Chapter Eleven.

Faithfulness to the Past and Commitment to the Future.

        Human history is replete with conflicts between races, nations, social groups, as well as religious traditions. A sad aspect of this tragic story is that religion, presumably a liberating force meant to improve the lot of humanity, has often been a significant contributor to human strife causing great loss of life and acute suffering in the human family. With rare exceptions, it is only in modern times that many religious leaders of major faiths have called for the renouncement of polemics, prejudice, proselytism, discrimination, misrepresentation, persecution, or denigration of others. Instead, they have sought to lead people on the way of mutual understanding through respectful dialogue. The primary aim of religious dialogue is neither intellectual contests over beliefs, nor agreement in constitutive values, but rather the clarification of positions, mutual respect, and the encouragement of human cooperation in such matters as justice, freedom, peace, employment, health, and the environment.

        In a shrinking and pluralistic world, the ultimate challenge of religious people is how to maintain the integrity of their particular communities, how to enjoy the freedom of fostering their own cherished beliefs and values, while developing a positive acceptance of the right of others to exist and to do the same. A creative approach, away from negativism and bias, is that of respectful mutual acceptance and peaceful cooperation on the level of basic human relationships.  This challenge confronts not only religions on a world scale but also their specific adherents in their personal relationships as they meet in the neighborhood, the school, the place of work, recreation, and even the family through marriage, especially in America.

        Orthodox leaders and theologians have conducted numerous dialogues in the twentieth century, notably in the context of the World Council of Churches, for the purpose of both greater understanding as well as an opportunity for irenic witness to their faith.  In addition several bilateral dialogues have continued with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and of Protestant denominations such as the Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyterians. A few instances have seen separate official contacts with Jews^[131] and Muslims,^[132] with whose religions Orthodox history has been variously entwined for centuries. In 1993, a large conference of Orthodox and Jewish scholars took place in Athens, Greece, in which the present writer participated.^[133] The theme of the conference was “Continuity and Renewal.” What follows is essentially the writer’s contribution to the conference on the topic “Faithfulness to Roots and Commitment Toward the Future.” This essay has been incorporated in the present book as part of the theme of renewal pertaining to positive relationships with people of other faiths.  Aspects of how Orthodox Christians can relate to the Jewish community are of course applicable to relationships with other religious people, Christian, Jewish, or not. At the Athens Conference, I prefaced the delivery of my paper with the following oral remarks now lightly edited.