Dr. Phan’s presentation discussed the challenges and opportunities of being a religious person today and the necessity of interreligious dialogue for the faithfulness of one’s spiritual life. What are the theological issues posed by being interreligious? Is there the possibility of “multi-religious belonging”? What will “religion” look like if this being interreligious is taken seriously? How is religious identity to be formed? What is the point of “mission” and conversion?
Event Summary:
Dr. Peter Phan, a leading scholar in the area of interreligious studies, presented his views and reflections on the concept of and challenges in being interreligious in today’s world. His talk consisted of three main points: 1) the political, social and economic situations that challenge us to be religious inter-religiously, 2) the four ways in which interreligious dialogue takes place, and 3) the three models of being interreligious. This was the subject of his book ‘Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue’. Father Tom Ryan moderated the talk.
The metamorphosis of religions of the world began in the second Axial Age marked by religious pluralism. Whereas major religions of the ancient past – Hinduism, Daoism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – emerged out of their own country, culture and civilization, the transition to the second Age represented a shift or transition from independent advent. “Religion cannot function authentically and truly, and cannot achieve its goals without entering into dialogue with other religions.” Therefore, Dr. Phan believes it is imperative to be interreligious in today’s highly globalized world, fostered by media, communication, migration and many other social and political events and factors.
The four ways to create a space in which interreligious dialogue can thrive, as put forth by Dr. Phan, are to live and share a life together with different faiths and religions around you, work together for the common good and for justice and peace, and have theological exchange to correct misunderstandings and remove prejudices. This will foster collaboration and exchange of ideas between different religions and enrich the common good. The most difficult yet most enriching and transformative way to promote interreligious dialogue is through interreligious sharing. Dr. Phan gives the example of Rumi Forum as an organization that provides Christians, Muslims, etc. to come together and share religious and spiritual experiences. “It is this profound, personal and communal sharing of the transformative experience of the divine – whatever you call it whether God or Allah – this is transformative”, he said.
Biography:
Peter C. Phan, a native of Vietnam, emigrated as a refugee to the U.S.A. in 1975. He obtained three doctorates, the Doctor of Sacred Theology from the Universitas Pontificia Salesiana, Rome, and the Doctor Philosophy and the Doctor of Divinity from the University of London. He was also awarded the honorary Doctor of Theology from Chicago Theological Union. He began his teaching career in philosophy at the age of eighteen at Don Bosco College, Hong Kong. In the United States, he has taught at the University of Dallas, Texas; at the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, where he held the Warren-Blanding Chair of Religion and Culture; at Union Theological Seminary, N.Y.; at Elms College, Chicopee, MA; at St. Norbert College, De Pere, WI, and at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, where he is currently holding the Ignacio Ellacuría Chair of Catholic Social Thought. He is also on the faculty of the East Asian Pastoral Institute, Manila and Liverpool Hope University, England. He is the first non-Anglo to be elected President of Catholic Theological Society of America.
His publications range far and wide in theology. They deal with the theology of icon in Orthodox theology (Culture and Eschatology: The Iconographical Vision of Paul Evdokimov); patristic theology (Social Thought; Grace and the Human Condition); eschatology (Eternity in Time: A Study of Rahner’s Eschatology; Death and Eternal Life); the history of mission in Asia (Mission and Catechesis: Alexandre de Rhodes and Inculturation in Seventeenth-Century Vietnam) and liberation, inculturation, and interreligious dialogue (Christianity with an Asian Face; In Our Own Tongues; Being Religious Interreligiously). In addition, he has edited some 20 volumes (e.g., Christianity and the Wider Ecumenism; Church and Theology; Journeys at the Margins; The Asian Synod; The Gift of the Church; Directory on Popular Piety and Liturgy). His many writings have been translated into Italian, German, French, Spanish, Polish, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese. He is general editor of a multi-volume series entitled Theology in Global Perspective for Orbis Books and a multi-volume series entitled Ethnic American Pastoral Spirituality for Paulist Press. His writings have received many awards from learned societies.