Kenneth Fernando, Bishop of Colombo

Archbishop Trinidade has given us an introduction to the document entitled “Lineamenta” which has been prepared in connection with the forthcoming Asian Synod. I am very happy to be invited to make a response to this document.

This AMCU II consultation takes on great significance since we are in a position to prepare ourselves theologically, both for the forthcoming Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Catholic Bishops and for the General Assembly of the World Council of Churches to be held in Harare in December this year.

The New Millenniuma: Both these events take place on the threshold of the dawn of the new millennium. We have an opportunity to evaluate the Christian contribution to the development of our world in the past and to set out guidelines for the next century and millennium. If we make an honest evaluation of the past, we shall have to admit that the Mission of the Church in Asia over the last so many centuries has met with very limited success. Christians are in very small minorities in all Asian countries with the exception of the Philippines. Admittedly, the inflvience of Christians on our Asian lands far exceeds what our numbers would have us believe. We have an opportunity to set our new goals in terms of a new vision and to work towards these goals.

It is quite true that at a time of very rapid change, the future seems uncertain and we cannot look into uncertainty, or plan for what we could do in the context of uncertainty. Nevertheless, despite this severe constraint, we must undertake the task of prognostication and set goals and plans for the future.

Theology: I believe that most important paradigm shifts are required in the realm of conceptual theology, if we are to present the Gospel in Asia in a meaningful and relevant way.

Attitudes of Time: One of the great differences between Western modes of thought and Asian modes is in the area of the way in which we think about time. This truth has come to me very forcefully in relation to the preparations being made for the dawn of the new millennium. Western Christian, both the Vatican and the World Council of Churches, are making preparations for the dawn of 2000. However, I find that this future event does not excite Asians in exactly the same way. Asians are accustomed to thinking in terms of large expanses of time, namely Aeons. In both Buddhist and Hindu thought, we speak of “Kalpas” of time. To people who are accustomed to this time scale, 2000 years is but a short time. Even for us Christians “A thousand ages in Thy sight, is like an evening gone.” Furthermore, in lighter vein we must recognise that it is only we humans that count in terms of tens, hundreds and thousands. That is because we have ten fingers. God presumably is very different and reckons time in His own way. One of the reasons
why the Christian message of the gospel has failed to take root in Asia is because we have not grappled with that reality adequately. The best way in which I can explain what I have in mind is by relating a story.

I am informed that when the first Franciscan Missionaries came to China in the early 16th Century, they began to preach to the public who were willing to listen to them. The people persuaded the missionaries to address the Emperor. The emperor listened most intently to the message of the missionaries - the Birth of Jesus, Jesus as Teacher, His Miracles, His Death and Resurrection - and then commented “Very good, very good but why did God forget to tell us about all this all these years?”

The question of the Emperor is to my mind a very important one for Asian Theology. It can be answered in different ways and at different levels but to my mind we have not yet grappled with the importance of the Emperor’s question. The Emperor was reminding us that Truth if it is true should have,existed in our world and been in some sense accessible to all humankind from the beginning of time. He could not understand how Jesus coming into our world so late in time could have “invented” the Truth that saves humankind.

The Emperor’s question suggests that since what is true has been true for all time, no one can invent~~ the Truth. It can only be discovered. Consequently, the Truth contained in the gospel, the saving Truth which we believe in - must have been True even before Jesus proclaimed it. This fact should have been made clear to the Emperor and it needs to be made clear to our fellow Asian contemporaries. We may wish to explain the saving Truth of the gospel in various ways, but this Truth would include the primacy of love in human relationships, the importance of sacrificial living and self-denial in order to live a fulfilled life, the attainment of victory through Suffering and Death and so on. These are Truths that abide for ever. Jesus taught them by enfleshing them in His incarnation and by His whole Life, Death and Resurrection. By contrast, Buddhists are very clear that Buddha introduced no new Truths to the world through His Preaching. He only preached the Four Nobel Truths, the Eightfold Path etc., which have been always True. It is established that the Dhamma has been True from the beginning of time, the Buddha preached it, having discovered it through his enlightenment.

In the Bible in my language, Logos is translated by the world Dhamma. I believe we have done this because we had caught a glimpse of this insight. Jesus preached the Truth of the gospel by Word and His Life. Those Truths have always been true and will be ever present realities.

We must work out the implications of this for Asian Theology.

Pluralism: Arnold Toynbee is reported to have said that the important fact of the 20th Century would be the development of a new pattern of relationship among the great religions of the world. I do not know whether this prediction has come true but I do believe that in the age to come, it will be crucial for us to develop a new pattern of relationship among all religions and between religion and secularism.

We shall have to develop a new pluralistic mind-set and a concomitant new paradigm of Evangelism. It will not be possible for any religious community to live into the future with a sense of superiority and a belief that we have it all. We shall have to learn to sit humbly with people of all Faiths, learn from one another and witness to the Truth we cherish. It is only in such an atmosphere that we Christians will be enabled to work for the kingdom of God rather than for the growth of the Churches to which we belong. This surely accords with the emphatic teaching of Jesus Himself in the Gospels.

There are a few other matters which I would like to mention.

Market Economy: It will be of great importance to us as Asian Christians to formulate a Christian critique of globalization and the market economy. We shall have to develop a new pattern of human interrelationships which does justice to the truths we hold about each human person.

We must learn to speak about the significance of poverty as preached and lived by Jesus and challenge the assumptions of consumerism. In Asia, holy men are always poor men.

Interchurch Relations: We have now struggled for at least 50 years to improve relationships among our different Churches, but we have very little to show by way of achievement. Here again, we are called upon to develop a new pattern of interchurch relationships. While not in any way abandoning the vision of organic unity, we may also have to develop an interim pattern of relationships, of fellowship, with one another -“Koinonia

Inculturation: Finally and very briefly, if the Church is to survive and grow in Asia, it will have to be an Asian Church. Some little progress has been made in this regard but the task of inculturation is an extremely urgent one for us all. Asian people love their own cultures and languages too much to abandon them for any substitute. We must ponder on this truth and press ahead with the task of inculturation.

I note that the “Lineamenta” have dwelt on some of these issues but not with others, and I would wish to urge those who are engaged with the task of revising this document to pay some attention to some of the thoughts I have expressed just now.