The Philosophy of Religion (priest, salvation, purification, tradition, Buddhism)

[Scott1]

Looking for discussion, comments about the article and how any of you would answer the questions posed to Fr. Alessi:

Modern Man Continues to Search for God
Father Adriano Alessi on the Philosophy of Religion

ROME, AUG. 30, 2004 (Zenit.org).- Man continues to satisfy his
desire for God, but persists in the temptation to do so in ways that
are different from those to which God calls him, says Salesian
priest and philosopher Father Adriano Alessi.

Professor of philosophy at the Pontifical Salesian University,
Father Alessi is the author of "On the Ways of the Sacred,"
published six years ago in the original Italian by the Salesian
publishing House LAS.

Ediciones Cristianas is publishing the book in Spanish under the
title "The Ways of the Sacred: Introduction to the Philosophy of
Religion."

In the following interview the author reflects on the essence of
religion and the inward and outward dimension of religious
experience.

Q: Are we witnessing a return to the sacred?

Father Alessi: It is not possible to answer with a yes or a no. I
believe there is a triple distinction between "return to
God," "return to the thirst for God," and "return to the awareness
for the need of God."

In relation to the first meaning—the return to God—I believe
that
one cannot speak of it as such, for the simple reason that God has
never abandoned man nor has he ever diminished his saving will in
regard to humanity.

Likewise, I do not think that we can speak appropriately of the
return to the thirst for God, given that man, whether or not he is
aware of it, is always objectively in need of God, and cannot
fulfill himself other than by entering into communion with the
absolute.

In regard to the third meaning, which concerns the effective
resurgence of the awareness of modern man's need for God, an
appropriate answer would have to be given by a sociologist, not by a
theologian or a philosopher.

Nevertheless, I think that few are the authors who say that the
process of secularization has often led to a flowering of many
sacred experiences. Some are genuine, others—not a few—are
problematic because rather than a search for the sacred they appear
more as a flight towards esotericism.

Q: Why is it difficult to distinguish between what is and what is
not religion?

Father Alessi: Religion, examined from the housetops, that is, in
its human dimension, is an extremely complex historic-cultural
phenomenon.

The forms with which faith in God have been configured in the course
of history are varied and at times contrasting.

Suffice it to think of the configuration that the divine assumes in
the religion of primitive and illiterate peoples, or of the monist,
dualist, polytheist, or monotheist manifestation with which the
absolute is experienced by many believers.

The above, with the exception of the "sui generis" configuration
proper of Buddhism, in which, in addition to the search for an
eschatological salvation, we see the absence of a divine being, in
the traditional sense of the term.

Therefore, it is not easy or correct to want to reduce so much
complexity to just one common denominator. Though, when it comes to
authentic religious beliefs, it should not be impossible to identify
some elements that belong to the essence of religious faith.

Q: In a few words, what is religion?

Father Alessi: A relationship with the divinity. Religion, in the
sense of human religious experience, can be defined as a conscious
and correct correlation of man with the divinity. This definition
follows the line of Thomist thought which connotes it as "ordo ad
Deum."

Thus, it is a relationship or, if you prefer, an existential
dialogue that is established between man and God.

Our attitude before God may be defined as religious if it is
characterized by correctness at the noetic level and in terms of
behavior.

The authentic Christian is the one who has a conception of the
divine in accordance with the Christian faith. The authentic Muslim
is the believer who conducts himself in keeping with the praxis of
Islam.

Q: What are the ways of the sacred?

Father Alessi: I think that here too there is need for a
distinction. If by "ways of the sacred" we understand the ways
through which God calls men today, we must say that these ways are
infinite and inscrutable. They are all those through whom the
Absolute in his infinite wisdom and goodness chooses to realize his
plan of salvation.

Moreover, if we understand "ways of the sacred" as the ways through
which man attempts to respond to the divine call, the answer must
then reflect the many forms with which men of good will undertake
the search for God. It can be by following the ways marked out by
the great historical religions, or by following the more precarious
ways of the new forms of religiosity.

We must note that these new ways, even if subjectively valid, to the
degree that they are followed with purity of intention, are not
objectively equivalent to the others, although all have need of
purification in different ways.

Q: Does New Age have a future?

Father Alessi: I would have to be a prophet to answer you. My
sensibility leads me to think that New Age, in the world in which it
has been configured in these decades, is probably not only a
religion à la carte, but a fashionable phenomenon and, therefore,
destined to decline.

Nevertheless, a constant temptation of the human spirit will be to
want to find God, not in the sometimes uncomfortable ways by which
the Absolute calls us, but through the more comfortable and spacious
ways that man invents for himself to silence his profound desire for
God.

[Lightkeeper]

I agree that mankind has a need for God. Not as some of the atheists say, as a means to explain the unknown, but rather a need for meaning and unconditional love. Eighty-six percent of the world's population believes in a higher power. That would suggest a need and a commonality in mankind. One of the most difficult things we face in life is self-forgiveness. Without it we literally have very little love in our life. We are unable to give or receive it. This may be one of the deepest needs for God. The Buddhists and Taoists help us to see more clearly what it is that we are looking for. I believe it is a knowing of one's place in the world and that everything is as it should be. I believe that we are deep wells of knowledge, wisdom, etc. We do have a higher self. Too many of us look outside for that knowledge and wisdom. In a way atheists are looking outside of themselves for answers, because they are so dependent on scientists for answers. Each one of us is a scientists and we have the tools to find answers within ourselves.


I think the New Age will survive if it is allowed to evolve. I think it is all a movement toward higher consciousness and part of the higher consciousness is the knowledge that we need the Divine.

[Feathers in Hair]

That's a fascinating article. and I thank you for sharing it. I particularly liked his answer to the question "Are we witnessing a return to the sacred?"

Although I find my own answer as needfully full of distinctions as his own, I love it that, for whatever reason, I am finding a joy in the sacred that I'd never had before. Whether the world at large shares this, I obviously don't know, but I'm also discovering joy in what 'other beliefs' find sacred.

[Anti-World]

Comments: Interesting guy. Bases alot of his ideas on belief. I guess that's to be expected though.

Q: Are we witnessing a return to the sacred?

The sacred meaning "God"? I can't answer that because to do that would mean that I can state that a god actually exists to begin with. Also, it's an incomplete question because I don't know when this is compared to. Am I witnessing the return to the sacred over the past five seconds? The past thousand years? The past hundreds of thousands of years? Also, "returning" would mean we could definatively state that we were there to begin with.

Q: Why is it difficult to distinguish between what is and what is
not religion?

It's not hard at all it's...

Q: In a few words, what is religion?

... a group or system created to alter a societies behavior through the use of beleif.

Q: What are the ways of the sacred?

Again, is this refferring to a god? If it is then wouldn't it be the way the god acts (Or the way the god is beleived to act.)?

Q: Does New Age have a future?

Uh, ya. Unless we kill ourselves off before then. Bacteria and humans are the only two creatures that will reproduce until they die out from their own waste.