Posted by johnboy on August 08, 1999 at 20:42:16:
i'd like to go to dinner with Joseph Campbell, Hans Kung and Karl Rahner (and i suppose i shall on the other side one day)
if i knew more comparative religion and anthropology and theological method, i'd ask them to help me write a book on the Theology of Implicit Faith
i'd like to be totally familiar with the doctrines and rituals and moral teachings that come from the primary religious experiences of other peoples
all these religions have their holy writings and i could study their Scriptural Theology and they all have a moral theology and some type of priesthood; they all have their myths which evoke appropriate responses to ultimate reality; they all have a systematic theology whether written or not
i'd like to compare every aspect of others' *implicit* faith in Christ and look in their lives for traces of an *implicit sacramental theology*
i'd like to witness their rites of initiation and celebration of birth and passage into adulthood, their rites of grieving their dead and commiting their spirits to the Mystery, their modes of reconciliation and of *holy orders* and of marital-family covenant
but most of all i'd like to look for Jesus' *implicit* presence at meals, in shared memories, in covenants, in their holy writings and holy mystics and priests, in their people gathered to worship and celebrate, in their everyday sacrifices, in their giving of thanks to the Mystery
and there just has to be a Presence when two or more gather in the name of this Unknown God or when they break the bread of their lives that others might encounter more fully---the Mystery
if i'd start this study anywhere, it would be with the American Indian and how they cooperated with the grace of the holy Spirit through the ages
and these studies of implicit faith and of other peoples leading the moral life would shed so much light on our explicit faith ... and i wonder, would i real feel privileged or lucky when it was all over? or would i feel *burdened* with Grace and responsibilty that comes with blessings? or just what?
those of you who have been privileged to study such matters whether in school or through reading---how does it make you FEEL about being an person of *explicit* faith versu implicit faith? i'll bet there is no smug arrogance, huh? do you feel overwhelmed at the generosity of our God who grants all the means of salvation? do you feel like you receive more consolation for the journey than others? or less desolation? what difference does explicit versus implicit faith make in our temporal lives? do you believe Providence ensouled humans purposefully in this place or that or at this time or that?
i enjoy wondering about all of this and i can't articulate any other feeling other than "He's got the whole world in His hands" and "All shall be well"