian life, in a manner
directly
comparable to other forms of service. But "distinctive" does not mean totally different or separate.
In
dialogue Christians seek "to speak the truth in a spirit of love", not naively "to be tossed to and fro,
and
be carried about with every wind of doctrine". (Eph. 4.14-15). In giving their witness they recognize
that in most circumstances today the spirit of dialogue is necessary. For this reason we do not see
dialogue and the giving of witness as standing in any contradiction to one another. Indeed, as
Christians
enter dialogue with their commitment to Jesus Christ, time and again the relationship of dialogue
gives
opportunity for authentic witness. Thus, to the member churches of the WCC we feel able with
integrity
to commend the way of dialogue as one in which Jesus Christ can be confessed in the world today;
at
the same time we feel able with integrity to assure our partners in dialogue that we come not as
manipulators but as genuine fellow-pilgrims, to speak with them of what we believe God to have
done
in Jesus Christ who has gone before us, but whom we seek to meet anew in dialogue.
21. Approaching the theological questions in this spirit Christians should proceed:
25. There is a positive need for a genuine "translation" of the Christian message in every time and
place.
This need is recognized as soon as the Bible translators begin their work in a particular language
and
have to weigh the cultural and philosophical overtones and undertones of its words. But there is also
a
wider "translation" of the message by expressing it in artistic, dramatic, liturgical and above all in
relational terms which are appropriate to convey the authenticity of the message in ways
authentically
indigenous, often through the theologically tested use of the symbols and concepts of a particular
community.
26. Despite attempts to rescue the word "syncretism" it now conveys, after its previous uses in
Christian
debate, a negative evaluation. This is clearly the case if it means, as the Nairobi Assembly used the
word,
"conscious or unconscious human attempts to create a new religion composed of elements taken
from
different religions". In this sense syncretism is also rejected by the dialogue partners, although there
may
be some who in their alienation are seeking help from many sources and do not regard syncretism
negatively.
27. The word "syncretism" is, however, more widely used than at Nairobi and particularly to warn
against two other dangers.
The first danger is that in attempting to "translate" the Christian message for a cultural setting or in
approach to faiths and ideologies with which Christians are in dialogue partnership, they may go too
far
and compromise the authenticity of Christian faith and life. They have the Bible to guide them but
there
is always risk in seeking to express the Gospel in a new setting: for instance, the early Christian
struggle
against heresy in the debate with Gnosticism; or the compromising of the Gospel in the so-called
"civil
religions" of the West. It is salutary to examine such examples lest it be supposed that syncretism is
a
risk endemic only in certain continents.
A second danger is that of interpreting a living faith not in its own terms but in terms of another
faith
or ideology. This is illegitimate on the principles of both scholarship and dialogue. In this way
Christianity may be "syncretized" by seeing it as only a variant of some other approach to God, or
another faith may be wrongly "syncretized" by seeing it only as partial understanding of what
Christians
believe that they know in full. There is a particular need for further study of the way in which this
kind
of syncretism can take place between a faith and an ideology.
28. Both these are real dangers and there will be differences of judgement among Christians and
between
churches as to when these dangers are threatening, or have actually overtaken particular Christian
enterprises. Despite the recognized dangers Christians should welcome and gladly engage in the
venture
of exploratory faith. The particular risks of syncretism in the modern world should not lead
Christians
to refrain from dialogue, but are an additional reason for engaging in dialogue so that the issues may
be
clarified.
29. Within the ecumenical movement the practice of dialogue and the giving of witness have
sometimes
evoked mutual suspicion. God is very patient with the Church, giving it space and time for
discovery of
His way and its riches (cf. II Pet. 3.9). There is need within the ecumenical fellowship to give one
another space and time space and time, for instance, in India or Ghana to explore the richness of the
Gospel in a setting very different from that of "Hellenized" Europe; space and time, for instance, in
Korea to develop the present striking evangelistic work of the churches; space and time, for
instance,
in Europe to adjust to a new situation in which secularity is now being changed by new religious
interest
not expressed in traditional terms. The diversity of dialogue itself must be recognized in its
particular
content and in its relation to specific context.
16. The term "dialogue in community', is useful in that it gives concreteness to Christian reflection
on
dialogue. Moreover it focuses attention on the reasons for being in dialogue, which can be identified
in
two related categories.
D. The theological significance of people of other faiths
and
ideologies
20. Christians engaged in faithful "dialogue in community" with people of other faiths and
ideologies
cannot avoid asking themselves penetrating questions about the place of these people in the activity
of
God in history. They ask these questions not in theory, but in terms of what God may be doing in
the
lives of hundreds of millions of men and women who live in and seek community together with
Christians, but along different ways. So dialogue should proceed in terms of people of other faiths
and
ideologies rather than of theoretical, impersonal systems. This is not to deny the importance of
religious
traditions and their inter-relationships but it is vital to examine how faiths and ideologies have given
direction to the daily living of individuals and groups and actually affect dialogue on both sides.
22. Only in this spirit can Christians hope to address themselves creatively to the theological
questions
posed by other faiths and by ideologies. Christians from different backgrounds are growing in
understanding in the following areas in particular:
23. We look forward to further fruitful discussions of these issues (among many others) within our
Christian circles but also in situations of dialogue. There are other questions, where agreement is
more
difficult and sometimes impossible, but these also we commend for further theological attention:
E. Syncretism
24. In dialogue Christians are called to be adventurous, and they must be ready to take risks; but
also
to be watchful and wide awake for God. Is syncretism a danger for which Christians must be
alert?
From the experiences of Christians in dialogue with people of living faiths and ideologies and from
the
statement of the Central Committee on "Dialogue in Community" it is evident that dialogue has
become
urgent for many Christians today. The Guidelines which follow are built upon the Christian
convictions
expressed in the first two parts of this statement; the statement and the guidelines should be read
together.
It is Christian faith in the Triune God Creator of all humankind, Redeemer in Jesus Christ, revealing
and
renewing Spirit which calls us Christians to human relationship with our many neighbours. Such
relationship includes dialogue: witnessing to our deepest convictions and listening to those of our
neighbours. It is Christian faith which sets us free to be open to the faiths of others, to risk, to trust
and
to be vulnerable. In dialogue, conviction and openness are held in balance.
In a world in which Christians have many neighbours, dialogue is not only an activity of meetings
and
conferences, it is also a way of living out Christian faith in relationship and commitment to those
neighbours with whom Christians share town, cities, nations, and the earth as a whole. Dialogue is a
style
of living in relationship with neighbours. This in no way replaces or limits our Christian obligation
to
witness, as partners enter into dialogue with their respective commitments.
These guidelines are offered to member churches of the WCC and to individual congregations in
awareness of the great diversity of situations in which they find themselves. The neighbours with
whom
Christians enter into relationship in dialogue may be partners in common social, economic and
political
crises and quests; companions in scholarly work or intellectual and spiritual exploration; or,
literally, the
people next door. In some places, Christians and the church as an institution are in positions of
power
and influence, and their neighbours are without power. In other places it is the Christians who are
the
powerless. There are also situations of tension and conflict where dialogue may not be possible or
opportunities very limited. In many places people of different living faiths interact not only with
each
other, but also with people of various ideologies, though sometimes it is difficult to make a clearcut
distinction between religions and ideologies, for there are religious dimensions of ideologies and
ideological dimensions of religions, Christianity included. The emergence of new religious groups
in
many countries has brought new dimensions and tensions to inter-religious relationships. With all
this
diversity in mind, the following guidelines are commended to member churches for their
consideration
and discussion, testing and evaluation, and for their elaboration in each specific
situation.
They should also discover ways of responding to similar initiatives by their neighbours in the
community.
2. Dialogues should normally be planned together.
When planned together with partners of other living faiths or ideological convictions they may well
focus
on particular issues: theological or religious, political or social.
3. Partners in dialogue should take stock of the religious, cultural and ideological diversity of
their
local situation.
Only by being alert both to the particular areas of tension and discrimination and to the particular
opportunities for conversation and cooperation in their own context will Christians and their
neighbours
be able to create the conditions for dialogue. They should be especially alert to infringements of the
basic
human rights of religious, cultural or ideological minority groups.
4. Partners in dialogue should be free to "define themselves ".
One of the functions of dialogue is to allow participants to describe and witness to their faith in their
own
terms. This is of primary importance since self-serving descriptions of other peoples' faith are one of
the
roots of prejudice, stereotyping, and condescension. Listening carefully to the neighbours'
selfunderstanding enables Christians better to obey the commandment not to bear false witness
against
their neighbours, whether those neighbours be of long established religious, cultural or ideological
traditions or members of new religious groups. It should be recognized by partners in dialogue that
any
religion or ideology claiming universality, apart from having an understanding of itself, will also
have
its own interpretations of other religions and ideologies as part of its own self-understanding.
Dialogue
gives an opportunity for a mutual questioning of the understanding partners have about themselves
and
others. It is out of a reciprocal willingness to listen and learn that significant dialogue grows.
5. Dialogue should generate educational efforts in the community.
In many cases Christians, utilizing the experience of dialogue, must take the initiative in education
in
order to restore the distorted image of the neighbours that may already exist in their communities
and
to advance Christian understanding of people of other living faiths and ideologies.
Even in those situations where Christians do not live in close contact with people of the various
religious, cultural and ideological traditions, they should take seriously the responsibility to study
and
to learn about these other traditions.
Member churches should consider what action they can take in the following educational areas:
(i) Teaching programmes in schools, colleges, and adult education systems to enhance the
understanding
of the cultural, religious and ideological traditions of humankind; such programmes should,
wherever
possible, invite adherents of those traditions to make their contribution.
(ii) Teaching programmes in theological seminaries and colleges to prepare Christian ministers with
the
training and sensitivity necessary for inter-religious dialogue.
(iii) Positive relationships with programmes in university departments and other institutes of higher
learning which are concerned with the academic study of religion.
(iv) The review of material used and teachings customarily given in courses of instruction at all
levels
in the churches, including at theological colleges and seminaries, with a view to eliminating
anything
which encourages fanaticism and insensitivity to people of other faiths and ideologies.
(v) The development of church school materials for the study of people of other faiths and
ideologies.
(vi) The provision of courses for people who may be sent to serve in other cultures or who may
travel
as tourists in such cultures to promote their greater understanding and sensitivity.
(vii) Responsible reaction to school text books and media presentations which may prejudice the
image
of the neighbour.
(viii) The creative use of the media, radio, television etc., wherever possible in order to reach a
wider
audience in efforts to expand understanding of people of other faiths and ideologies.
It is in existing communities where families meet as neighbours and children play together that
spontaneous dialogue develops. Where people of different faiths and ideologies share common
activities,
intellectual interests, and spiritual quests, dialogue can be related to the whole of life and can
become
a style of living-in-relationship. The person who asks a neighbour of another faith to explain the
meaning
of a custom or festival has actually taken the first step in dialogue.
Of course, dialogue between long-term neighbours may be frustrated by deeply engrained
suspicions,
and men and women will have to reckon not only with the communities they seek but also with the
barriers between their present communities.
7. Dialogue should be pursued by sharing in common enterprises in community.
Common activities and experiences are the most fruitful setting for dialogue on issues of faith,
ideology
and action. It is in the search for a just community of humankind that Christians and their
neighbours
will be able to help each other break out of cultural, educational, political, and social isolation in
order
to realize a more participatory society. It may well be that in particular settings such common
enterprises
will generate interreligious committees or organizations to facilitate this kind of
dialogue-in-action.
8. Partners in dialogue should be aware of their ideological commitments.
Dialogue should help to reveal and to understand the ideological components of religions in
particular
situations. When Christians find themselves in communities with neighbours of other living faiths
they
may have common or diverse ideological convictions.
In such situations partners need to be sensitive to both religious and ideological dimensions of the
ongoing dialogue. Where Christians find themselves in communities with people of secular
ideological
convictions, the dialogue will at least expose shared contributions in a common search for the
provisional
goals of a better human community. Here dialogue may begin as a kind of "internal dialogue"
seeking
to bring to explicit reflection and discussion issues in the encounter of the Gospel both with
ideological
factors in various communities where Christians find themselves, and with the ideological
assumptions
of Christians themselves.
9. Partners in dialogue should be aware of cultural loyalties.
Dialogue and sensitivity to neighbours need to be developed in the area of relating Christian faith to
cultures. This applies especially to those places where traditional and popular culture has been
unduly
despised and rejected by the churches. A culture should not be romanticized or made into a false
absolute but it may often challenge and enrich the expression of the Christian faith. After careful
interpretation and discrimination local cultures may make meaningful contributions in symbols and
liturgy, social structures, relations, patterns of healing, art, architecture and music, dance and drama,
poetry and literature.
10. Dialogue will raise the question of sharing in celebrations, rituals, worship and
meditation.
Human communities draw together, express, and renew themselves in ritual and worship, and
dialogue
presumes an attitude of respect for the ritual expressions of the neighbours' community. Dialogue at
times includes extending and accepting invitations to visit each other as guests and observers in
family
and community rituals, ceremonies, and festivals. Such occasions provide excellent opportunities to
enhance the mutual understanding of neighbours.
Working together in common projects and activities or visiting in homes and at festivals will
eventually
raise the very difficult and important question of fuller sharing in common prayer, worship or
meditation.
This is one of the areas of dialogue which is most controversial and most in need of further
exploration.
Whether or not any such activities are undertaken, dialogue partners will want to face squarely the
issues
raised, sensitive to one anothers integrity and fully realizing the assumptions and implications of
what
is done or not done.
Member churches should move forward in planning for dialogue in cooperation with one another.
This
may well mean that regional and local councils of churches will have a separate commission on
dialogue.
12. Planning for dialogue will necessitate regional and local guidelines.
As the member churches of the WCC consider, test and evaluate these guidelines they will need to
work
out for themselves and with their specific partners in dialogue statements and guidelines for their
own
use in particular situations. The WCC can best assist the member churches in their specific
dialogues by
itself concentrating upon the world-wide features of the Christian dialogue with people of particular
religions and ideologies. For this purpose, the WCC will arrange appropriate consultations at the
world
level.
13. Dialogue can be helped by selective participation in world interreligious meetings and
organizations.
There are now many organizations linking world religions and seeking to enable them to cooperate
for
various purposes, such as the struggle for peace and justice in the community and among the
nations.
Christians involved in dialogue need to be selective in their participation in the meetings arranged
by
such organizations. Christian representatives should guard the mutual recognition of and respect for
the
integrity of each faith. On occasion it may be necessary for Christians to make clear that their
participation does not necessarily signify acceptance of the underlying assumptions of a particular
meeting or organization. Christians will normally avoid being identified with alliances against other
religions or against ideologies as such. The WCC will be willing to provide consultant-observers for
selected meetings of this kind but will not at present take a direct official part in the organizational
structure of world interreligious organizations.
To enter into dialogue requires an opening of the mind and heart to others. It is an undertaking
which
requires risk as well as a deep sense of vocation. It is impossible without sensitivity to the richly
varied
life of humankind. This opening, this risk, this vocation, this sensitivity are at the heart of the
ecumenical
movement and in the deepest currents of the life of the churches. It is therefore with a commitment
to
the importance of dialogue for the member churches of the WCC that the Central Committee offers
this
Statement and these Guidelines to the churches.
Learning and understanding in dialogue
1. Churches should seek ways in which Christian communities can enter into dialogue with their
neighbours of different faiths and ideologies.
Sharing and living together in dialogue
6. Dialogue is most vital when its participants actually share their lives together.
Planning for dialogue
11. Dialogue should be planned and undertaken ecumenically, wherever possible.
