Wisdom’s Fire, Radiant and Unfading. Part XII: Non-Christians

Part XI

The lover of Holy Wisdom
Embraces what has been planted.
Throughout the earthly kingdom,
No truth should be rejected.

The Logos has provided the seeds,
The Spirit has brought the rain;
Picking and gathering are our deeds,
So that our reward, we can attain.

Providence has not left anyone outside of Wisdom’s (creaturely and Divine) loving embrace. “Humanity forms but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth (see Acts 17:26), and also because all share a common destiny, namely God. His providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all humankind (see Wis 8:1; Acts 14:17; Rom 2:6-7; 1Tim 2:4) against the day when the elect are gathered together in the holy city which is illumined by the glory of God, and in whose splendor all peoples will walk (see Apoc 21:23 ff.).”[1] Even though nations have engaged God differently, the seeds of wisdom are found throughout the world and have provided spiritual nourishment to those who have followed them. Where they have been nurtured and allowed to grow, even if surrounded by mire, they have opened people up to grace and have provided insights which the Church should not take for granted. As Christ is the vine, all these branches are fit to be grafted in to the Church, to provide their unique gifts to the whole of the Church. To ignore them because of where they are found is to ignore what Divine Wisdom has wrought. Indeed, it shows a disdain for truth. They are meant to be gathered in.

Truth does not contradict truth, but complements it.  Even if it is found amongst non-Christians, we must not reject a truth merely because non-Christians hold to it. “The Catholic Church rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions. It has a high regard for the manner of life and conduct, the precepts and doctrines which, although differing in many ways from its own teaching, nevertheless often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women.”[2] Indeed, we are called to help people from different religions not only come to know the fullness of Divine Wisdom, but also to reinforce those truths they do hold. “Let Christians, while witnessing to their own faith and way of life, acknowledge, preserve and encourage the spiritual and moral truths found among non-Christians, together with their social life and culture.”[3] It is important to remember that many of these non-Christians are opened to God’s grace, often more than those found in the visible institutions of the Church; though we do not know their eternal fate, we can hope that their openness to grace as manifested in works of love will lead to their salvation:

Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his church, but nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience – these too may attain eternal salvation. Nor will divine providence deny the assistance necessary for salvation to those who, without any fault of theirs, have not yet arrived at an explicit knowledge of God, and who, not without grace, strive to lead a good life. Whatever of good or truth is found amongst them is considered by the church to be a preparation for the Gospel and given by him who enlightens all men and women that they may at length have life.[4]

The light of truth, even if in faint ray, shines on all. Those who open themselves up to it, and live out what they find, also find it raises them up, makes them holy. It is not, of course, a thing they have done of themselves: rather, by opening up in love, love purifies them, making them saintly sages, vessels of the Spirit. Love is fruitful, it multiplies the goodness within: “love build up” (1 Cor. 8:1 RSV). Love leads us to Christ, joins us with Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life of all – even those who only know him implicitly may attain holiness in and through him. Only one path leads directly to Truth – the path of the religious deed, the acceptance of the One who said of himself:

“I am the way, truth and life”; whoever partakes of life in Christ already partakes of life in Truth. He becomes a living member of the divine Sophia, the body of Christ, his church, and in so doing apprehends the sophic world – for us merely an ideal – as living reality. He becomes transparent and sophic; Sophia – the sun which shines and warms us while remaining invisible – emerges from the clouds and openly stands in the middle of the sky. The lives of the saints are filled with such visions of Truth. But they are not unknown to the extra-Christian world as well, in thinkers and ascetics distinguished by a particularly acute religious sense (Plotinus’ light, Socrates’ “demon”,” the experience of Buddhist monks, Brahmins, and so on).[5]

These holy sages have helped spread the grace of Divine Wisdom in and through the world. This is not to say they comprehended the fullness of truth, nor their followers did not misunderstand or abuse the seeds of wisdom planted in their midst, but we must not neglect or ignore what they said, and how their words and wisdom were taken up, embraced, and expanded upon, to see if there is something for us to learn. When necessary, we must look for that seed of wisdom and cleanse it from the mire which has put a stranglehold on it, or to cut off unseemly growths which have come upon plants growing in foreign soil. Even grave errors, such as human sacrifice, can be shown to be based upon a truth misapprehended, a truth which can be exposed so as to lead people to the fullness of truth. That is, human sacrifice is based upon the notion, which people naturally can attain to, that we owe everything to God, and should give to God the best of what we have; naturally, what is best and highest is a human person, so giving a human person to God would appear to be a fitting sacrifice:

Furthermore, nature teaches that it is just to offer God, whose debtors we admire we are for so many reasons, those things which are previous and excellent because of the surpassing excellence of his majesty. But, according to human judgment and truth, nothing in nature is greater or more valuable than the life of man or man himself. Therefore nature itself dictates and teaches those who do not have faith, grace, or doctrine, who live within the limitations of the light of nature, that, in spite of every contrary positive law, they ought to sacrifice human victims to the true God or to the false god who is thought to be true, so that by offering a supremely precious thing they might be more grateful for the many favors they have received. For the natural law teaches gratitude in such a way that we not only do good to our benefactor but also try to repay him in an abundant manner for the benefits we received, giving due consideration to the benefits, the benefactor, and the motive for which he confers the benefits on us.[6]

This, of course, is not to say that human sacrifice is acceptable: far from it. It is to note how truths can be brought together, in ignorance of other truths, and lead to wrong conclusions. We are to give ourselves completely over to God, but the sacrifice which is intended is a life lived in love, of love, by love. And, we must know, if we turn to love and its law, we will see it is this law which can and will denounce such sacrifices.[7] “But we, who blanch with horror at the very idea of human sacrifice and cannibalism, how can we be at the same time so blind and ungrateful as not to recognize that we owe these feelings only to the law of love which watched over our cradle?”[8] Moreover, one can see how human sacrifice, though wrong, hints at the death of Christ on the cross, and how he would allow himself to be turned into a sacrifice for our sake to show us the fullness of God’s love:

How then can we fail to recognize that paganism could not be mistaken about an idea so universal and fundamental as that of sacrifice, that is to say, of redemption by blood? Humanity could not guess at the amount of blood it needed. What man, left to himself, could suspect the immensity of the fall and the immensity of the restoring love? Yet every people, by admitting this fall more or less clearly, has admitted also the need and the nature of the remedy.

[…]

At all times and in all places, men have believed that the innocent could atone for the guilty, but Christianity has corrected this idea as well as a thousand others which, even in their unreformed state, had in advance borne the clearest witness to it.[9]

If we can see kernels of truth behind the notion of human sacrifice, however distorted they were when put in practice, this helps us understand the way truths can be found throughout the world when not united to the fullness of truth. This is not to say they are as fallen and abused as we find here; indeed, many are, as we have seen, pure and holy and have helped many men and women to follow the good in a life of holiness. They have contributed much to the world, and what has come out of their work deserves respect. Indeed, what they have come to understand often served the basis of philosophical and religious developments which have later been taken into the Church, such as Platonic and Aristotelian thought: we look not only to Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, but also to their successors, their commentators. We do not have to be limited to the Hellenistic tradition – Muslims, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, Confucians, Native Americans, et. al., all have their wisdom, all have insights which come from the seeds of wisdom which are worthy of respect, commendation, which either will lead people to the Church (implicitly or explicitly), or, even further, find their proper place in the Church as truths which are to help continue the build up of the Church in history.[10]

It is in this way that the Church can explain her respect non-Christians for their faith, as she does with the faith of the Muslims. “The church has also a high regard for the Muslims. They worship God, who is one, living, and subsistent, merciful and almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, who also has spoken to humanity.”[11] Islam has brought together and nourished many of the wisdom seeds planted in Arabian soil. It represents what had been at work in the Arabian peoples for centuries; they are the great nation which came out of Ishmael. Though not chosen to have a central a role in the preparation for Christ’s birth, it is without question that Christ’s advent helped establish their place in history: they represent the boundary between the pagan and monotheistic faiths, the simple bridge which is capable of leading people to the personal God of Abraham:

For Arabs and other nations who accepted the religion of Muhammad, it must become that which the law was for the Jews and philosophy for the Hellenes—a transitional stage from pagan naturalism to a truly universal culture; a school of spiritualism and theism in an elementary pedagogic form comprehensible to these nations.[12]

Muhammad rightfully picked up on the greatness of the Arab people, and helped show the path by which they could attain to their potential. He walked the path of the prophets, leading him to proclaim a better way than the unmerciful tribalism which held most of Arabia under its sway.[13] He was one of them, and he did not attain perfection: but he did attain a greater sense of holiness in his being, one which demonstrated great spiritual strength:

Christians should try to appreciate the authentic value of the life and work of the Prophet of Islam, taking into consideration the time and the environment in which he lived. […] Instead of these negative judgments which came out of former concern for polemics and apologetics, Christians should assess in an objective way, and in consonance with their faith, exactly what was the inspiration, the sincerity and the faithfulness of the Prophet Muhammad, making their judgment within the framework, first, of his personal response to the commands of God, and then, on a wider scale, that of the working of providence in world history.[14]

The fact Muhammad was not only able to survive the cruel and bitter persecution which his newfound faith brought him, but also able to create a lasting world-religion should show us that Islam cannot be dismissed merely as a demonic or human hoax. What Gamaliel said of the Christians must, in some fashion, be seen as shown true for Muhammad in the foundation of Islam: “for if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them”  (Acts 5:38b-39 RSV). Muhammad succeeded when he should not have; not only was his work a success, but he succeeded so greatly that Islam has become a major player in the world scene. This should tell us that he brought to fruition many of the seeds planted in the Arab soil, seeds which nourished and strengthened his new religious tradition:

If one sees in universal history just an enterprise of chance, the result of an extrinsic mechanical chain of petty facts, then certainly Muhammad had no mission, but solely and only because from this point of view no one at all can have any mission. If one recognize in history an intrinsic meaning and purposefulness, then without a doubt a vast global enterprise such as the creation of Islam and the foundation of Muslim culture must have providential significance, and the mission of Muhammad cannot be taken away from him; and the means by which he, according to his own testimony, received it …  completely concur with psychological experience and historical analogies.[15]

What exactly could this mission be, when the Christian faith has held such a prominent place in world history? It is a mission of preparation, one which shows itself both in its positive good, leading people to practice and revere the good, and the God of Abraham, but also in what it cannot do: because it does not know the incarnation, it does not know theosis, union with the divine, the union which is needed in order for continual growth and spiritual nourishment. It is spiritual milk, given to infants but incapable of sustaining those who have reached maturity. Yet, so much of the world is still stuck in infancy, and so Islam has a role. “Nevertheless, the religion of Muhammad still has a future; it will still be propagated, if not developed. The continued success of Islam among nations that are scarcely receptive to Christianity – in India, China, central Africa – shows that the spiritual milk of the Koran is still necessary for humanity.”[16] One can think of how Badshah Khan in India represents what Solovyov is talking about. But, as history has shown, Islam can do more than inspire non-Christians in non-Christian lands. It can have a role in the development and spiritual preparation of Christians. Islam has something to teach us, something to remind us for when we get off the straight path. Its existence helps many Christians come to terms with their faith. “Many Christians living among Muslims have experienced the purifying effect of contact with Islam. It is as if their faith is being scoured of accretions and brought back to its essential content.”[17] The validity of this can be seen in the way Muslims helped inspire Blessed Charles de Foucauld:

He was a rather dissolute young man, expelled from the French army for immorality, who took on some spy work for France in North Africa, where he encountered Islam. He had long since abandoned the Catholicism of his childhood, but when he saw the fervent and frequent prayers of Muslims, he began to reconsider his relationship with God. He admired Islam but returned to a fervent practice of Catholicism, tried the monastic life and found the Trappists too soft, and ended his life as a hermit in North Africa, admired by many of the surrounding Muslims for his obvious prayerfulness and ascetic life.[18]

While Islam, because of its closeness to Christianity and Judaism, is easily shown as possessing seeds of wisdom which allow it to prosper, we must not think this is true merely of Islam. We can find sophianic traces in all the world religions, traces which can inspire and enrich the lives of their followers. And we must not assume the fact that some religions are far from us on the nature of God that they, therefore, have little to offer us, after all, Hellenism, despite its polytheism and moral aberrations, nonetheless showed us that such cultures can possess great spiritual truths which, when touched by the Church, turn out to be a pearl of great price. Buddhism, for example, offers some of the most profound examinations of apophatic truths, showing us not only the height of human logic but deconstructs it, showing us how it can lead us astray and why we cannot rely upon it alone as revealing the fullness of truth. As Robert de Nobili noted “no academy in India has discoursed more subtly and more copiously on natural philosophy and on other liberal faculties.”[19] Buddhism is the religion of silence and anatman, revealing to us that we must die to the self if we ever want to see reality for what it really is; Buddhism, through its missionary efforts, helped spread monasticism throughout the world, even into Alexandria, where it probably helped inspire the development of early Christian ascetics, and it remains capable of showing the world the need to overcome the self, something so necessary if we want to know love.[20]

Hinduism, though criticized by Siddhartha, is in many ways, a necessary complement to Buddhism: what Buddhism denies (and in the excesses, properly denies), Hinduism affirms: though there are holy ascetics in Hinduism (and, after Siddhartha, certainly modified by his influence), one cannot but see lila, the “sport” or “play” that the divine has with us as being a representation of all that is good and true in the world, as an affirming, incarnational device necessary to prevent us from a purely docetical approach to reality.[21] The concept of avatar presents to us the clearest human intuition of the incarnation: certainly the philosophical explanations of avatars fail to reach the level of this-worldliness that we find in the incarnation, and yet it is clear, the concept of the avatar allows for some of the greatest, most beautiful presentations of incarnationalism found in the non-Christian world. We can see this, for example, in The Bhagavad Gita, a spiritual masterpiece; who cannot but hear the echos of Christ coming through the mouth of Krishna, especially in his advocacy of bhakti? We have lovely spiritual truths portrayed in this work, such as when he says:

61. In the region of the heart of all
Contingent beings dwell the Lord,
Twirling them hither and thither by his uncanny power (māyā)
[Like puppets] fixed in a machine.

62. In Him alone seek refuge
With all they being, all thy love (bhāva);
And by his grace shalt thou attain
An eternal state, the all-highest peace.[22]

C.S. Lewis, who held a high respect for Hinduism and saw it as the only alternative to the Christian faith, can be seen as holding on to many of the Hindu traditions with his Narnia series. He shows us the Logos incarnate in another, non-human form; and, his incarnate Logos speaks in The Silver Chair in a way which the Hindus would easily understand: “’I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,’ said the Lion.”[23] While we can say that the Logos consumes us even as we partake of him – the whole of creation is made for communion – many Hindu traditions have a great understanding on the positive role of the Divine’s destructive powers; for example, Shiva the destroyer brings death, not to annihilate us, but to make us greater by the transformation of death. While a thing difficult for Westerners to grasp, it is something easy, almost a given in the East. And, if we search further, we shall see in the Hindu tradition, a great understanding of love, love which must go through a time of sorrow if it wants to end up in fulfilling joy; this we can see in the tradition of Krishna, an incarnation of Vishnu, with his frolicking with gopis (shepherd girls) while attached to Rādhā: the Divine loves all, and will give special favors to all; it is often that we take that favor, receive God’s love, and want to make it exclusive, to lift ourselves up above others. When we do this, we misunderstand God’s love and get jealous when we see that love being shared by others: indeed, we might feel abandoned when it looks like others have been given a special treatment, been given gifts which we want for ourselves but which we do not get. In this way, we become like Rādhā:

In her loneliness she sees you everywhere
Drinking springflower honey from other lips.
Lord Hari,
Rādhā suffers in her retreat[24]

And like Rādhā, we must abandon our pride, our egotism, to give out our heart and to know true love for our Lord, one which does not look at what he has done for others, but sees his love for us:

If you speak, moonlight gleaming on your teeth
Dispels the dread darkness of fear.
Let your moon face lure my nightbird eyes
To taste nectar from your quivering lips!
Rādhā, cherished love,
Abandon your baseless pride!
Love’s fire burns my heart –
Bring wine in your lotus mouth.[25]

Of course, what is shown here, is represented in many different Hindu stories and legends. Like Buddhism and Islam (and all major religions), we must understand the multiple forms which developed to express the pearls given to the Hindu people. That is, there are many ways we can engage different religions, different paths by which we can seek out and integrate their wisdom into our own lives. The broad points being made here, of course, do not give justice to the complexities of these faiths, but the point is for Christians to recognize the wisdom we can find in these faiths, and that one can profit by exploring them. What is necessary is for us to see that the seeds of wisdom, spread throughout the world, can still nurture us today. We are called to bring all which is good and true together in the Church. But it is to be found more than just in religion. It is found in our worldly cultures, in our music, in our literature, in the arts in general. And this is where we shall turn to next. Here, Sophia, both created and Divine, has found a new foothold, and with it, a new way to bring us together, united in Christ.