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The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love: A Biblical Case for Religious Diversity

The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love: A Biblical Case for Religious Diversity, by W. Eugene March.  Louisville: WJKP, 2005.  ISBN 0-664-22708-2.  Pb., 139 pp.  $14.95.

In his new book, The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love, W. Eugene March lays out a reasoned and compelling case for people of all faiths to communicate with and appreciate people of other faiths.  He traces his long-time interest in interfaith relations to his days as a graduate student when he was under the direction of Jewish professors and working alongside Jewish students.  "They were every bit as committed to the service of God as I was . . . If one could only know the 'Father' through Jesus Christ, how could I understand the clear reflection of God's way 'enfleshed' by these people?" (ix) 

Today's world, even today's United States, is a far more pluralistic society than March encountered in New York forty years ago.  We knowingly share the world with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Confucianists, Animists, Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians, and those of many more faith traditions.  As a nation we have experienced the dire effects of militant extremism, practiced by those who "deny the right of any others to exist and... [are] willing to exercise any measure of terror...toward the eradication of all they judge to be their enemies"(xi).  In our modern world, March maintains that it is more imperative than ever that we who profess faith in Jesus Christ realize that God's love is far wider than any human limits.  The "Bible itself...clearly contradicts the narrow, supersessionist interpretation that God is concerned only with the chosen people, whether Jews or Christians"(118-119).  After pointing out that we who are Christians also have been guilty of encouraging and at times actively supporting "terrible things in the name of faithfulness to God"(5), March lifts up texts from throughout the canon to support his argument that God's love is not intended for only a fraction of the human community; he also pushes his readers to consider biblical texts in context, asserting that there is room for more than one true religion.

The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love: A Biblical Case for Religious Diversity, by W. Eugene March.  Louisville: WJKP, 2005.  ISBN 0-664-22708-2.  Pb., 139 pp.  $14.95.

In his new book, The Wide, Wide Circle of Divine Love, W. Eugene March lays out a reasoned and compelling case for people of all faiths to communicate with and appreciate people of other faiths.  He traces his long-time interest in interfaith relations to his days as a graduate student when he was under the direction of Jewish professors and working alongside Jewish students.  “They were every bit as committed to the service of God as I was . . . If one could only know the ‘Father’ through Jesus Christ, how could I understand the clear reflection of God’s way ‘enfleshed’ by these people?” (ix) 

Today’s world, even today’s United States, is a far more pluralistic society than March encountered in New York forty years ago.  We knowingly share the world with Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Confucianists, Animists, Jews, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians, and those of many more faith traditions.  As a nation we have experienced the dire effects of militant extremism, practiced by those who “deny the right of any others to exist and… [are] willing to exercise any measure of terror…toward the eradication of all they judge to be their enemies”(xi).  In our modern world, March maintains that it is more imperative than ever that we who profess faith in Jesus Christ realize that God’s love is far wider than any human limits.  The “Bible itself…clearly contradicts the narrow, supersessionist interpretation that God is concerned only with the chosen people, whether Jews or Christians”(118-119).  After pointing out that we who are Christians also have been guilty of encouraging and at times actively supporting “terrible things in the name of faithfulness to God”(5), March lifts up texts from throughout the canon to support his argument that God’s love is not intended for only a fraction of the human community; he also pushes his readers to consider biblical texts in context, asserting that there is room for more than one true religion.

In his section entitled. “The Path Less Noticed,” March begins with Noah “as representative of all human beings, not as someone only one group might claim as theirs.  God’s concern for the whole human family is the point of the narrative” (41-42).   Next March moves to consider Terah and his son, Abram, “a non-Israelite, a non-Christian, a non-Muslim” who is “held in high esteem by the followers of [these] three of the world’s great religions” (45).  March’s next move is to the prophets where he uses the call of Isaiah to point out that “Israel’s God was present among all people and had a stake in the whole world” (59).  “From God’s vantage point there were no insiders and outsiders, only humans in need of direction and love” (65).  Consideration of Jesus’ interaction with a “rival Torah teacher, or ‘lawyer'” (67) results in the story of the Samaritan who stops to aid a traveler and the demonstration of  God’s love “reaching out in an ever more inclusive circle as the biblical story unfolds” (70). 

March also uses texts from Ruth (“a foreigner, a Moabitess — [hers] is the kind of love that characterizes God . . . God’s love reaches well beyond the expected boundaries and is embraced and enacted by the most unlikely of people” 72), Jonah, (who “did not love the Assyrians . . . But God did, and that was the point of the whole story” 74) and wisdom literature (“From the standpoint of wisdom, no religion or culture owns God.  God is not ours, but all are God’s” 83).  March sets out a number of additional texts which show that “Gentiles, too, [fall] within the wide circle of God’s love” (93) — for which we all should be truly grateful! — and lifts up the turmoil caused by Peter’s giving in to pressure to segregate himself at mealtime from those who some considered unclean.  “At God’s table there is plenty of room” (95).

March concludes his review of texts with the one most often used as a club against non-Christians.  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).  Through a careful recounting of the historical context in which the Gospel of John is written and a review of the specific setting for the fourteenth chapter of John (Jesus readying his disciples for when he will leave them), March states, “These words do not define how Christians should understand others but how Christians should structure their own commitments and priorities” (104).

There is much more in this thin, yet packed volume, including, for pastors, wonderful words to spur the development of sermons.  March’s topic is both timeless and timely.  His book is a gift to the church and a resource of hope in a world filled with a multitude of peoples, all of whom are loved by God, all of whom Christians are called to love and serve.

 

Fairfax F. Fair is the pastor of Highland Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY.

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