Peacemaking controversy

Christianity and other faiths

This time it's the peacemakers ...
instead of the women

A slightly opinionated report by Doug King

The address by Dirk Ficca, which has been the object of such intense attacks, is now available here -- edited from its original oral presentation for better reading. Click here to read "Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World."

Living in the tension of religious pluralism [2-25-02]
As our church and many of our neighbors continue to struggle with the question of how to relate to people of other faiths, we continue to experience the tension between our need for openness and our need (as individuals and as communities of faith) for identity. In a sermon in January, Scott D. Anderson offered suggestions about how to live with that tension, based partly on a recent visit to the World Council of Churches and then to the Isle of Iona.

Dealing with religious diversity in America [11-30-01]
Religious pluralism in America has taken on new weight since September 11^th. A recent book by Diana Eck offers a careful look at this reality, and points toward healthy ways we might respond to it. Gene TeSelle reviews A New Religious America: How a "Christian Country" Has Now Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation.

As we face in new ways the religious diversity of our world, and our own society, the Rev. Dean Lindsey turned to Jeremiah's call to "seek the welfare of the city." [10-22-01]

What does the Church need to learn from Albert Einstein?
Peter Sawtell, Executive Director of Eco-Justice Ministries, poses this question, and suggests that we might learn from that "frizzy-haired scientific genius" to seek new and more expansive answers to the new and expanding questions of our time. [8-2-01]

A visitor read about Dirk Ficca's views in his local paper, and is glad to read the whole thing. "I appreciate his good work." [6-13-01]

The Rev. Kent Winters-Hazelton examines this "controversy in the Kingdom" as one between those "who claim an absolute knowledge of God's mind" about salvation and revelation, and those who believe we need humility in dealing with these issues. [5-17-01]

The Rev. Dr. Aurelia T. Fule writes in support of Ficca's commitment to interfaith dialogue. It reflects, she says, not only our Reformed tradition, but also our faith in the Biblical traditions of Hebrew scripture and the New Testament. [4-16-01]

What does our Study Catechism say about interfaith relations? Check it out! [4-19-01]

The Rev. Robert Rogers comments on the extreme reactions to Dirk Ficca's talk at last summer's Peacemaking Conference, and decries the demands for "false certitude." We are, he says, in danger of replacing the living truth of Christ with a sinful attempt to claim possession of all the answers. [2-26-01]

The Rev. Donald Smith, a member of the staff of the Synod of Southern California and Hawaii, sent an open letter to John Detterick, supporting not only Dirk Ficca's right to say what he said, but the content of his address as well. [12-00]

Click here for an examination (for reflection!) of the theological dimensions of the question of the exclusivity of the Christian faith, by Gene TeSelle.

And for links to other discussions of Christianity and other faiths -- and about the Vatican's recent declaration that everyone else is wrong -- click here.

A Pennsylvania session has called for the PC(USA) to repent of its "apostasy" as shown by its leaders' willingness to defend Ficca's right to speak.

The General Assembly Council's Executive Committee has issued a letter, dated Oct. 25, 2000, responding to the conservative criticisms of the presentation by Dr. Dirk Ficca at the Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference this summer. They affirm the denomination's tradition position on the Lordship of Jesus Christ, while also affirming Ficca's right to hold and express his views.

For the latest on this controversy, and GAC Executive Director John Detterick's statement to the Presbyterian Coalition, click here.

The 2000 Peacemaking Conference, held on July 26 - 29, focused on the theme of "Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a Diverse World." One of the major speakers, the Rev. Dirk Ficca, has come under attack from the wrathful Right, because in addressing the theme he invited his listeners to consider the possibility that the love and grace of God may not be limited exclusively to those who claim the name of Christ.

According to the first Presbyterian News Service report on the conference, by John Filiatreau, Ficca, who is executive director of the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, invited his listeners to "imagine that you're in a church, and that light is streaming through a number of stained-glass windows there." Elaborating on his image, he added, "The light is truth; the windows are religion; and the church is the world. Note that the window is not the light. ... Religions need to be distinguished from the light of God that shines through them."

"People of other religions have told me that, when Christians approach them with the sole purpose of converting them to Christianity, it feels to them like ... a kind of religious 'ethnic cleansing,'" said Ficca, who asserted that "the purpose of dialogue is not, as I once thought, consensus or agreement ... but understanding -- the mutual experience of understanding."

The challenge Christians face today, he said, is to find "a way to maintain the integrity of our own Christian faith, yet not feel that we have to convert others."

"God's ability to work in our lives is not determined by becoming a Christian," he said. "... So what's the big deal about Jesus?"

Ficca urged the peacemakers to abandon their "instrumental" view of salvation, which holds that "salvation comes solely through Jesus ... that Jesus himself is the Good News ... (and) that the goal of the Christian faith is the establishment of Christendom."

He recommended instead what he called a "revelatory" view -- that "salvation comes through the Holy Spirit ... that the Good News is what Jesus revealed ... that it is God who saves, and that God offers salvation to all people ... and the purpose is the establishment of the Kingdom of God."

Conservative critics quickly picked up the "So what's the big deal about Jesus?" line, and sent a barrage of e-mails and letters to Louisville and to conservative web sites, asking (as one writer put it) "Is this another Re-Imagining?" [For one collection of correspondence, check www.presbyweb.com]

The leaders of the Peacemaking Program and the Office of Interfaith Relations quickly issued a statement in an effort to correct some of the distorted reports, and soon thereafter the Presbyterian News Service put out a second and more complete report on the conference.

On August 23, General Assembly Council chair Peter Pizor and executive director John Detterick issued a statement on the controversy, which takes a strong stand, affirming our Presbyterian faith in a trinitarian God, and asserting that Ficca himself made such affirmations even as he struggled with how we might maintain that faith with integrity in a pluralistic world, while respecting the faiths of other people.

An update ... added on 10-3-00

The Layman reported a few days ago that the GAC leaders "have backed off" their statement supporting Dirk Ficca's right to speak as he did of other faiths.

Read the Layman's story.

And a thought:

It's interesting that the criticisms of Ficca's talk are described as "a firestorm that ignited" -- as if it were spontaneous combustion rather than an intentional act of fire-setting.

Perhaps more important in the face of such exclusivist attacks, the two leaders go on "to make clear that it is consistent with prior General Assembly statements that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) be involved in activities related to interfaith concerns. The 211th General Assembly (1999) encourages the General Assembly Council and its ministry units to establish relationships with multi-faith, interreligious bodies on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."

While stating clearly that Ficca speaks for himself (as who doesn't in such a role?), the letter concludes with this strong claim for an open church: "Given the open dialogue encouraged at the Peacemaking Conference and given the urging of previous General Assemblies to engage in interfaith relationships, we support discussion that responsibly explores how we are to live faithfully as Presbyterians in a religiously plural world."

Outgoing Witherspoon president Gene TeSelle has prepared an outline for study and reflection, suggesting that in our Reformed tradition, "genuine orthodoxy is not exclusive."

For the text of Ficca's talk you can contact Neva Newlin at nevan@ctr.pcusa.org or 888/728-7228, Ext. 5510.

The text is also available (as of this writing) on www.presbyweb.com. There you will also find a growing collection of notes commenting on the controversy -- mostly expressing outrage at Ficca's "heresy." Maybe you'd like to join in!