Christian Upaya

Last updated on: September 23, 2008 at 3:16 pm by Henry Karlson

Christian Upaya 2008-09-23T15:16:34-05:00 Henry Karlson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The world in which we live in can be described, but never fully presented by our description. There are different ways we can go about describing reality, and each are important and should be examined within its proper context.[1] Reality is complex, and each way we try to describe it allows for us to grasp an aspect of it but not its whole. Certainly we can and try to present it in its entirety, sometimes with a fair amount of success, sometimes not. Nonetheless, we should never confuse our description of reality for reality itself; we should realize that at best it only points to what is real using elements of reality to represent its whole. Each way we try to describe what is real is itself a construct which we have created. Each description is limited; some will present aspects of the real better than others, but if we try to focus on any one system, we will find out how unreal it actually is and how it leads to a dead end.

This should not lead us to despair. In and through each system, one can and does discuss the truth. Different systematic presentations of the truth can and do complement each other, even if those systems, taken as literally as possible, contradict each other. To get at truth, we need to look at it from many angles. We need to let it reveal itself, while realizing what is revealed is only a portion of the whole. Looking at it from different angles will provide different portions of the truth; some angles will share common elements, others might not. What we see from these angels can contradict what we see from other angles without actually being false.[2]

To really grasp the truth, we need to find a way which allows us to grasp truth from all possible angles. We need to find a way to move beyond the limitations of any one viewpoint without turning into relativists, or without creating a new, ultra-synthetic system which merges (and therefore destroys) complementary systems into one system (and thereby creating a new prison for reality). That is to say, truth is not found merely by merging different systematic approaches together into one over-arching synthetic form of truth with its own propositions. Rather, it is experienced, not realized by propositions. Propositions help provide us a way to engage, understand and experience truth, but they are not themselves the truth. Some propositions can and must be shown to be untruth, because what they point to is not found in reality.[3] But before we can say that a proposition is false, we must be careful and make sure that we understand the proposition being discussed properly. Often what seems to be in error is not, such as in the case of equivocation, where people are talking past each other and not really talking about the same thing. This is often the case, we find, when one engages comparative studies of religion: it is easy to assume two words, because they fulfill similar functions, represent the same content, when they do not.[4]

From this we should begin to understand the limitations of systematic approaches to truth: any given system presents a way of understanding the truth, but is not the truth itself. What we have is, at best, an aspect of truth being used to cover the truth itself. Usually the original truth-seeker creates their presentation of the truth with the realization that behind what they have said is a greater truth which has been hidden from their view. If a system is understood properly, people will understand it is a useful tool, because truth is presented in a meaningful form that helps others grasp something about the nature of reality itself. Each worldview is its own cover, its own construct. Each worldview must be seen as a kind of conventional truth. Some are better, more comprehensive than others, but none are conclusive in themselves. If these constructs truly come out of truth, and not falsehood, then they must be said to be true, but only conventionally so. Each convention must let itself be taken for what it is and not for what it is not. Under no circumstance can it be reified, for when that happens, it becomes falsehood and an intellectual trap. This is to say that conventional truths are empty in and of themselves, and the only value they provide is the access they provide to the absolute, to absolute truth.

Not all systems which claim to be conventional representations of reality are valid, just like not all maps actually represent what they are claimed to represent. On the other hand, it would not be useful for any systematic approach to reality to present the whole of reality, just like it would not be useful for a map to be identical to that which is being mapped out. [5] Thus, although conventional truths are relative in value, because they are conventional, they help lead us to absolute truth. Just as it is possible that we will find errors in an otherwise valid map, so it is possible that within a conventional presentation of truth, we will find the conventions are generally sound but flawed in various ways. Thus, even if find mistakes within a systematic presentation of truth, this does not mean we should reject all that is found within a given worldview: there is still much it can teach us, as long as we remain cautious. On the other hand, this means that an otherwise false convention could contain some element of truth which it uses to justify itself, and so it is not entirely false. Thus, conventional truths, different worldviews, can and do help point to the absolute. If mistakes are found in these conventional truths, we must not automatically dismiss these conventions as lie, because mistakes will be found in all conventions. On the other hand, if a convention is shown to be erroneous, this does not mean all that is found within it will be false; for it is only through truth which is misunderstood that falsehood can present itself as truth.

Thus, the key for the truth seeker, looking through and examining different presentations of truth, is to understand that a systematic approach to reality is an imperfect construct which represents a mediated explanation of the absolute, but it is not the absolute itself. It must be debated, even deconstructed, so that reification will not happen. Truth is not propositional, even if propositions are the means by which we discuss the truth. The trick is to be able to understand what the propositions are explaining, and then to be able to restate that meaning in other formats when needed.[6]If a truth comes out the development of the propositions within one’s systematic understanding of truth, its nature as a derivative truth must not be forgotten. It can still present something which is true, but it is also more likely that elements of error, of untruth, will get mixed in with it. Thus, it could still present an aspect of the absolute, but it might not be the best such representation; what is discovered in one system might be better represented through that system than others. It is also possible that what it points to is a cruder presentation of truth than what one finds in other systems; when this is the case, it shows us a weakness within a given convention. It is a point at which that convention is beginning to falter and fail to present the fullness of truth.[7]

Because of these facts, it becomes quite apparent that if one wants to engage truth, one must be able to appreciate and dialogue with and in many conventional forms of truth. We must be able to engage many worldviews, even if they seem mutually contradictory, because each worldview is a different angle by which the truth is to be ascertained. And in each worldview, then, we can find something more about truth. And the more of the truth we experience as a result, the more we will be capable of addressing multiple worldviews without being caught up by their mistakes. We can engage the systems without being limited by them. We can also take what we know of the truth and use each worldview to reach it. The Buddhist idea of “skillful means” presents what this entails.[8] One is only skillful in bringing others to the truth in so far as they have ascertained the truth for themselves.

Different people will comprehend the truth by different categories of thought, and some of those conventions will be quite restrictive. But the further one explores the truth, the more they will give up all conventions and appreciate truth apophatically. Then, and only then, will one truly be skillful, because it is only through a transcendent experience beyond conventions that one can create immanent, positive presentations of truth. It is through this apophatic base that one presenting truth will be able to present a truth beyond themselves. Analogy, as a category of truth, works because it is founded upon the notion of difference, and with it, the idea that truth transcends what is implied by the analogy.

Systematic approaches to truth need not be abandoned; rather, they should be understood for what they are, that is, tools by which the truth can be understood. The one skilled in truth will point out that what they say is limited, and must be understood with caution. Truth transcends words, and what is ever said cannot be literal truth. Understanding this, one can engage various worldviews without being trapped by them. Instead, one will be enriched by them, for they will find viewpoints which we, as humans, need. And in this way, Christians must look at non-Christian faiths with humility; for we must appreciate the fact that non-Christians and their traditions are capable of teaching us something about truth (as St Thomas Aquinas proved with his adaptation of Aristotle).

Footnotes

[1] Westerners are used to dividing their worldview into matters of empirical science, ontology or philosophy, and theology or religious reflection. The Western tradition as a whole tries to find ways to merge the three traditions together; yet even the sum total will represent only an insignificant portion of what is real; what is not known about reality will transcend what is known.
[2] Indian philosophy presents this fact with the notion of blind men touching different parts of an elephant and describing what it is they have touched. One touched the trunk and explained the elephant as the trunk. Another touched the tail, and presented the elephant as the tail. While there was a similarity between these two presentations this similarity must not be used to confuse and synthesize the two. If one did, one will never understand what an elephant truly is.
[3] Once we have established what the term rabbit represents (and it is what the term normally means in the English language), the proposition: rabbits have horns would, because it points to an unreality, be false. But the proposition that rabbits jump to move around would be true, even if it is not the fullness of truth.
[4] More ink has been spilt in debates between Buddhists and Christians than should have been over the question of the soul because some people mistook atman to be pointing to the same reality as soul, when it was not.
[5]Map making is an important tool, though the only way a map can perfectly present what is being mapped out is if it is identical with what is being mapped out. There would be no use for such a map, even if it gets the details exactly right; the map would have ceased to provide a way to understand what is being mapped out becaus it would have become its double. The only way to make a map of a city which is not incomplete is to have a map the size of that city itself. But if this happened, no one would want to use such a map to navigate the city in question, because they would have to navigate through the “map” first.
[6]If someone is a Thomist, can they re-present their theological ideas within an Augustinian, a Bonaventurian, a Scotist, a Sophiological, et. al. convention? If not, something is wrong with their understanding.
[7]When we take a picture with a digital camera, we find different cameras are capable of better resolution than others. When we view the picture on a computer, and zoom in, eventually the picture will pixelate. The zoom function is equivalent to the method by which we find derivative truths in a given convention. Some pictures, some conventions, can zoom in more than others. But eventually, the picture and the convention will give and become meaningless nonsense.
[8] Upaya, skillful means, is the idea that one who has an experience of the truth can direct people to reach that goal, no matter what context or worldview they have. The task is to take people where they are and show, from their own context, how to reach the proper end. Different approaches to the truth can lead to it, but only with proper guidance.

Comparative Theology

Henry Karlson

Philosophy

Previous Post

September 23, 2008

Canadian Catholic Bishops Federal Election Voter Guide

Next Post

September 23, 2008 Open Letter on the Bailout

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the sign God gave to Noah as a promise to never flood the earth again?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fire Dove Rainbow Lightning