letters to surfers

Question : How does your approach relate to this quote from George Lindbeck :
"The heart of religion lies in living within a specific religious tradition and interiorizing its ideas and values"
(The Nature of doctrine, 1984, 111).

by Robert Brow   (www.brow.on.ca)



In God of Many Names I distinguish several different uses of the word religion.

a. There is an experience of something other than the daily needs of the flesh (which I define as our instincts derived through our genes, see Romans 7:14-25).

b. When a person begins to talk about that experience, his or her explanation can be set out as a model (I use 24 common models of religions and ideologies in God of Many Names).

c. A world religion usually explains itself by a model (eg. Original Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Taoism), which may reflect the explanation of most of its adherents. But in Hinduism many alternative models are offered. And many people attend the worship of a particular religion while at the same time privately giving a quite different explanation.

d. To survive a world religion needs recognized Scriptures.

e. As Lindbeck points out, a person's religion is nourished by "living within a specific historical religious tradition." Which is why evangelism is not just preaching but baptizing disciples who will then participate as disciples in a community of learners (Go Make Learners)