The encounter of religions “is today one of the most profound human problems.” – Raimundo Panikkar Questions occur. Is religious faith so personal that only the individual deserves to express or scrutinize it? What will induce increased understanding of and respect among people who possess different religious faith loyalties? This article presents primarily the introductory […]
Goshen College Chapel, All Saints Day – October 29, 2001 Student Readers: Dykshya, Kashif, Tsigi, Tobias, Charletta Prayer – # 672 Hymnal A Worship Book – read by Sylvia Shirk Charles, Campus Minister With all your saints across the generations we gather, Holy God, To approach your mystery and hear your judgment. We come seeking […]
Book foreword by Paul F, Knitter (vi-viii) and Introduction by Dorothy Yoder Nyce (1-6) Foreword In this collection of essays, Dorothy Yoder Nyce – my friend, student, and fellow searcher – illustrates and embodies a truth that has been dawning on, and calling for reform of, the mainline Christian churches (even many of the evangelical […]
This dialogue engages two Christian women, one from India and the other a North American visitor/tourist—in India for an international conference on ecology. Indian: Welcome! I’m glad you’ve come to India. American: Thanks. There’s so much to observe here; I must miss a lot. Indian: No doubt. You’ll alert me to common details that I […]
[Several segments told here also appear in the India section of Web under “Culture.”] People often cross cultures, at times resulting in severe shock, on other occasions without notice. Crowds might gather for a local Diversity Day. An event to celebrate distinctions of culture, Diversity Day in hometown Goshen provides opportunity to try a new […]
This imaginary conversation brings together two Indian Christians, one a young member of a more sectarian Mennonite group and one a retired economics professor who belongs to the Church of South India. Formed in 1947, CSI combined Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Methodists of India’s four southern states. The sectarian, feeling restless with limits of her […]
Brief responses from several writers Every society experiences violence. Francois Houtart focuses on social dimensions that link religion and violence: animal sacrifice, good versus evil, using defense to expand. Such connections appear in Hindu Rig Veda rituals, the Gita battle between immortal souls, and lawmaker Manu’s caste relations. Buddhism’s focus on nonviolence, compassion, and ethical […]
Tour with Shanta Premawardhana assisted by Eardley Mendis, February 2017. Reflection on Observations or Learnings from our Tour Traveling in cities or along the countryside, I noticed quite a few locations for faithful Buddhists in Sri Lanka to publicly worship. A Buddhist would perhaps make a similar judgment about the number of churches in western […]
Presented to Association of Anabaptist Missiologists – Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, Manitoba – Oct. 13, 2007. First published in Mission Focus Annual Review 2007,52-72; appears here with permission Forty-five years ago, I first went to India for three years. That cross-cultural and interreligious context shaped my entire adult experience—parenting and ecumenical tasks, teaching and writing. Feminist […]
Requested by Institute that I write this when doing research there – March 21-28, 2003 Introduction. Imagine an unlighted cement stairway five feet wide, just off a busy street in Hyderabad, the capital city of India’s south-central state of Andhra Pradesh. A dark, wooden guardrail is in position to assist downward traffic. Grayish, plastered walls […]