“There is one God. And there are many faiths. That tells us that God is bigger than religion, even though we need religion to speak to God. Religions are like languages. The existence of English does not refute, replace or supersede the existence of French, Italian or Urdu. Each language preserves a unique set of sensibilities. There are things you can say in one that you cannot translate, without loss, into others. That is why we are enlarged by their multiplicity and would be impoverished if one disappeared. Nonetheless, they describe the same reality, as religions reach out to the one God. They do not, should not, threaten one another. To believe otherwise is to mistake religion for God….
The great challenge to religions in a global age is whether, at last, they can make space for one another, recognizing God’s image in someone who is not in my image, God’s voice when it speaks in someone else’s language. At stake is the great teaching of the Hebrew Bible”the diversity of creation, the dignity of difference.”
(Jonathan Sacks, Celebrating Life: Finding Happiness in Unexpected Places)
(Jonathan Henry Sacks, is a British Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author and politician. He served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013).
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