Soter Nr. 26 - Vytauto Didžiojo universitetas

THE PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS
OF INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF SILESIA
arise only by confrontation with the totality of experience and thus is never in the possession
of any human institution. A philosopher would never deny the value of certainty and truth,
but must admit that they remain ideals forever beckoning, forever beyond our grasp.
A discourse “God as the poet of the world” by Laszlo Forizs (Buddhist University,
Hungary) reflected on the theme of God as the poet of the world. It was focused on three
sources: “We are His poem” 2 (Ephesians 2:10), “The Poet of the Space” (Rigveda, I 160.1ab)
and “He is the poet of the world, with tender patience leading it by his vision of truth, beauty
and goodness” (A. N. Whitehead).
Jonathan Weidenbaum (Berkeley College, USA) in his presentation “Between ecstasy
and eschatology: immanence, transcendence, and the metaphysics of process” pointed out
the contrast between South Asian views of salvation and S. Kierkegaard’s theology, and
asked the questions: Can these perspectives be reconciled? Can they at least co-exist or
complement one another within one metaphysical schema?
A paper “The purpose of human existence and meaning of immortality in Daoism” by
Romualdas Dulskis (Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania) discussed the characteristics
of the Shengren, who is the highest Daoist ideal for a human being. Daoism presents a
very serious doctrine which accents the human’s ever-increasing resemblance to Dao. The
deepest essence of Daoist teaching unfolds specifically in a Christian context.
Michael Heather (Northumbria University, Great Britain) in his paper “The logic of
trans-faith prehension” analyzed the essence of the trans-faith intercourse in the light of
modern logic. According to M. Heather, there may be many faiths (extensions) but only
one eternal truth (intension). Trans-faith intercourse then becomes a matter of prehension
in the sense of Whitehead between various extensions.
In the presentation “Dialogue as a precondition for the freedom of belief and as a precondition
for Christian enculturation. The experience of Bulgarian Orthodox priests after
1989” Petar Kanev (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Bulgaria) proposed a new model for
understanding the specific meaning of the Christian paradigms, stressing that a paradigm
could never be static and complete, but always subjected to dynamic debates.
The conference proceeded in a constructive and warm atmosphere. Interesting, informative
and many-sided presentations were completed by in-depth discussions. The conference
revealed that inter-religious dialogue is a communicative and investigative process,
that needs both: expressing oneself and understanding the other. If inter-religious dialogue
includes openness to learning from each other’s experience, wisdom and knowledge
about faith and spirituality, and a spirit of humility and benevolence as well as willingness
to be self-critical, inter-religious dialogue is very beneficial and effective.
NOTES
1 Latin: Silesia; German: Schlesien; Polish: Śląsk; Czech: Slezsko; Silesian: Ślůnsk.
2 Greek: “εἰµὶ ποίηµα”.
Rev. Prof. Dr. Romualdas Dulskis
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