UNITY AND UNIFORMITY IN RELIGION

UNITY AND UNIFORMITY IN RELIGION

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

Our world is becoming more and more divided because of the deep division within the human heart. This intra-personal conflict could be the reason for the high rate of suicide in the modern society. The neighbour and the community around a person who is robbed of interior peace could be in serious danger with the attendant challenges of inter-personal and intra-community conflict. Some conflicts are ignited by people who have no interior peace just as most riots in schools are ignited by students who lack the capacity to pass their examinations. Some people who lack peace within them could be schizophrenic with divided personalities. What are the causes of these conflicts? According to Saint James, these conflicts come from the passions at war within a person who crave for what he does not have. This could lead to quarrel, fighting and killing (James 1:4-2). Intra-personal conflict is a human syndrome that can make any body a victim. It should not be surprising therefore if a Religious leader becomes a progenitor or agent of division that could linger for centuries. Peace builders should therefore strive to identify dividers and connectors in fostering unity and peaceful co-existence in the society,   

Jesus was fully aware of the division within the human heart that could lead to the division of the entire community of believers. He was aware that the division in the human hearts would lead to division in the Church so he prayed earnestly that the Church may be one and that through the mission of the Church the world would be united (John 17). He told his followers that the hour is coming when anyone who kills them would think that he is doing a holy duty for God (John 16:2). Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you should be in agreement and that there should be no divisions among you, but that you should be united in the same mind and the same purpose (I Corinthians 1:10). To the Colossians, he wrote,“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace (Colossians 3, 12-15). “For just as the body is one and have many members, and all the members of the body, though many are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). Muslims are enjoined to be good to the neighbour who is arelative and to the neighbour who is not a relative” (Qur'an, 4:36). This shows that Islam should have great respect for the mutual rights and duties of neighbours. This is a clarion call to unity in diversity.

To promote unity, Christians from different denominations sometimes come together in the form of inter-denominational worship. Ecumenism implies that there is a rift in relationship. The Second Vatican Council proposed ecumenism as the effort towards full communion of the separated Churches for reconciliation and healing. Initially only a few Churches were separated by doctrine, history, and practice. The call by the Second Vatican Council for visible unity of the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant Churches was not a call for uniformity but a call to unity in diversity (Unitatis Reintergration 13-14). This is because the different Churches may not be able to form a merger Church with the same mode and law of operation. What could not happen is for the different Churches to strive for a unity of purpose in the context of the one Mission of Christ who is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14-16).

Jesus came to give abundant life (John 10:10). Christians must ensure that no one irrespective of religion, tribe, colour, political affiliation is deprived of life. Jesus prayed that his followers may be protected. “Holy Father, protect those you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one” (John 17:11). Jesus had concern for those outside his fold. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one” (John 17:20-21).He rebuked his disciples for stopping a non-member of the community who was performing miracles in his name (Luke 9:49). We must therefore be united like the vine and the branches. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5). 

We should not forget that every Church is unique just as every human person is unique. Every Church is unique with unique structures and organogram. Some Churches may be content with singing and sharing the word of God while others cannot survive without the word of God and the Sacraments. For instance, the liturgy especially the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is central to the Catholic Church. That the Catholic Church desires to celebrate the Holy Eucharist apart from inter-denominational fellowship and service does not mean that the Catholic Church is causing division. Even within the Catholic Church, unity does not mean uniformity. The same passages of scriptures are read in the entire Catholic world. The theme of the readings is the same but the application during the homily varies from one priest to the other. In the same Catholic Church, there exist different Religious Congregations of men and women like the Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, Holy Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, Eucharistic Heart Sisters, Immaculate Heart Sisters, Dominican Sisters, Sacred Heart Sisters, Notre Dame Sisters, etcetera with different habits to identify each congregation. Within the same Church, there are different pious societies like Legion of Mary, Sacred Heart, Charismatic Renewal, Catholic Women Organization (CWO), Catholic Men Organization (CMO), Catholic Youths Organization of Nigeria (CYON) etcetera. 

 

Some Muslims are not comfortable when you ask them the sect they belong to because they believe that just as there is only one God, Islam is one and every Muslim follows the Prophet of Islam. The unity of Islam is based on the belief in the miracle of the Holy Qur’an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet. For some Muslims, a sect that does not profess faith in One God and the teachings of the Prophet cannot be called a Muslim. The unity in diversity that Christians and Muslims seek is the faith in one God, Abraham as the father in faith and the promotion of human dignity. These are expressed in different ways. 

 

Faith is a gift from God. Many people did not choose the particular religion they practice. There are so many religions in the world but these religions are united in the belief in one God. However, their concept of God may differ in the way they relate to God. Freedom of religion is not a call to disunity and division of humanity. That we worship God in different ways must not stop us from common social actions in the form of dialogue of social engagement. We need to continue our dialogue of theological exchange, religious experience, dialogue of life, dialogue of love and dialogue of encounter to be able to understand our differences and accept our common humanity and faith in God. May God make us one in our diversity and turn our divisions to unity of purpose. 

 

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) (nirec.ng@gmail.com) 

THE LORD GIVES A NEW COMMANDMENT

THE LORD GIVES A NEW COMMANDMENT

Cornelius Afebu Omonokhua

 

Jesus told his followers: "A new commandment I give to you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). What makes this commandment of love new? This question could lead to a brief enquiry into the life of the Jewish nation and the understanding of love in the Jewish context. In the Old Testament narrative, twelve tribes made up the Israel that was delivered from bondage in Egypt by Moses. They were descendants of the twelve sons of Jacob. God changed the name of Jacob to Israel when he wrestled with the Angel (Genesis 32:28). One of the sons of Israel was Judah. His descendants were later nick named Jews by the neighbouring nations. King David was from the tribe of Judahbut he and his son Solomon ruled over the twelve tribes. After Solomon, the nation was split into the Northern Kingdom with ten tribes and Southern kingdom with Judah and Benjamin. After Solomon, the Northern Kingdom existed for about 200years before the conquest by the Assyrian Empire. The Southern kingdom was later captured by the Babylonian Empire. “Seventy years later, a group of Jews returned to Jerusalem with a unique culture under the Roman Empire until the time of Jesus.

 

The concept of love centred on the love of God for Israel and the reciprocity of this love. Love for the Israelites was exclusively from the Jews to the Jews. This love did not extend to the Gentile nations as shown in the Parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Women were not loved, they were only used and dumped. The way and manner Jesus loved and commanded human beings to love akin to the way God loved Israel. In the Old Testament, Love is an attribute of God. God created the universe and humanity out of love. God made Israel his people out of Love (Hosea 11:1). God shows his love to individual human beings in a very unique way (Isaiah 38). The love of God for Israel was unconditional: “The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). 

 

God needed faithful reciprocity from the people. “Therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments” (Deuteronomy 7:9). Then God says: “I made you thrive like a plant in the field, and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful” (Ezekiel 16:6-7).  God hates wickedness and the workers of iniquities (Psalm 5:4-7). The people of God did not respond to the love of God who said to them. “But you began to trust in your beauty. You used the good name you had and became unfaithful to me. You acted like a prostitute with every man who passed by. You gave yourself to them all” (Ezekiel 16:15)! On the other hand, God remained constant and faithful such that he renews his covenant of love.“I’ll remember the covenant I made with you when you were young and I’ll make a new covenant with you that will last forever” (Ezekiel 16:60). These show that love for God and humanity in the Jewish nations was not perfect. 

 

At the time of Jesus, the Jews were colonised by the Roman Empire. The Hellenistic world and the Greek nations understood the categories of love. For the Greeks love was either Eros, Filial or Agape. Eros is the love you express when you have something to gain from the other person. It is erotic in the sense that it is love based on utility. Erotic love is when for instance, a man loves a woman because she is young and beautiful. You love the woman just to have sex with her. When she grows old or she loses her beauty, you abandon her. A woman could love a man to get money from him. When money goes, the woman goes! Erotic love is drink the water and throw away the cup. Filial love is family love. I love you because you are my son, daughter or relative. Filial love isrelationship by consanguinity. Agape is sacrificial love. It is the love that is so unconditional. This love is based on the common humanity that human beings share. It is the love that can make you sacrifice your life for the person you love (John 3:16).

 

The new commandment of love is reformative in a way that the narrative of the kingdoms that existed before and after Jesus could change the world. Apart from Yemen, the world of the Arabian Peninsula before Islam had no political organization. The outcome was lawlessness, jungle justice and lack of value for life. Killing of human beings was normal such that the only protection people had was the family. The desert life was survival of the strongest. Economically, the Jews were the leaders of Arabia. They were the owners of the best arable lands in Hijaz, and they were the best farmers in the country. They were also the entrepreneurs of such industries as existed in Arabia in those days, and they enjoyed a monopoly of the armaments industry. Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were sold and bought like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. Women had no status of any kind other than as sex objects (https://www.al-islam.org/restatement-history-islam-and-muslims-sayyid-ali-ashgar-razwy/arabia-islam)

 

When Jesus said, “Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34), he meant do what I say and do what I do. Jesus wants his followers to change the world through witness of life. Jesus healed out of love not to show power as a miracle worker. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).In raising the dead to life Jesus showed the human emotion of love as in the case of Lazarus. “Jesus wept (John 11:35). Deeply moved, Jesus came to the tomb” (John 11: 38). Out of love he fed the hungry. “Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” (Matthew 15:32). Jesus fed the people with his body and blood as we do today in his memory in the Holy Eucharist. Jesus preached the word of God to take people to heaven. “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mark 6:34). In love Jesus casted out demons. “When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick” (Matthew 8:16). In love Jesus prayed for unity of the world. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (John 17:20-21). In love, Jesus sacrificed his life for the world. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

 

The application of the new commandment of love is very imperative in our world today. This application will expel fear and despair from the hearts of many. The rate of suicide has increased. This shows that some people are living in pain and lack of hope for the future. There is need today to care for each other and one another. It is an act of love to check on your neighbour whom you have not seen for some time. It is love to see the ugly expression in the face of the other and you care to ask, “Hope all is well?”  It is an act of love for the government to provide jobs for the youths so that they do not go into depression, despair, crime and suicide. In love we can change the narrative the current situation has given to the society where what matters is material acquisition. The application of this new commandment from Jesus would help us to love a neighbour the way we love ourselves. May we love to cherish unconditional love that could move us to make sacrifices for the good of others. 

Rev. Fr. Cornelius Omonokhua is the Executive Secretary of Nigeria Inter-Religious Council (NIREC) (nirec.ng@gmail.com).