Buffalo Seminary of Bethany College will present The Way, The Truth. . .and Other Religions: Comparative Theology Today on March 26 at the Mountainside Conference Center. The event will examine issues such as: “What is the meaning of my neighbor’s faith for myfaith?” and “How can deep engagement with another faith tradition enhance my own faith tradition?” Christians in America share a religious landscape with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and those of many other traditions. Beyond the mere cultivation of tolerance, could it be that Christian faith can actually be better expressed after an encounter with other traditions’ religious texts, rituals and beliefs?
This conference will explore the new wave of “comparative” theology in which theology in one tradition is done by “passing over” into a sympathetic appreciation of another tradition and bringing that experience back to the original. The morning will include time with The Rev. Dr. James Farwell, Thomas W. Phillips Professor of Religious Studies at Bethany College and a Fellow of the Luce Foundation’s Summer Seminars on Comparative Theology and Religious Pluralism. In the afternoon, participants will engage in discussion around a portion of Dr. Paul Knitter’s most recent book, “Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian.” The conference will last from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. and offers ½ CEU. The Bethany community is invited to attend the lectures at no cost. If individuals wish to join the group for lunch, a formal registration is needed. Participants can register online at www.bethanywv.edu/about-bethany/church-relations/. Call Dr. Larry Grimes at 304.559.8213 or e-mail lgrimes@bethanywv.edu for further information.
