The Divine Universe

Religion is a difficult word to define; yet it is a very significant part of human experience and a powerful influence in political and cultural history. In an age in which the dominant western culture seems to be drifting towards scepticism and rejection of religion, it is still a major factor, both for good and evil, in world affairs and in individual lives.

There can be no peace without religious peace. Religiously motivated violence is one of the worst problems facing the world today. Fundamentalist Christians and Muslims, Hindus and Jews believe they serve God by killing people. It is hard to think of a single war in which God has not been conscripted by both sides.

In spite of these horrors, and acknowledging the fine and heroic work of purely humanist organisations, religious belief still inspires much if not most of the organised works of compassion, local and international, large and small. The majority of those who have most famously advanced human wellbeing, justice and peace have been men and women of religion.

One of the great works of compassion, though it is not widely recognised as such, is interfaith dialogue and fellowship, and it requires humility, sympathy and courage. Those passionately committed to finding the way of peace for all religions have become a religious identity in themselves. Several leading theologians of our time have more than one religious allegiance. New multi-faith movements attract numerous disciples and we even hear of ordained multi-faith ministers.

Conservative religionists, especially those in leadership, are not at ease with this. They speak disparagingly of syncretism and relativism, of watered down theology and shallowness of faith, of infidelity and even apostasy. They will tolerate inter-faith dialogue only on the understanding that their religion has exclusive access to absolute truth; its superiority must be recognised. New on the religious landscape are deeply religious and sometimes very learned and wise individuals who believe that we are not qualified to make an absolute value judgement of any religion, and that exclusive claims to absolute authority have no validity. At the same time they stress the importance of deep understanding of and commitment to at least one religious tradition.

Is there religion in heaven? Is everyone religious in the kingdom that Jesus spoke of? Are sceptics, agnostics and atheists, excluded, however wise and good? The German theologian and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, referred enigmatically to “religionless Christianity”. Is it possible to have Christianity without religion?

The prophet Micah strips religion bare: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (6:8) These words are addressed specifically to mortals, and they are not about the after-life. Jesus spoke of heaven as being here and now, inhabited, at least in part, by mortals. Amos positively vilifies the formal and ceremonial side of religion: “I (the LORD) hate and despise your feast days; I loathe your solemn assemblies.” (5:21) Isaiah writes in similar vein: “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies: away with them; they are iniquity, even the solemn meetings.” (1:12-14)

Religion is not only about rules of behaviour and ceremonial assemblies; there is also a rich intellectual heritage. Christian theology is probably the most complicated and detailed in any of the main world religions, embracing the riches of Classical philosophy and, sometimes, modern philosophy too. You could almost say that Christians invented theology. Judaism, has no elaborate systematic theology like Christianity, but it has a rich tradition of religious debate. This characteristically Jewish passion is clearly evident in the Gospels and continues to the present day. And there are Moslem, Hindu and Buddhist scholars and philosophers who also contribute richly to religious debate, understanding and knowledge.

But, as the Law, the prophets and Jesus’ teachings show, Judaism and Christianity are originally and essentially about social conduct rather than theology. Educated Jews, including Jesus, could sum up the law and prophets in one “Golden Rule”, a basic ethical principle to be found in ancient traditions from China to the Americas.

It is a moot question whether morality and ethical systems can exist without the rules, ceremonies and theologising of religion. Cave dwellers probably had moral conventions before they had religious ceremonies and theology (don’t violate the space or persons of others in your cave, for example). But most religionists hold the view that religion is a necessary foundation for morality. This is the subject of lively debate today.

The kingdom of heaven is certainly a moral society, living by the “law” of love. But, to quote the prophet Jeremiah: “I (the Lord) will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” (31:33) It is not something written on stone tablets or in statute books and liturgical primers. Paul makes this point over and over again. Christianity did not, in Paul’s time, have the accoutrements of a full-fledged religion; it was a new, radically reformed way of living Judaism, freed of almost all its ceremonial and legal baggage.

In the cosmic scheme of things, it may eventually emerge that religion is only a temporary phenomenon. The evolution of the cosmos towards its final perfection in Christ is not a process that began and will end with humankind; it was going on for billions of years before Jesus was born (something Paul draws attention to in Romans (8:22)) and will still be going on when the only traces of Homo sapiens are fossils. We humans have a natural tendency to exaggerate our own importance. We are not only hubristic about our religions; we are hubristic about ourselves. We need more of that humility that is so central in the teaching and example of our most venerated spiritual guides.

I think religion will continue for many centuries yet, but it will continue to change and evolve. Though originating in independent tribal cults, and suffering a history of conflicts and schisms, there has also been a less obvious process of merging. Migrations and conquests that caused interracial and cultural merging have also merged religions. But I do not see a future world super-church (a horrible thought!); I see rather the gradual development of less and less institutionalized expressions of human spirituality – “Every man will sit under his own vine and his own fig tree.”(Micah 4:4) Yet there will be fellowship and communion. However, to sum up, I would say that, in eschatological heaven, there will be nothing we would recognise as a religion.