World Scripture and Education for Peace by Andrew Wilson

“World Scripture: A Comparative Anthology of Sacred Texts, is a substantial book which contain over 4,000 passages gathered from 268 sacred texts and 55 oral traditions. All the major religions, the primal religions, and even the new religions are represented by their scriptures or sacred words. The passages are arranged comparatively by gathering them around various topics (165 in all) which cover all the significant issues of the religious life: God, the purpose of life, sin, salvation, faith, prayer, self-denial, providence, prophecy, messianic hopes, etc. Poring over any of these topics, the reader is immediately acquainted with the wisdom of all religions as they each deal with these universal human concerns. It required the cooperation and assistance of more than forty scholars and religious leaders representing every tradition before it was completed last summer (August 27, 1991), completed after five years of cooperative effort among scholars of religion and after review and endorsement by heads of the world’s religions.”

“Sacred scripture lies at the very heart of religion. As the standard of truth and bearer of the founder’s revelation, sacred scripture gives religion its stability and identity. As the starting point of education, sacred scripture conserves cultural identity and is a basis for ethics. But sacred scripture also promotes exclusivism and separateness. Based on a narrow-minded reading of scripture, each religion can assert that it is the sole possessor of truth . . . . Today, however, progress in transportation and communication has brought all the peoples of the world into close contact as members of one global village. There is the divine call, issuing from many quarters, for the religions of the world to take responsibility for building world peace. This will require mutual cooperation among the world’s religions, races and nations to build a harmonious family of humankind centered upon our Heavenly Parent, whether he is called Allah or God or Krishna or Ultimate Reality. Therefore, each religion can no longer remain exclusively focused on itself; it must take into account the legitimacy and validity of the other religions–and of the truths embodied in the other religions’ sacred scriptures.”

“In secular education, it is an accepted educational goal to teach about other nations and cultures in order to dispel the ignorance and prejudice that could fuel nationalistic passions. Even from elementary school, students study world history and world civilizations in addition to the history and culture of their own nation. In this regard, religious education is far behind . . . . In the modern global village, religions, no less than secular institutions, have the obligation to educate people to understand and respect people belonging to different communities and holding different beliefs . . . . The best way to learn about another religion is through an encounter with its living practitioners and teachers, in dialogue and shared worship–and such interfaith encounters are becoming more frequent all over the world. But another good way is by studying their sacred scriptures, with a good commentary as a guide. In the scriptures of other faiths one finds texts comparable to one’s own scripture which treat the problems of human existence in a profound and authoritative manner. One finds in another religion’s scripture the original revelations and insights of the founders that have made it compelling to millions of people . . . . By directly comparing the scriptures of one’s own religion with scriptures of other faiths, World Scripture demarcates a common ground which people from each religion can recognize for themselves and on their own terms. By downplaying prejudicial passages in scripture, the book lifts up the things that make for peace. This approach can universally reduce prejudice and open the doors to interreligious understanding and cooperation.”

“Looking at the wide variety of topics in World Scripture, we can see that the various religions concur on about eighty percent of them. Our conviction is this: instead of insisting on a religion’s uniqueness on the basis of the 20 percent where it differs from the others, let’s celebrate the common ground on the basis of the 80 percent which is shared . . . . World Scripture in no way demands that the reader abandon the unique perspective of his or her own religion in order to assent to a common truth, because the scriptures themselves make no such demand. The scriptures call us to a decision, to embrace God’s grace and accept a spiritual discipline through one of the particular forms available to us. One must go through a particular door, or none at all. Religious wisdom is often opaque and contrary to the world. It is only through the practice of one’s particular faith that one comes to recognize the truth of the statements in scripture. Having cultivated a religious mentality in one faith, one can, by extension, also see the wisdom of analogous statements in the scriptures of other faiths. Religious dilettantism is never advisable. The experience of interfaith dialogue has taught us that to truly understand another religion, one should first be deeply committed to one’s own faith and traditions.”

Based on the vast area of agreement among the scriptures found in this volume, one might wish to deduce a set of universal principles common to all religions . . . . I suggest the following ten points:

1. There exists an Ultimate Reality, or transcendent God, which defines the purpose and meaning of life, and to which human beings are related.
2. The universe is moral and purposeful, human beings are subject to spiritual laws, and each person reaps the fruit of his or her deeds.
3. Each person has an eternal destiny, a life hereafter; the cosmos includes various spiritual realms.
4. There is a highest goal (salvation, enlightenment, liberation, wholeness) which is potentially within the reach of every person.
5. Human beings are tarnished by an evil condition that prevents people from reaching the highest goal unaided.
6. Each person is free and responsible for his or her personal growth, yet can never fully realize that freedom unless the aforementioned condition of evil is dealt with.
7. Each person has ethical obligations in the contexts of family, society, and the natural world.
8. To become a moral person, one should train oneself to control the body and practice self-denial.
9. The way of goodness includes an ethic of love and self-sacrifice.
10. The fullness of spiritual truth goes beyond this common ground and includes the teachings of the historical religions. Knowledge of Ultimate Reality and the path to salvation comes to us through the unique founders of religion, who were given insights and revelations transcending ordinary knowledge attainable through reason alone.

“The only way, in my opinion, for religious values to return to the center of public life is for the individual religions to transcend their exclusivism and lift up the values which they share in common. Commonly shared religious values can become public values, since they do not favor any one religion over others. Such religious public values should support pluralism and protect minorities better than secular values have done thus far . . . . Some new elucidation of a religious common ground is needed now more than ever, if we are to build religious harmony and give a positive religious response to the dominant secular worldview. Perhaps World Scripture can help us to restore some sense of the common ground among religions by showing that common ground to be an empirical fact.”

“Godism is the name given to the project of establishing the common ground among religions and making it the basis for a God-centered, pluralistic society. Godism is not a particular philosophy or set of doctrines. It is rather a program for reforming and reviving society based on the existing traditional religions and value systems. It will require that the various religions realize harmony in practice and find common cause in articulating solutions to social problems.”

“What is distinctive about Godism is only its standpoint towards religion and its view of the mission of religion . . . . Its standpoint is Copernican, refusing to absolutize any one religion and recognizing all religions as revolving about a single transcendent and absolute Center, whom some call God . . . . The religions should be humble to God and accept that God may also have revealed unique aspects of himself in other faiths . . . . The way to personal illumination and salvation requires a serious commitment to one’s own tradition; shallow religious dilettantism is of little value.”

“Godism’s view of the mission of religion is historical and providential, recognizing that in the present age religions are called to fulfill a mission that is greater than what they had known in the past. That mission is to realize world peace in the new context of the global village. It requires each religious community to revitalize itself and realize its highest ideals, and then to serve other religious communities as part of a harmonious whole. The principle that love is fulfilled in the service of others should extend to religious communities: each religion should manifest love by serving other religions and working together to build a peaceful world.”

“The retreat of religion into the private sphere must be reversed, and religious values must once again become public values. Religious teachings should provide the ethical foundations which are fundamental to the social, political, and economic spheres, where secular values have been found wanting. Once the roadblock of religious dissension is overcome, religious unity can be the foundation for political and economic unity, and world peace.”

“Why do we need books like this World Scripture? God’s original purpose for theories is to make for world peace. God’s ultimate goal is one nation, one world under God. However, in the present world there are many varieties of belief. The conventional viewpoint is that there must be such variety in the world of religion, and likewise in the fields of politics and economics. How can they be combined into one direction? This is the problem. God’s final goal is absolutely one; therefore all this must converge to absolutely one point. Among us here, how can we realize that aim? Unless every religion, and every theory in the fields of politics, economics, etc., is combined into one, making one direction, the world cannot have peace. Therefore, I want to commend the making of World Scripture, and encourage more books like it.”

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Keywords : unity in diversity, religion, spirituality, peace, truth, love, education, politics, economics, ecosocial crisis, interfaith dialogue, understanding, secularism
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