Krister Stendahl, Harvard Divinity School professor, later Bishop of Stockholm, while famous among theologians for his writings on the Apostle Paul, is more widely known for his three rules of religious understanding:
- When trying to understand another religion, you should ask the adherents of that religion and not its enemies.
- Don’t compare your best to their worst.
- Leave room for holy envy.
By this Stendahl meant that you should be willing to recognize elements in the other religious tradition or faith that you admire and wish could, in some way, be reflected in your own religious tradition or faith. (from Wikipedia)
In the eyes of God, we are all minorities. That’s a rude awakening for many Christians, who have never come to grips with the pluralism of the world.
Krister Stendahl
Holy Envy is the title of Barbara Brown Taylor’s newest book. It is excerpted in the Christian Century in My holy envy of other faith traditions.
Holy envy alerted me to things in another religion that were neglected in my own.
Barbara Brown Taylor