A Church Divided by Sin

"Hinduism, Buddhism and Sufism have attracted these seekers with a promise and an experience of meaning and fulfillment which they had not found in their own religious tradition. Many of these spiritual pilgrims, on the other hand, found in Bede Griffiths and the life of his ashram a Christianity that spoke to their hearts as well as to their minds. Bede argues that 'biblical Christianity,' as it has developed so far through a western consciousness, is no longer enough. It is in opening itself to the traditions of the East that Christianity will discover itself once again as "an interior religion, a religion of the heart and not of the head," a religion of personal experience which gives meaning and direction to human life."

"[Bruno Barnhart]: As he completed 'The Golden String' (The book appeared in 1954), Bede Griffiths already saw the church as coextensive with the whole of humanity. In this light, the divided Christianity of the twentieth century stood out with stark clarity. It was natural for him to see the history of western civilization and culture since the Renaissance and Reformation as an almost unmitigated decline. While Bede recognized the dark shadow of historical Christianity - corruption, violence and oppression - he found the cause of these evils within Christendom in the sin of individuals rather than in any systemic shortcomings. The church stands radiant and inviolate in the world, above these personal failings. If the Gospel of Christ had so far failed to transform this world, it is 'we' who must assume the blame. It is due simply to the infidelity of believers that the church has been divided and that humanity has not yet been drawn together around its center, Jesus Christ.

[Bede Griffiths]: The divisions which at present exist among Christians are but one aspect of that deeper conflict which divides mankind and dismembers the Body of Christ. For we must always remember that the bounds of the church are coextensive with mankind. When the Word of God, who is that Wisdom by which and through which and for which all things exist, assumed a human nature, he came to unite all mankind in one Body in himself. There is no man from the beginning to the end of the world, who does not receive grace from Christ and who is not called to eternal life in him. He is the true light which enlightens every man coming into the world. It is the same Spirit which from the beginning of history has been leading all men by his grace; it is the same Word, which enlightens them through their reason and conscience and prepares them for the revelation of himself...

All the great errors of our civilisation from the Reformation to the Russian revolution have arisen because of the failure of Christians to embody the truth of Christ in their lives. If Communism presents itself now as the great enemy of our civilization, it is because it embodies, in however distorted a manner, that thirst for social justice which Christianity failed to satisfy. When Marx declared that the aim of Communism was to "realise the essence of man" in the classless society, he was proclaiming what is the real aim of Christianity itself. For Christ is truly the Perfect Man, in whom all the potentialities of human nature are realised, and it is by membership of his Body, that we become part of a social organism in which all the conflicts of class and race and religion are transcended, and man realizes his true nature as a son of God.

Such is the vision of the church which Catholicism presents to us. It corresponds with all the deepest needs of mankind at the present day. While remaining true to that tradition of faith and doctrine which has been handed down from the beginning, it seeks to embrace all that is true in modern science and ancient philosophy. It envisages mankind in the whole length and breadth of its history as part of a divine plan, through which the destiny of man is to be fulfilled in a new order of being transcending this world of space and time. It faces the full tragedy of the situation in which we find ourselves, and finds the source of conflict in human life in the free choice of the will by which man becomes subject to sin.

To be a Christian is to accept the responsibility for sin not only in oneself but in others also. It is to recognize that we all bear the responsibility for one another.

[Bruno Barnhart]: In a letter from Bede's South Indian ashram of Shantivanam to The Tablet thirty years after 'The Golden String,' we hear a very different voice. For many years now, Bede has been confronted again and again by the dissatisfaction and alienation of Europeans and North Americans who have left western Christianity behind to come to India in search of spiritual wisdom. He takes up their cause against a 'formal, dogmatic, moralistic' Christianity which they have found to be 'a positive obstacle to their interior growth.'

Hinduism, Buddhism and Sufism have attracted these seekers with a promise and an experience of meaning and fulfillment which they had not found in their own religious tradition. Many of these spiritual pilgrims, on the other hand, found in Bede Griffiths and the life of his ashram a Christianity that spoke to their hearts as well as to their minds. Bede argues that 'biblical Christianity,' as it has developed so far through a western consciousness, is no longer enough. It is in opening itself to the traditions of the East that Christianity will discover itself once again as "an interior religion, a religion of the heart and not of the head," a religion of personal experience which gives meaning and direction to human life.

[Bede Griffiths]: Sir: May I add further comment to the notes from an ashram which you published in The Tablet of 24 March? We have had the same experience here in our ashram in South India of people coming from the West in "search of God." They are of all ages from 20 and even under to over 70, of both sexes and from many countries. They are almost all sincere seekers of a deeper meaning in life than the West seems to give them. They go to Hindu ashrams and Buddhist monasteries and to any Guru who will teach them a method of Yoga or meditation which will enable them to find the truth and the life which they are seeking. Those who come to our ashram are nearly all Christians, mostly Catholic, though some are Jewish and some have no particular religion. What is disconcerting is that so many Christians, especially Catholics, seem to find their religion an obstacle to their search for truth and reality. For most of them, Christianity is deemed to be identified with a formal, dogmatic, moralistic religion, which is a positive obstacle in their interior growth.

What is the reason for this? I suggest that it may be that in the past, when western society was nominally Christian, a formal religion was normally sufficient to give one a sense of direction in life. But now that this is no longer so, a formal religion simply breaks down in contact with the realities of life. What people today are seeking is an interior religion, a religion of the heart and not of the head, which at the same time gives a sense of meaning and direction in life. This is what Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism and other forms of eastern doctrine give and Christianity in the way in which it is now presented seems unable to give to many people. May this not be a sign that Christianity today needs to come to terms with oriental religion? Is biblical Christianity, as interpreted in the West, any longer an adequate religion for the world today? The Bible belongs to the history of humanity as a whole and needs to be interpreted in the light of eastern experience no less than western.

It is perhaps significant that Donald Nicholl is at present conducting a seminar at the Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem on "The People of the Book in the light of Asia." May it not be that the "people of the Book" - Jews, Christians and Muslims - cannot solve the problems of the world today, unless they are willing to learn from the religions of India and the Far East? God did not only reveal himself to Israel, but has revealed himself in other ways to other people and we need the witness of all people to the truth of Christianity.

The One Light - Bede Griffiths' Principal Writings
Chapter III, West, Part Two - Mystery And Drama Of The Church p.148-153
Edited and with Commentary by Bruno Barnhart
Templegate Publishers, Springfield, Illinois
ISBN 0-87243-254-8

Notes:
[16] "The Seekers," The Tablet, April 28, 1984.

NOTE: If this page was accessed during a web search you may wish to browse the sites listed below where this topic or related issues are discussed in detail to promote global peace, religious harmony, and spiritual development of humanity:

www.adishakti.org/
www.al-qiyamah.org/
www.adi-shakti.org/  — Divine Feminine (Hinduism)
www.holyspirit-shekinah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Christianity)
www.ruach-elohim.org/  — Divine Feminine (Judaism)
www.ruh-allah.org/  — Divine Feminine (Islam)
www.tao-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Taoism)
www.prajnaaparamita.org/  — Divine Feminine (Buddhism)
www.aykaa-mayee.org/  — Divine Feminine (Sikhism)
www.great-spirit-mother.org/  — Divine Feminine (Native Traditions)

"Now, the principle of Mother is in every, every scripture - has to be there." Shri Mataji, Radio Interview 1983 Oct 01, Santa Cruz, USA

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