Bethel's Interreligious Symposium: Myths and Facts

Myth:
Bethel University had an Interreligious Symposium seeking common ground with Buddhists.
Fact:
Bethel University’s religious studies program sponsored a 75-minute Interreligious Symposium titled “Meditation: Buddhist and Christian ‘Is There Common Ground?’” Bethel has sponsored these symposia, typically including Jews, Christians, Muslims, or Hindus, for the last five years. The goal of these programs has been to help Bethel students become aware of the traditions of these very significant world religions. The conclusion of this symposium is that the goals of meditation and meditative prayer are in fact very different in the two traditions.

Myth:
Attendance by students at this symposium was mandatory.
Fact:
There were approximately 150 people in attendance. Attendance for some students was required by faculty in related courses—most students were not mandated to attend.

Myth:
Twenty-year-old Christian students may not be able to fully understand the complexity of issues during this dialogue, and thus Bethel is leading sheep to the wolves.
Fact:
Many of the students who attended the presentation are in religion or sociology classes, and thus have studied the underlying beliefs of other faiths. Students at Bethel are actively involved in chapel throughout the academic year; participate in Bible studies and discipleship groups around campus; and attend local churches. A Bethel education will expose students to people and ideas that are not Christian. This is an important step in helping students think critically, and see and evaluate ideas in our culture so that they can develop a genuine Christian response to the world around them.

Myth:
There was no Christian perspective presented to the Buddhist participating on the panel. This sent a message to him that he is ok being a Buddhist.
Fact:
Dr. Paul Reasoner, one of the presenters and a 25-year Bethel faculty member, is an evangelical Christian who is widely known for his thoughtful, engaging teaching. He is an active churchman, the son of Protestant missionaries to Japan, and has been engaged for much of the last 15 years in bringing a total of over 1,000 Japanese university students to Bethel during the summer to study American life and culture at Bethel while living with Christian families in the vast majority of cases. As Reasoner commented privately, a dialogue like this is not necessarily “the time or place to confront [other participants] about why they should become Christians.” This is not an occasion for debate about every point of disagreement.

Myth:
The program emphasized various sorts of meditative practices that are Eastern and unbiblical.
Fact:
What was said is that the Christian faith has a long tradition of meditative practices. Paul Reasoner commented that Christians can gain insight into themselves by practicing Buddhist approaches to meditation. But at the same time, Reasoner critiqued the “self-authentication of experience” inherent in Buddhist practice. He commented that Christian meditation may involve being overwhelmed by the presence of God, leading to worship and awe--not the way a Buddhist might describe the “expanded consciousness” of enlightenment. The experiences are fundamentally different.