Hi Jonathan, welcome. It sounds like you have a very well-rounded and cultured view of the world. I look forward to reading your contributions on the site. I used to look at other cultures and religions for enlightenment and I swear that John 14:6 (Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.) followed me around so much I figured I'd better accept it before a brick wall with that as graffiti on it fell on my head or something!
Haha, I see. John 14:6 is like water to my soul, when I first became a Christian I said that in my prayers constantly so I am certainly of that mind. When I say I am open to different cultures, I mean my belief is firmly in Christ, his divinity, his crucifixion and resurrection and is the only way of guaranteed salvation and intimate relationship with the Father.
Side note: I am undecided whether monks and holy men who live righteous lives in the pursuit of holiness and purity and relationship with their Creator are not going to Heaven because they haven't heard the gospel or are entrenched in their culture's doctrine and beliefs so much that a conversion would be nigh impossible without divine revelation. That goes for Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu families who are loving, caring, compassionate and in most ways extoll the virtues of Christ but just don't know Him or His teachings. "Anyone who does not love does know God, because God is love" 1 John 4:8. Which we can 'perhaps' take the reverse also to be true, that anyone who loves, knows God... not to the extent that a Christian intimately knows Him but to the extent that they experience common grace and unconsciously have experienced God or in the case of a religious person, are aware and believe in a higher power but have been given unbiblical and therefore misleading doctrine.
Back to my original point, I believe that as long as your life is Christ-centred and that you live by the Word and in relationship with the Father through Christ Jesus, then learning about, appreciating and understanding different culture's history, art, music, even beliefs and their interpretation of God can be enriching. For example, I see some beautiful ways of thinking about God in Taoism, like: 'God does nothing but leaves nothing undone'. Gets you thinking a bit even if I don't necessarily take that on board as truth. The concept of ying-yang is interesting and this Wiki entry shows that Taoism points to some similar virtues to Christianity:
Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize
wu wei (effortless action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the
Three Treasures: 慈 "compassion", 儉 "frugality", and 不敢為天下先 "humility".
So I can see the beauty in other cultures and value their contributions to human and divine understanding without letting them affect my walk with Christ but perhaps even enhance it as my heart opens to people of all races, creeds and tradition and is free to appreciate the Whole of creation. If you believe in God's sovereignty then you must see that God intended for these different cultures to spring up and I honestly believe that God delights in the manifestations of creativity, love and craft from across the globe. For every major religion that has swept the Earth there seems to be a little brother religion that often seems more Christian and loving, e.g. Sufism to Islam, Taoism to Confucianism and Buddhism, Sikhism to Hinduism. I believe that God speaks to different cultures and reveals Himself in some way to these little brother religions more than their more prevalent counterparts. Just my belief. But of course, I do believe that Jesus is the ultimate way, truth and life and that the way God revealed himself to the people of Israel and Christians is the closest way we will get on Earth to knowing and understanding Him, the Creator of the universe and Lord of all.
So to sum up, I appreciate and delight in art, music, craft, architecture, food from different cultures. I cautiously seek to understand other faiths and belief systems but with my hope, faith and life set on Christ and the Bible.
Thanks for you welcome Sarah G. And I hope that explains a bit about what I meant, I pray that this message does not steer you off your path but gives you a sense of freedom to appreciate all of creation with Christ by your side and not looking to fill your heart with something else that only He can fill.
With Love,
Jonathan
