Jesus The Initiator and The Eminent Partner In Interreligious Dialogue: The Bold Encounter with The Samaritan Woman (John 4: 1-42)
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Date
2004
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
The world today includes various kinds of pluralism: ethnic, cultural,
ideological, and religious. No country can claim today to be homogeneous, that is,
consisting of just one race, one ethnic group, one culture, one language and one
religion. People move and settle in different countries and continents for economic,
political and cultural reasons.
We are living in a pluralistic and cross-cultural world. Meeting people of
different religions is a daily experience of many Christians in various parts of the world.
Our world is pluralistic and there is no single culture, ideology, and religion that bind
all people together because there is no community that lives in isolation.
Disagreements among people are a leading evil in our society. The eradication of these
diversities between people from different religions communities should be the task of
each religion. We must seek religious harmony between different religious groups.
Through mutual respect and interreligious dialogue, one religion can walk hand in hand
with other belief to attain this goal.
Interreligious dialogue is today unavoidable. It is a cross-cultural duty for which
we must suitably prepare. If interreligious dialogue will be a real dialogue it must start
from within the self It must begin with my questioning my beliefs and myself before I
am able to understand other religious traditions and rituals. One must accept the
challenge of a change, a conversion, and the risk of contradicting the traditional patterns
before entering into an interreligious dialogue. Pope John Paul IT urges the faithful in
cultivating respectful, peaceful, and harmonious relations with people of all religions. Furthermore, the Pope underlines the fact that a genuine dialogue is rooted in respect for
the dignity of human person.
Ignorance is one of the major causes of conflicts and tensions in many
interreligious communities. Lack of information about other religions lead to suspicion
and misinterpretation of the action and rituals that they perform as part of their religion.
Fighting against ignorance is very important in the society to avoid tension and
suspicion. The parties in dialogue are pilgrims on the way to discover God, the
absolute truth. We engage in interreligious dialogue to learn and to know the
differences so as to live with them amicably. Interreligious dialogue is initiated with
an intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for learning new things. It is a path which leads
to us to a new world of religions.
Interreligious dialogue affirmed strongly the universal salvific will of God
which through the Holy Spirit offers to every person the possibility of salvation (D.S.
22). Interreligious dialogue becomes a concern only when people belonging to different
religions live together as one community.
In this paper I would like to highlight some methods and attitude which one
should hold when he enter in to an interreligious dialogue. I am attempting to study
some of the attitudes and approaches found in the dialogue of Jesus with the Samaritan
woman. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, is our model for this task. We will have a
critique on the dialogue between Jesus and Samaritan woman. From this dialogue we
will derive our principles to help us in interreligious dialogue. The main aim is to see
Jesus as the initiator and the eminent partner in the dialogue that can be an interreligious dialogue. In the dialogue we meet three important phases namely the Samaritans, Jews
and the Jesus himself Therefore I have divided this paper into four chapters with a
general introduction and a general conclusion.
The first chapter is a study on historical and religious understanding of
Samaritans. The history of the Samaritans indicates to us the importance of Jesus'
intervention in Samaria and how Jesus deals with a person who does not only belong to
another religious beliefs but also culture. We also will uncover the historicity of the
Samaritans as a religious group who had their own tradition, culture, temple and
worship.
The second chapter is an attempt to discover the historicity, cultural and
religious background of Jewish people. It is important to study the culture and history in
order to understand why there was hostility between Jews and Samaritans. This will
also contribute to the appreciation of the dialogue between Jesus and Samarian woman
in the Gospel of St. John (4:1-42). These first two chapters will help to evaluate the
dialogue from a historical critical method.
Third chapter is more relevant and close to the theme of the paper. This chapter
deals with interreligious dialogue and its nature, purpose, principles, and some valid
methods for a true and fruitful dialogue. This knowledge will help us to look at Jesus
and Samaritan woman in the dialogue in the Gospel of John and consequently as
evaluate the approaches and attitudes of Jesus and woman. At the end of this chapter, I
will come up with a conclusion that there is hostility between Samaritans and Jews,
which lasted for centuries, and there is need for a dialogue and Jesus is starting this
discourse.
The fourth of this paper is basically the exegesis of the Gospel of John 4:1-42.
I will try to examine the attitudes and approaches of Jesus and Samaritan woman during
their dialogue. Twill look at the starting point of this dialogue; overcoming the cultural
and religious barriers and gender biases; the way Jesus leading the woman to a deeper
level of dialogue; sharing their views with other partner; respect and freedom in the
dialogue with a critical eye.
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Keywords
Jesus, Jesus The Initiator, Eminent Partner, Interreligious Dialogue, Samaritan Woman, John 4: 1-42