My Holy Envy of Other Faith Traditions
My Holy Envy of Other Faith Traditions: Deepening Love for One's Own
Introduction to "Holy Envy"
Author's Personal Journey: Barbara Brown Taylor explores her attraction to other religions, describing it not as a desire to convert, but as a path that ultimately deepened her appreciation and understanding of her own Christian faith.
Religion 101 Outcomes: While teaching a basic overview of five major world religions, the author observed unexpected student responses:
Conversion: A student, "Natalie," converted to Judaism despite its active discouragement of converts, highlighting the profound impact of exposure to diverse faiths.
Religious Commitment: Another student decided to be baptized after a class discussion on infant vs. believer's baptism.
Cultural Assimilation/Syncretism: A student got a yin-yang tattoo during a unit on Chinese traditions and sought a Taoist church.
Religious Pluralism and its Impact: These student exceptions highlighted that people respond differently to religious pluralism:
Some, like Natalie, convert to another world faith or a different branch of their own tradition.
Many young people identify as "spiritual but not religious" (SBNR).
This designation is often criticized by some religious friends as shallow, self-serving, or socially disengaged.
The author questions why SBNR seeking is less honorable than traditional religious participation, especially if it helps pay utility bills.
Reasons for SBNR: Young people increasingly find it easier to identify as SBNR because:
It helps reconcile their faith teachings with their affection for non-Christian friends, as many church teachings predict hell for non-Christians.
They struggle with reconciling biblical accounts of creation with scientific teachings (e.g., biology class).
They seek more from their faith communities than superficial changes (new music, youth pledge cards, casual dress codes) and are drawn to religions that offer different perspectives (e.g., not requiring belief in God, universal divine presence, karma, emphasis on right action over right belief).
The Nature of Envy: From Plain to Holy
Plain Old Envy: The author initially experienced simple envy of other faiths, which revealed what she found lacking in her own tradition.
Examples of Plain Envy: Wanting the Jewish Sabbath, the Sufi dervishes' spinning, the inclusiveness of Hinduism, the nonviolence of Buddhism, the prayer life of Islam, and the sacred debate of Judaism.
Self-Reflection: This list is acknowledged as simplistic, idealistic, and colored by her own projections, reflecting her unmet spiritual needs.
Introduction of "Holy Envy": The phrase "holy envy" was a significant improvement, signaling a transformative attraction rather than a simple desire to possess.
Krister Stendahl and the Rules of Religious Understanding
Origin of the Term: "Holy envy" is attributed to biblical scholar Krister Stendahl, former Dean of Harvard Divinity School and later Bishop of Stockholm.
Known for his supportive stance towards women students, earning him the nickname "Sister Krister."
Context: In 1985, Stendahl sought to defuse tensions surrounding the opening of a new Mormon temple in Stockholm.
Stendahl's Three Rules of Religious Understanding:
Ask Adherents: To understand another religion, inquire of its followers, not its critics or enemies.
Compare Best to Best: Avoid comparing your own tradition's strengths to the perceived weaknesses or worst aspects of another faith.
Leave Room for Holy Envy: Be open to admiring and learning from appealing aspects of other traditions.
Stendahl's Example and the Concept of Vicarious Baptism
Mormon Vicarious Baptism: Stendahl, as a Lutheran, found much to envy in the Mormon practice where a living Latter-day Saint is baptized on behalf of a deceased person who did not complete this requirement for God's kingdom.
Contrast with Lutheranism: Lutheran tradition generally avoids Catholic teachings on how the living can benefit the dead, thus lacking a direct equivalent.
Holy Courage: Stendahl's public support for the Mormon minority required immense "holy courage," demonstrating the application of his own principle.
The Implications of Pluralism for Christians
"In the Eyes of God, We Are All Minorities": Stendahl's statement highlights a crucial truth for many Christians, challenging the notion of a majority faith and calling for an embrace of global pluralism.
Young Christians Embracing Pluralism: Increasing numbers of young Christians are grappling with and embracing pluralism, often without substantive guidance from older generations.
Lack of Inclusive Teaching: Traditional Christian education often fails to teach:
The concept of a "Good Muslim" or "Good Humanist" akin to the Good Samaritan.
The Golden Rule encompassing honoring a neighbor's religion as much as one expects their own to be honored.
Rabia of Basra: Unconditional Love and Worship
Eighth-Century Sufi Mystic: The author draws inspiration from Rabia of Basra, who famously carried a torch (to burn paradise rewards) and a bucket of water (to extinguish hellfire).
Motivation for Worship: Rabia's prayer challenges worship based on fear of hell or hope of paradise, advocating for worship motivated purely by love for God for God's "Own sake" and desire for God's "everlasting Beauty."
Christian Parallel: This concept resonates with Christian teachings on unconditional love, though usually understood as God's love for humanity, not humanity's love for God.
Impact on Author's Faith: Rabia's story transforms the author's understanding of unconditional love for God, serving as a reminder against motivations of fear or reward.
Holy Envy in Prayer Practices
Muslim Prayer (Five Pillars of Islam):
Students are astonished by the discipline of praying five times a day, stopping daily activities, and praying publicly.
This observance often leads devout Christians to reflect on and intensify their own prayer lives.
Examples of Inspired Practice:
A Christian student decides to observe Lent for the first time, calling it her "Ramadan."
A Muslim student who had stopped praying in college starts using a prayer app to mark prayer times, even if just to acknowledge them.
Comparison of Devotion: The observation that "devout Muslims pray more than devout Christians" can be a form of holy envy that encourages self-improvement.
Distinguishing Holy Envy from Spiritual Shoplifting
Initial "Spiritual Shoplifting": The author's earlier religious envy manifested as collecting artifacts (Tibetan singing bowls, Hindu deities, Zuni fetishes, Muslim prayer rugs).
Colonialist Guilt: She later acknowledges feeling like a "colonialist displaying her loot," as these objects were separated from their religious roots, even when justified for teaching purposes.
Misunderstanding Holy Texts: An incident with a Muslim student seeing a Qur'an packed with other religious objects revealed the author's mistake in assuming a Muslim's attitude towards their holy book was identical to her own toward a Bible.
Stendahl's Caution: Adherence to Stendahl's rule to "Let the other define herself" and "Don't think you know the other without listening" is crucial.
Sovereignty of Spiritual Reality: Possessing an artifact does not equate to possessing the spiritual reality it represents.
Examples: The brilliance of the Jewish Talmud belongs to those in whose lifeblood it was written; the ethereal whirling of Sufis belongs to those devoted to Allah.
Holy Envy as Transformation: This refined understanding allows holy envy to alert the author to neglected aspects within her own tradition.
Buddhist Meditation and Christian Centering Prayer: Envy of Buddhist meditation's discipline increases her desire to put more effort into Christian centering prayer.
Muslim Hajj and Christian Pilgrimages: Envy of the communal strength of the Hajj makes her question why her own pilgrimages (to Bethlehem or Canterbury) are often solitary, revealing a neglected power of community.
This aligns with Stendahl's second rule: "Compare your best to their best" for mutual improvement.
Troubling Holy Envy: Questioning Core Assumptions
Encountering Foreign Concepts: A more challenging form of holy envy arises when an admired aspect of another tradition is so foreign or absent from one's own that it questions fundamental divine realities.
Buddhist Teaching on Human Responsibility:
Core Concept: Humans are responsible for their own destiny; no divine mediator erases mistakes or offers a "free pass to salvation." Actions have natural consequences that are ours to handle and learn from.
Buddha's Dying Words: "Be lamps unto yourselves… Rely on yourselves, and do not rely on external help. Hold fast to the truth as a lamp."
Christian Contrast: While Jesus said, "You are the light of the world," Christian tradition emphasizes human incapacity to save oneself from sin, requiring "miraculous intervention of God's only Son" as the "only Mediator and Advocate" (Episcopal communion service).
Author's Internal Conflict: This stark contrast made the Buddha's words startling, prompting reflection on living into the "full adulthood of being a lamp unto myself."
Absence of Original Sin in Judaism and Islam:
Orthodox Christian View: Humans are born with a "congenital flaw" due to Adam and Eve's original sin. Remedies (baptism, personal reform) exist, but the "stain of sin is never entirely eradicated."
Comfort/Discomfort: This view can be comforting on bad days (sin is in our DNA) but also lowers the bar for human potential.
Jewish and Muslim Worldviews: They recognize sin but not as an inherent flaw. God created humans perfectly, with freedom to choose good or evil. Divine guidance is provided via sacred texts and prophets, but individuals are free to choose their response. No one is doomed to sin, and no one can take sin away.
Consequence for Forgiveness: A Christian student asked a Muslim imam how sins are forgiven without Jesus.
Imam's Response: "Muslims confess their sins directly to God, and God directly forgives them." (A rabbi would give a similar answer).
Author's Reflection: This direct forgiveness model inevitably raises questions about the necessity and meaning of Jesus's death on the cross within the traditional Christian framework.
Towards Deeper Understanding and Inter-Religious Dialogue
Prerequisite for Exploration: Holy envy is not strictly necessary, but a willingness to immerse oneself in another religious world and engage its adherents is essential.
Shared Humanity: After truly listening and letting others define themselves, it becomes clear that all humans are made of the "same basic material" (e.g., "You are dust, and to dust you shall return").
Raimon Panikkar's Analogy of Rivers:
Scholar of Religion and Catholic Priest: Panikkar, with a Hindu father and Catholic mother, emphasized contribution over domination in interfaith relations.
Analogy: The world's great faiths are like distinct rivers (Jordan, Tiber, Ganges, Tigris, Euphrates) that nourish life on earth but do not meet physically.
Meeting in the Heavens: These rivers converge "once transformed into vapor, once metamorphosed into Spirit," which then rains down "in innumerable tongues" on all mortals.
The Necessity of Interfaith Engagement: People of faith must consciously decide how to relate to others, or fear and "worst impulses" will prevail, overshadowing profound religious teachings.
The Imam's Concluding Wish: During a field trip to the Atlanta Masjid of Al-Islam, an imam stated, "Our deepest desire is not that you become Muslim, but that you become the best Christian, the best Jew, the best person you can be. In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Thank you for coming."
Author's New Holy Envy: This inspired the author, fostering a vision of speaking from the heart of her own faith, wishing others well in theirs, and recognizing a shared "single reservoir of living water" where distinctions fade, and common humanity sees itself reflected.
Metaphorical Shift: The "turf" metaphor of separate yards and leaning over fences is replaced by a single, shared source of spiritual depth, emphasizing unity over division.