A2 OCR Religious Studies (Religious pluralism and society)

Multi-faith societies definition

-Societies where there are significant populations of people with different religious beliefs

Encyclical definition

-An open letter sent to more than one recipient

Missionary work definition

-Activity that aims to covert people to a particular faith or set of beliefs, or works for justice in areas of poverty or deprivation

Synod definition

-The legislative body of the church of England

Social cohesion definition

-When a group is united by bonds that help them live together peacefully

The UK in the past and religion

-In the past, most people lived in communities that were almost exclusively dominated by Christianity

-Big cities often had areas that hosted a small Chinese or Jewish or muslim community

Samuel Pepys and visiting a synagogue in 1663

-He was fascinated by the celebration of the festival of simchat torah

-He knew nothing about the festival and its tradition of following the commandment to rejoice in the law

-He watched the people take the torah scrolls out of the ark and carry them around the synagogue in celebration

The population of UK and encounter with religion

-Most people at the time didn't come into contact with someone who was from a different ethnicity or who belonged to a religion other than Christianity

-In rural towns and villages, there might be some people who went to church while others went to Chapel or nowhere, but there was little awareness of religious belief beyond knowing about different Denominations of the Christian Church

-Schools educated children in Christianity, and the laws and traditions were Christian too, weddings and funerals were Christian

Romans and Christianity in the UK

-The uk wasn't always Christian, before the Romans, local religious practices were centred around agriculture, fertility and ancestor worship

-The Romans introduced Christianity, it Co existed along traditional religious practices until the 17th century, when Christian missionaries established Christianity as the primary faith of the British

Development of multi faith societies

-in the West, multi faith societies began to develop as travel and communications developed

-It became possible for people to move to new areas for work while keeping in touch with family at home

-People from rural, areas moved to cities and came into contact with people they have not been used to

-International migration became and option too, where families moved to different countries to find a better quality of life because their home country was unsafe or unstable

Examples of people coming to the UK for better quality of life

-When the Jews came to Britain with William the conqueror, who valued their commercial skills

-Or recently, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs arrived from Uganda in 1972 when idi amin expelled the Asian population

What people do when they move to a new country

-When people arrive from a foreign country to start a new life, they want to live with people who are related to them, or have the same language or beliefs, as well as wanting to live where they can find accommodation and work

-So rather than spread evenly across the country, there are communities that have a higher concentration of Sikhs or Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, jews.

-The first Sikhs to come to the UK to seek work in the 1950s tended to settle. In London, brimingham, and West Yorkshire.

2011 census and religion

-The answers to the question, what is your religion

-illustrate the multi faith nature of the UK today

Prince Charles in being the defender of the faiths

-on his 60th birthday in 2008, he made a statement indicating his wish that If and when he becomes king, he should be known as the defender of fatherly, he wanted it to be know that he recognises the multi faith nature of the UK and that he is keen to defend the rights of everyone to hold their own faith, whatever it might be, rather than being the defender of Christianity in the face of other belief systems

Methods of communication and religion

-things like booms and newspapers, television and the Internet, have made it much easier for people to gain insights into the lives and cultures of other people

-In the late 19th century

-Eastern religion caught the imagination of the British when a scholar called Max Muller translated the scared texts of Hinduism into English in 50 volumes

-So people who didn't know the faith could know what the holy texts say

Areas in the UK that have multi faith population

-People live alongside others of different religious beliefs sharing the same schools, workplaces and public facilities

-There are so many inter faith marriages and partnerships, which join together two different traditions in one family

Schools and learning religions

-Children learn about the different major world faiths, the supermarkets stock Festival foods foods for both Christian and non Christian religions, hospitals, airports and some cities have multi faith prayer areas and most people have friends and colleagues from religious backgrounds that are different from there own

-Atheism and agnosticism have become entirely socially acceptable with many people openly rejecting the claims of religious believers

-As a result Christians are challenged education not only by the religious beliefs of others, but by those who disagree with any form of religion

What positives do encounters with different faiths present for Christians

-They can learn, share common values, and adopt new ways of thinking and developing relationships

-Christians can work with their non Christian neighbors to set an example of co operation, helping to dispel prejudice and promote peace

-Encounters with people who's beliefs are different from their own will encourage many Christians to think more deeply about their own faith

Christian concerns of multi faith environments

-They are concerned that a multi faith environment might be damaging for Christianity

-Undermining the uniqueness of its message by suggesting that salvation through christ is only one way to get to heaven amongst many routes

-Some Christians are worried that living in a multi faith society can encourage their children to become interested in following false beliefs and practices, as they might become attracted to a different religion, some are uneasy about the population insistence of tolerance and respect for the faith of others, where sharing a Christian faith with others is seen as judgemental or arrogant, at the expense of the Christian Mission

Inter-faith dialogue and communication

-It is about communication between people of different beliefs in order to build relationships, break down stereotypes and prejudices, and promotes peace and understanding

-It aims to achieve mutual respect and co operation

-Where people get together to talk about beliefs they hold in common

-They also identity points in which they differ and that can cause tension and they try to identify points in which they differ and that can cause tension, and if they try to understand each others point even if they don't agree with it

Four strands to inter faith dialogue by the church of England (The dialogue of daily life)

- in which people strike up informal conversations about their differing religious beliefs

Four strands to inter faith dialogue by the church of England (The dialogue of the common good)

-In which adherents of different faiths, work together to benefit the community

Four strands to inter faith dialogue by the church of England (The dialogue of mutual understanding)

-In which people get together for finalised debates, such as in scriptural reasoning movement

Four strands to inter faith dialogue by the church of England (The dialogue of spiritual life)

-In which people of different religious beliefs meet together for prayer and worship

Situations that may spark interest in inter faith dialogue

-Changes in the ethnic population or when a city of immigrants arrive, or world events such as the attack on the twin towers in the USA on 11th of September 2001

David ford and his book 'the future of Christian theology' (2011) two strands in history that have led to new directions in interfaith dialogue (The holocaust)

-The holocaust and the tensions

-after the holocaust the relationship between Christianity and Judaism after the war led to an effort at inter faith dialogue initiated by the Jewish rabbis and scholars from around the world

-The document called Dabru Emet which meant speak the truth

-They highlighted ideas that Jews and Christians share the same God and seek authority from the same scripture

David ford and his book 'the future of Christian theology' (2011) two strands in history that have led to new directions in interfaith dialogue between Islam and the west

-A letter called a common word between Us and you, issued in 2007

-Pointed out the passion Muslims and Christians share for worshiping one God and putting love do ones neighbour into practice, it wasn't to pretend they had no differences, but it was to find common ground

Catholic Church and the papal encyclicals

-These are letters sent from the Pope to leaders of the church

-They address significant issues in the life of the church and its relationship with modern society

-And they are used for guidance and consultation about Catholic doctrines

-They are believed to have enough authority to be the final word on issues where there is some disagreement

Pope John Paul's encyclical

-It was intended to revisit come of the key catholic teachings and issues yang had arisen during the discussions of the Vatican II

-The Pope recognised that relations between religions had moved on since Vatican II

-It makes it plain that christmas mission to non Christians remains essential

-He states that jesus christ is the one saviour and that christ is the only way in which God is revealed to the world

-and that Christians should continue to be empowered by the holy spirit to bring others to the Christian faith

-But he also recognises that in a multi faith world, Christian Mission can be seen in a negative way, or as intolerant or condemnatory

Pope John Paul on inter religious dialogue

-It should be seen in the context of Christian Mission, and as a part of it, and one of its expressions, rather than in the opposite to it

-The Pope says that wishes to shares his revelation and love all people, even if they belong to other religions

-And that although inter religious dialogue and Christian Mission can work together, the two should not be confused as each has its own distinctive nature and aim

-But Christians should still emphasise that the way to salvation is through christ

-Even if there might be salvation through God's grace for people of other religions

The Pope and respect for inter religious dialogue

-although he is insistent that Christianity alone has the fullness of God's revelation, the pipe. Underlines the need for respect in inter religious dialogue

-Saying that it should based on hope and love and that Christians should Use it with the aim of uncovering universal truths

-He talks about the power and freedom of the Holy spicy to reveal God in all kinds of contexts, and sees dialogues as an opportunity for the church to examine its own identity as well as an opportunity for the Christian Mission

-He recognises that dialogues can take any forms, whether it is with academics, religious officials or non expert religious believers

-He also says It can be practices by all members of the church although not In the same way

-Dialogue is a path toward the kingdom and will certainly bear fruit, even if the times and season are known only to the father'

Paul eddy and the church of England

-He wanted to know where the church of England felt it stood on the question of whether or not it should be trying to convert people of other faiths to Christianity

-He thought that Christians had become too fearful of giving offence, to the extent that hey no longer proclaimed that jesus christ was the way to salvation, but kept quiet an went along with the idea that everyone should be free to have their own beliefs and not be Challenged.

-There is a need for the church of England to make a statement about whether Christians in a religiously diverse country should claim publicly that salvation could only be found in christ

-So then the document 'sharing the gospel of salvation' came about because of this in 2010

Sharing the Gospel of salvation

-They reaffirms the Christian message that gods plan for the salvation of the world is uniquely achieved in jesus christ

-It reminds them that Christian Mission through the ages has not always lived up to the teachings of the Bible, when it has become entangled with political dominance

-But it says that Christians should not be intimated by the great of getting it wrong and should make an effort to be open about their Christian beliefs and talk about them honestly

-It claims that one God offers salvation to everyone, whether or not they know it and that Christians are called to bring others to an explicit faith in jesus christ and to encourage them to be baptised into the Christian Church

The scriptural reasoning movement

-It is a movement began from Jewish scholars from the US

-It was a forum for Jewish academics to meet together in a university context to study together

-It has become part of the Cambridge inter faith programme

-Participants from Christianity, Islam and Judaism meet together and read passages from their sacred texts, what it means to be holy, education, learning, being human and fasting

-Their goal was not achieving agreement, but to get beyond the superficial

What the spiritual reasoning movement aims

-It wanted to present an opportunity for committed religious people to engage in debate in inter faith dialogue without Undermining or threatening anyone particular beliefs

-They believe that their meetings should not be places where people feel under pressure to change their belief

-It aimed to help and understanding of different conflicting religious truth claims

-Muslims may claim that Muhammad was the final prophet, while Christians may say jesus is the final and complete truth

-Or Christians may say God is the holy trinity, but Jews and Muslims may disagree

What studying religious scripture allows

-It allows for discussion of these truth claims

-Different individuals can explain their understanding of the claims and show how their scriptures have formed their beliefs

-It is not expected that people from different faith backgrounds will come to an agreement on points of conflict, but it is hoped that they will reach a better understanding of the other's pint of view and will find respectful ways of voicing their disagreements so that communication can continue