One Size Fits All Chapel

RELIGION IN THE NEWS

A report and comment on religious trends and events being covered by the media. This item is from the Orange County California Register under the headline:  “No Pews, No Crucifix, No Icons.”  ChapmanUniversity’s future chapel is innovative, not for what it will have but for what it was. The school’s planned Wallace All Faiths Chapel represents the latest spiritual trend; genuinely interfaith structures that reflect growing religious diversity nationwide.  During a preconstruction ceremony about a dozen groups gathered at the end of Sycamore Avenue, off Glasol Street to pray for the chapel.  Some read Scriptures from the Bible, Torah, Koran and Hindu texts.  Others gave voice to religious songs and still others burned incense, performed Wiccan rituals or beat drums during an American Indian dance.  Their invocations laid the bedrock for a house of worship that every faith tradition can call its own.  Interdenominational churches are increasingly part of the public landscape and most colleges have nationwide, long owned interfaith chapels.  However, both formats have traditionally retained Christian features.  Chapman’s five million dollar chapel will depart from that tradition.  The students, faculty, trustees and community members on our planning committees emphasized neutral functionality, said Ronald Lynn Farmer, a religion professor and Chapman’s first dean of the chapel.  This layout will allow Buddhists to meditate on their cushions and Muslims to spread out their prayer rugs.  At the university’s early years nearly every Chapman student was white and Christian.  In fact, the institution is affiliated with First Christian Church Disciples if Christ, a progressive denomination.  Today, the school is home to a religious kaleidoscope.  The first all faiths worship during orientation in August convinced me that we could do more than dialogue, said sophomore, Leslie Elliot, Student Director of Spiritual Programming.  People were so excited about learning from their peers.  That day was the first time I saw clearly the many faces of God.  In a TBC update of the OrangeCounty Register’s story, I recently spoke with Ronald Farmer.  He stated that the chapel is still under construction but Chapman’s religious program is in full operation using temporary facilities.  He informed me that the school has been recognized by the John Templeton Foundation for its accomplishments in spiritual growth.

Tom:

You know Dave, it seems to me that this institution has not only taken leave of its Christian origins but it has taken leave of its senses as well.  I mean, how do they get past the fact that many of the religions they want to feature are not only different, they clearly reject each other’s foundational beliefs.  For example, Judaism is monotheistic; declaring that there is only one God who is personal and transcendent, that is, separate from His creation.  Whereas, Hinduism is pantheistic, claiming that God is an impersonal force and is in everything.  Of course, both views can be rejected but how can they both be considered true?

Dave:

Well, they can’t—it goes beyond that.  Buddhism is basically atheistic—Buddha never talked about God.  You see, Paul said to Timothy the time would come when they will not endure sound doctrine.  It’s popular today to say, I’m spiritual but I’m not religious because religion has some kind of guide lines, it’s a belief system and, as you are pointing out, these various  religions have contradictory belief systems so they can’t possibly work in harmony with one another so what you have to do is throw it out.  Well, it doesn’t really matter—what does it matter whether you say God is everything or God is nothing or God is personal or, in the Koran, God is unknowable but the God of the Bible wants you to know Him.  Well, it doesn’t really matter—there is no such thing as truth anymore—doctrine is meaningless.  And then, Paul said, they will be turned to myths and that’s the big thing today.  The meaning is in the myth and you pick any meaning you want.  Tom, I’m sorry but I don’t have much patience for that.  It just seems to me to be, as you said, they have taken leave of their senses.  There’s no way that you can reconcile this.  In order for these people to, supposedly, get along together and worship together, they just have to abandon any thought of meaning, any truth, any doctrine to their beliefs.  Now, I noticed that it also said that this Christian church that is behind ChapmanCollege is progressive.  Again, that’s contrary to the Bible.  Human thought may progress, science may progress, but God doesn’t progress, the gospel doesn’t progress.  The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever and that we are to earnestly contend for the faith, the faith once for all delivered to the saints.  So, the Bible doesn’t change, truth doesn’t change, the gospel doesn’t change, Jesus Christ doesn’t change.  You couldn’t possibly associate this with Christianity in any form whatsoever.  In fact, the God of the Bible says that all the other gods are false.

Tom:

Right.  Actually, in another program we talked about the delusion of, in academia and higher education, of evolution and we quoted one evolutionist who said that this is really metaphysics.  My point here is that if higher education is moving into myth and delusion and calling it science, now we have the religious side of higher education steeped in delusion.

Dave:

Going right along with it.

Tom:

Right.

Dave:

It’s tragic because this is the atmosphere today—ecumenism.  It doesn’t really matter what you believe, lets just love one another and we will get along.  We will pretend that we’re all, somehow, in contact with some power, some god out there but it doesn’t really matter what it is.  Look, the God of the Bible is not going to tolerate that kind of nonsense.  The true God, who created this universe, is a personal being.  To just to say, well, it doesn’t matter whether He’s a monkey or an eel or whether He’s nothing.  I mean, you wouldn’t tolerate that when it comes to human beings and we have people here who, if you insult their race, they get very upset but they think that God is not going to be upset when you attribute all kinds of folly to him and you are not willing to accept Him for who He is.  It doesn’t make sense and actually, I think the judgment of God is going to have to come upon this world because of this sort of thing.  But it’s tragically—these are the leaders in academia, in the church, in religion and our young people are looking up to them for leadership and are being deceived by them and that’s what really concerns me and one of the reasons why we would have a program like this.