Wisdom Christianity

Wisdom Christianity is a movement within Christianity that embraces Vedanta and the teachings of the East. It places importance on experiencing the divine through mysticism, which the originators found somewhat lacking in the traditional way of teaching Christianity in the West.
The premier figure in Wisdom Christianity was Bede Griffiths, who sought to take the mystical elements in Hinduism and Taoism and unify them with Christianity. In doing this he hoped to restore Christianity to what he considered its roots where meditation and direct experience of God was emphasized, as with the Desert Fathers. Proponents consider this spiritual wisdom to be found in the New Testament, but believe that has been de-emphasised throughout much of Christian history.
While never losing sight of the fact that Jesus is the way to salvation, in Wisdom Christianity the idea (from the New Testament) that "the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21) is married to the Hindu concept of the atman. By allying Christianity with mysticism, the movement seeks to ground faith in direct experience and wisdom arising from the mystical experience of nonduality and thus allow Christianity to return to being a more inwardly-directed religion.
The most famous church of Wisdom Christianity is the Saccidananda Ashram, or Ashram of the Holy Trinity, formerly known as Shantivanam Ashram in the Tiruchirapalli District of Southern India.
The Second Vatican Council, in its Declaration on Non-Christian Religions, said that "the Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions". In Wisdom Christianity, Hindu holy texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas are considered to be gifts from God. Brother John Martin Sahajananda summarizes this Roman Catholic teaching as, "All the sacred scriptures are a gift of God to humanity."

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu