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<\/p>\nBy Bob Smietana<\/p>\n
CHICAGO, IL (September 13, 2007) – It was a flight that Martin Marty would never forget.<\/p>\n
Marty, the famed University of Chicago professor of church history, was returning home from a speaking engagement in California some years ago, and had settled in with a pile of books on the seat next to him. Before he could start reading, a woman sat down on the other side.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you religious?\u201d she asked, looking at his books. When Marty replied, \u201cyes,\u201d she said, \u201cWell so am I.\u201d Then she began to describe her own faith. She was a member of a local Christian church but also believed in reincarnation, practiced yoga, and embraced any other \u201cspirituality\u201d that came her way.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the time the flight landed, we\u2019d been through the whole encyclopedia of religion,\u201d Marty recalled while speaking at Anderson Chapel at North Park University in Chicago last night.<\/p>\n
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Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of the History of Modern Christianity at the University of Chicago, was at North Park to address this year\u2019s campus theme, \u201cWhat is the life of faith?\u201d He was asked to address the issue of pluralism and Christianity or, as he put it, \u201cWhat is the life of faith amidst all the other faiths?\u201d (The accompanying photo shows Marty, left, with Stephen Graham, dean of faculty at North Park Theological Seminary.)<\/p>\n
His conversation on the airplane showed one of the downsides of pluralism, Marty said. In a nation of many religions, it\u2019s easy to dabble in many faiths and never commit to one. But that kind of spirituality has little value.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can dabble in faith, but that doesn\u2019t satisfy,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t do anything for you at three o\u2019clock in the morning [during a crisis] or when you get a diagnosis of cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other Faiths Can Be Beneficial<\/strong><\/p>\n On the other hand, encounters with other faiths can be beneficial. For example, Marty said, the environmentalism of other faiths has sent evangelical Christians back to the Bible, where they have read Genesis with new eyes. \u201cOther faiths send us back to our own book to see what has been obscured,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Marty told how an encounter with a Muslim scholar made him see his faith with new eyes. While working on the Fundamentalism Project, he visited Jerusalem and was taken to the Dome of the Rock mosque. There he saw a stone with a hoof print on it, where, according to Muslim tradition, Mohammed\u2019s horse stepped before the prophet ascended into heaven.<\/p>\n \u201cBack at the hotel that night, I told the story to my colleagues and had a good laugh,\u201d Marty said. \u201cI said, \u2018They actually believe a horse took off from a rock and went to heaven \u2013 that\u2019s how weird they are.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n The next day Marty went to the Mount of Olives and saw a stone commemorating the ascension of Jesus. He realized that his Muslim colleague would be equally puzzled that anyone could actually believe that Jesus ascended into heaven. (The physics of Jesus\u2019s ascension had never quite occurred to Marty, who for many years attended Ascension Lutheran Church in Riverside, Illinois.)<\/p>\n Marty, who was a Lutheran pastor and church planter before becoming a seminary professor, encouraged his audience to learn from other Christian traditions as well. He recalled attending Chicago\u2019s Gospel Fest one year, at the invitation of a city official. Having grown up in a liturgical church, Marty said he felt out of place at first. Then he was caught up in the music and praise and had a change of heart.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the traditions and life of faith we feed each other until it becomes so natural we hardly notice it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Religious Freedom Helps Faith Thrive<\/strong><\/p>\n Although some evangelical Christians view pluralism with suspicion, Marty argued that it creates an atmosphere for faith to thrive. In the U.S., he said, faith thrives because of religious freedom. In Europe, the establishment of state churches sapped energy from the faith. Recalling a speech he\u2019d given once at a Mormon university, Marty said that a \u201cgodless constitution\u201d\u2014one that did not establish a state church\u2014made a place for \u201cgodly people.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are more vitally engaged in a faith that they choose than they are if they passively accepted the faith handed down to them,\u201d he said. \u201cFreedom of religion is the great gift Americans gave to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Using a quote from Voltaire, Marty pointed out that having many faiths can create conditions for a more humane society. After visiting England, Voltaire wrote, \u201cIf there were only one religion in England, there would be danger of tyranny; if there were two, they would cut each other’s throats; but there are thirty, and they live happily together in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, being uncomfortable with people of other faiths is an American tradition, Marty admitted. He pointed out that few of the early settlers were interested in religious freedom for all. Instead, they wanted to establish their own faith as superior.<\/p>\n So in 1654, when a group of Jews fleeing from Brazil landed in New Amsterdam, the Dutch Reformed Governor Peter Stuyvesant, wanted to send them away. If he let them in, Stuyvesant believed, then he\u2019d have to let in other Protestants and Catholics and soon the Dutch Reformed dominance of the new colony would be lost. Stuyvesant was eventually forced to let these strangers from another faith settle in New York. Tongue in cheek, Marty said, \u201cThat was the beginning of the American phrase, \u2018There goes the neighborhood.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n Pluralism Here to Stay<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2007, Marty added, pluralism is here to stay. He pointed to a 1965 change in immigration laws, which opened up the U.S. to immigrants from Asia. \u201cIt changed everything,\u201d Marty said. \u201cThere is no place you can hide. Pluralism is here to stay with a great deal of vigor.\u201d<\/p>\n Taking on another controversial topic \u2013 tolerance – Marty had two responses. \u201cThe good part of tolerance is that nobody dies,\u201d he said. The downside is that tolerance can mean watering down faith into meaningless relativism or dabbling.<\/p>\n