513 - World Cultures and World Religions: The Coming Dialogue

World Cultures and World Religions: The Coming Dialogue
By Hendrik Kraemer
386 pp. Philadelphia, The Westminster Press, 1961. $6.50.

The name of Hendrik Kraemer has become widely known in missionary and ecumenical circles since the publication of The Christian Message in A Non-Christian World, which he wrote before the World Missionary Conference in 1938 held in Tambaram, India. Two decades later, just before another great ecumenical gathering in New Delhi, Dr. Kraemer has presented us with this new volume. Those who have read his previous works will find him just as vigorous and thought provoking as ever. Dr. Kraemer still manages to incorporate a tremendous amount of material into a book, and he has not lost his ability to concoct colorful expressions and phrascologies. The aim of this new work is the explication of the meaning of the dialogue among religions, and anyone interested in this question can ill afford to ignore this book whether he agrees with the author or not. Kraemer rightly insists that it is impossible to talk intelligently and situationally on "the coming dialogue" without being deeply aware of its historical background, However, he seems to be carried away by the background study to such a degree that only onefourth of the volume (Chapters 1, 11, and 12 out of twelve chapters) is given to the question of "the coming dialogue." (According to Dr. Kraemer's own announcement, his forthcoming books will deal with a systematic description of the major world religions. Let us hope that he will also write another volume fully developing his views on the dialogue among religions.)

The major portion of the present book is devoted to a survey of the past and present encounter between the East and the West as well as between Christianity and other religions. The author is certainly knowledgeable, and he has many valuable insights. But his historical survey is not very well balanced. For example, one wonders why he concentrates on Islam to the total exclusion of Judaism in Chapter 2, "The Relations of Eastern Cultures and Religions with the West in the Past." In dealing with the modern period, Kraemer admonishes us not to approach it "in a too exclusively theoretical mind," and he adds; "Especially indispensable is a fair knowledge of the facts since the beginning of the 19th century" (p. 9). In reality, however, what we find is Kraemer's

514 - World Cultures and World Religions: The Coming Dialogue

theoretical interpretation of certain facts. For example, in analyzing the colonial expansion of European nations in Asia during the last three centuries, Kraemer, who is critical of the "naked imperialism" of the West, is nevertheless very eager to find in colonialism, "the synthesis of Christian sensitivity and humanitarian idealism and enthusiasm" (p. 74). No one will deny that there were certain ameliorating factors operating in the colonial administration of Asian people by Westerners, but the manner in which Kraemer develops his arguments may cause the unwarranted misunderstanding that he might be defending colonialism as such.

Similarly, his characterization of the Christian missionary enterprise as one of the "redeeming factors" during the colonial era requires much more careful amplification than he offers. The problem is complicated because Kraemer addresses himself to two types of audiences. In talking to non-Christian critics of Christian missions in Asia, he offers a religious argument. He even acknowledges most readily the mistakes of the Churches, as, for example, the misuse of extra-territorial rights in China: "No amount of apostolic zeal can excuse or justify this lack of depth in truly Christian spiritual strategy" (p. 92). On the other hand, turning to many Western humanists who question the validity of the Christian world Mission, he goes so far as to say: "it is only Christian Missions … which can put on record such an outpouring of consecrated lives for the sake of Christ, and in this are unique amongst all other agencies of the West which have worked in the East" (p. 96). To be sure, there is much truth in what Kraemer says, but to this reviewer his section on "The Significance of Christian Missions" (Chapter 4) is not too well organized.

Space does not permit us to evaluate Kraemer's discussion of the cultural response of the East to the Western invasion-the Muslim world, Hindu India, the Buddhist world, China and Japan-except to say that in the main he continues his previous analyses of the religious situation in Asia. (Cf. The Christian Message in a Non-Christian World). The chapters on "The Western Response to Eastern Cultures and Religions" and "The Significance of the Political Revolution in Asia Since World War II and of the Resurgence of the Non-Christian Religions" are well done, although here, too, Kraemer presents too many ideas in a kaleidoscopic manner.

What Kraemer leads us to finally is not very clear. He is good at criticizing the wrong approach to "the coming dialogue" (see especially his footnote on page 364). But what he calls the terms of the "dialogue" (pp. 366 f.) offer very few new insights. He seems to agree with Denis de Rougemont's statement that "a real dialogue cannot be set up ... except at the level of the basic options, which are of the metaphysical

515 - World Cultures and World Religions: The Coming Dialogue

order" (p. 374). Other than that, Dr. Kraemer's concern seems to be with how the Christian faith should be prepared to face the challenge of the "coming dialogue," leaving many important questions untouched and unanswered. Certainly, if we take the author's intent seriously, be envisages something more than a "Christian monologue" in the "coming dialogue" among religions.

Joseph M. Kitagawa
University of Chicago
Chicago, Illinois