Lynn Bauman
Lynn Bauman is director of the Praxis Retreat and Learning Center in Telephone, Texas. He is a lecturer in Comparative Religion, Islamic Philosophy, Near Eastern Studies, Christian and World Spirituality. He lived for ten years in the Middle East, including seven years in Iran, where he studied Sufism and Islamic spirituality with Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
(Taken from the Journal of Contemplative Reflection, Vol. 1, Issue 3, December 1998)
"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
It is quite clear that this statement of Jesus has troubled men and women across the centuries, and it is especially troubling to many Christians today. What are we to make of these words except that Jesus is claiming exclusive ownership of religious or spiritual truth? Is not Jesus saying that only through him can people come to God; outside of him no one can? On first reading this may appear to be the case, and it is certainly used that way by many Christians to deny truth-claims outside of Christianity or that there is any other way to God outside of Christ. But this is not the case. It is a too simple and too fast reading of the text. It is not fair either to the Gospel, to Jesus, or to Christian generosity. How else can it be read?
Lynn Bauman's site, Praxis
Why Wisdom is More Important Than Dogma
In the Christian tradition it is common place to imagine that dogma is the most important element of faith. Correct dogma is often perceived as the assurance of heaven-a ticket to eternal safety, and wisdom as something extraneous-relegated perhaps to certain parts of the Hebrew Scriptures, but certainly not as important to us as dogma.
While "correct doctrine" (orthodoxy) is indeed critical to Christianity (particularly institutional Christianity), and any religious tradition certainly will have its means of self-definition which determine its legitimate boundaries, ultimately dogma by itself fails us. It provides no real model for our passageway through human existence. It gives us little that is of practical or transformative value other than a set of beliefs to which we must adhere "religiously."
