What is your response to the Quotation?
The quotation appears to address the issue of individualism and the feeling of being self-sufficient in religious matters. Merton disproves the issue of mankind living in individuality without affirming other members of society because they belong to other religions. Mankind cannot live in isolation because he needs others to grow both spiritually and emotionally (Hopfe & Woodward, 2012). The Bible provides that Jesus the Christ is the vine and the Christians are the branches.
This means that everyone has a different role to play in the body of Christ to accomplish the will of God. Actually, Merton’s word centers on the issue of different religious groups and how combining them can help individuals learn and grow. It is God’s desire for mankind to treat each other with respect and love. Therefore, instead of refuting other religious groups, it is prudent to learn and understand their beliefs and allow them to serve their purpose since they have a purpose to play in the journey of faith (Hopfe & Woodward, 2012). However, it is vital to learn how to separate truth from heresy and request God’s power to help in making the separations.
In the religious journey, religious groups need to grow together because God alone has the power to do the final separation between the true and false religion. What people need to do is to trust in God and be faithful to him and stop passing judgments over other religions, which practice different beliefs from theirs. Religious criticism is good, but it should be done in a manner that does not pass judgment over the other religion because the judgment of any kind belongs to God.
Actually, one cannot affirm everything other religion offers, but affirming the common roots like the story of creation, salvation, and God’s covenant with the great grandfather Abraham is a good way to grow as believers. Affirming the truth in another religion and using it to grow your faith is a good approach to religious growth (Clooney, 2010). No one should discriminate against the other on the basis of their religion, culture, or belief because everyone belongs to one supreme God, who is the beginner of religion (Hopfe & Woodward, 2012).
No matter what your Religious Faith may be, what is your Present Viewpoint toward our Shared task?
Actually, people argue that it does not matter what religion one follows, but what matters is the belief and the faith one has in God. In fact, faith is cultivated through individual efforts by studying the inspired word of God and asking the spirit of God to guide you in revealing the true religion that is acceptable before Him (Hopfe & Woodward, 2012). This implies that religion is crucial because it involves communing with the supreme God, and the fact that God is one is enough to show that God approves one religion. Thus, affirmation or saying yes to some religions should be done sparingly. Otherwise, it would be better to avoid other religions, especially if they do not comply with the true religion. However, for the sake of learning and growth, it is important to share religious beliefs, which have common roots.
Will your Present Attitude enable you to maximize the Enrichment and Learning we are hoping to Share?
My present attitude towards accommodating other religions for the purposes of learning is liberal. However, my experience with the shared task is not pleasant because we are serving a jealous God. God is faithful and He does not respect persons but honors those who follow his commands (Kessler, 2010). The Bible provides that in the Garden of Eden, God punished Adam and Eve for disobeying his command not to eat the forbidden fruit.
In addition, He destroyed the whole nation because of unfaithfulness, but he saved the family of Noah. In the book of Exodus, God saved the Israelites from bondage so that they can serve and worship Him and stop worshiping the gods of Egypt.
God forbad the Israelites not to worship other gods and those who defied his command were destroyed while others were warned through Prophet Moses. At Mount Sinai, Haron the brother of Moses made a golden calf and the Israelites worshiped the calf praising it for saving them from bondage (Kessler, 2010). God was annoyed by the incident and thought of destroying them from the face of the earth for compromising their faith in the wilderness, but Moses pleaded with him till he forgave them.
After the incident, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments that forbade them from having any other Gods. In the first and the second commandment, God warns against worshiping idols and other gods apart from him. God reveals that He is jealous and those who disobey his commandments risk drinking from the cup of His wrath. This shows how loving and jealous God is to his children (Clooney, 2010). Therefore, according to me, this is enough for me to compromise with other religions. However, I can affirm that the sharing was interesting because it enhanced my understanding of the people I stay with.
References
Clooney, F. (2010). The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights. New York: T&T Clark /Continuum.
Hopfe, L. M., & Woodward, M. R. (2012). Religions of the world (12th Ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kessler, E. (2010). An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. New York: Cambridge University Press.