We have seen that salvation is the attempt man makes to solve the problems of existence. A quest for the value and meaning of salvation is central to all religions; it is their core, it gives life and meaning to religion and defines its scope. The rites and practices of different religions (prayer, offering, sacrifice, initiation, liturgy) may be similar, but their understanding of salvation is usually different. These differences give some hint of the complexity and variety of concepts involved.

 We are well aware of the danger of generalizing, nonetheless it would be helpful to attempt some general definition of salvation as it is understood in those religions we know first-hand. We must distinguish the philosophical-theological aspect of a religion – only a few educated lay people can grasp this – from the more common aspects of how a religion is lived and understood, how it is popularly represented, how it is surrounded by imagination and affection.

1. Salvation in Traditional Religions

 To begin with the traditional religions of Africa and America tend to see the ideal of salvation in perfect and complete integration with the cosmos and with one’s peer group. The Fourth General Conference of the Latin-American Episcopate spoke thus of the religious concepts of indigenous peoples: “they see a unity in the global nature of God, of man and of the world; all human, spiritual and transcendent relations are steeped in this unity.”[1] In traditional religions saving oneself involves avoiding what goes against the harmony of the cosmos and the group, and submitting to the laws that govern the group. Relations with spirits are part of a complex of forces established by the universe; in this complex all the parts depend on each other and share a reciprocal relationship. The spirits mentioned above are the souls of ancestors and the Supreme Being - who must be frequently propitiated with rites of purification and expiation for ritual or social transgressions. Salvation occurs primarily in this present life. A future life is normally deemed possible and admitted; its nature depends upon and is in harmony with the social and cosmic system in which an individual exists.

2. Salvation as Liberation: Hinduism

 On this world horizon we find Hinduism. It has non-theistic currents that deny a personal God but believe that a universal and permanent order governs all beings and things. To define salvation in this context we must use the word “liberation.” The radical evil from which we must be liberated is the law of karma, which means literally “action” that cannot free one from the endless, painful cycle of birth and death. Action, and especially wicked action chains one ever more closely to the wheel, the cycle of re-birth. The only path to liberation is knowledge of the interior, ineffable reality which sustains all things, the principle which gives breath and life to all beings. Liberation is defined as escaping the cycle of re-birth, removing the obstacles nature and the world place in our path, ridding oneself of evil, suffering, unknowing, disappearing as an individual and entering a space that transcends time and space.

 Hindu bhakti means devotion or attachment to a particular divinity and sometimes to a particular guru seen as a divine manifestation. In some currents of bhakti salvation-liberation is seen as a loving relationship between the divinity as a personal reality and the adoring and faithful soul. It is loving sharing, attachment, devotion, dedication, affection, fidelity, adoration: these are all terms through which the faithful devotee finds peace and union with God – without however becoming completely submerged in God. In spite of the proliferation of liberating ways in the Hindu world there are still those who continue to believe that fulfilling the obligations of one’s estate, without seeking selfish interests, constitutes one way that can lead to liberation and salvation.

3. To Free Oneself from Desire: Buddhism 

 Like Hinduism, Buddhism cannot be defined by our western categories. Is it a philosophy or a religion? The distinction between the sacred and the profane, so natural for us, is not equally natural for Asian cultures and religions. The very term “salvation” presents difficulties – it is a Christian word; salvation implies the action of a savior. The Buddha does is not the Savior – he is the Awakened One, the Enlightened. He points out the way, but he is not the way. In the context of Buddhism it would be wise to avoid the word “salvation.” As with Hinduism, it would be better to speak of “path of liberation” which often boils down to religious behavior. This behavior may conceal a fundamental need for salvation.

 The originality of the Buddhist message lies in its diagnosis of the origin of pain and suffering, and in showing how the cause of pain and suffering can be removed. Suffering is not limited to its usual meaning, it represents universal suffering, the emptiness of all the things of this world. The origin of suffering is desire which chains man to his destiny, to the radical inadequacy of this changing world. Desire is an unbridled hunger for the pleasures of the senses, for existence in constant change, for possessing things – all of which are short-lived like drops of dew. The radical way to escape suffering is to free oneself of desire, to free oneself from emptiness, from dependence on circumstances, from a visible existence, from appearances, from illusion – to free oneself from the conviction that reality and in particular man has substance, that man really exists.

 The ultimate goal of this process of liberation is Nirvana. The word means “extinction”, “cessation”. It signifies the absolute extinction of that urge to live which is manifested in selfishness, ignorance, illusion and confusion. Nirvana may not be a place and its description is all in negative terms, but still it is not nothing – it should not be considered as something totally negative. If there is annihilation, it is not annihilation of the ego. The ultimate state of Nirvana is total beatitude, it is a permanent state of peace. It is a sign that one has crossed the threshold of the absolute, of the unborn, the uncreated, the unconditioned in which all desire ceases and the painful adventure of re-birth comes to an end.

4. Salvation as “Success”: Islam

 Islam presents itself as a religion for the whole man and is therefore a religion in which it is difficult to distinguish the temporal from the spiritual, culture from civilization, the religious from the political enterprise. Every Muslim believes he is a member of the “best community God ever created on earth” (Koran 3, 10). For this reason the Muslim religion is a social affair that follows enthusiastic community rhythms. In this framework salvation is seen as getting on in the world, being successful in this life and in the next.

 In this context Islam is a great personal adventure; the believer, in imitation of the prophet, is invited to respond to the Word of God – the Koran. He does this with the witness of his confident submission to God. Submission is expressed through one of the most simple creeds, the most demanding worship, behavior that conforms to the Law and an internal religious experience which gradually leads to a higher understanding of God and something approaching mysticism.

 Eschatology is an essential dogma in the Muslim faith: the Koran calls it the Last Day. A Muslim knows that history will one day come to an end, and that the resurrection, the judgment and final life (heaven and hell) represent a universal eschatology in which the almighty mercy of God will triumph. It is also a purpose of the Last Day to warn the unjust, especially the rich and selfish oppressors of the poor, of the punishments that await them after this life. 

 Opinions differ on the destiny of man.  In ancient times, and even today in less sophisticated milieux, man is a body made animate by a soul which is also corporeal – but very subtle – that circulates through the body like sap in plants. At death everything disappears, but God creates everything once again on the Day of Resurrection. Later Muslim theologians, influenced by Hellenism, believe man is a composite of body and soul. At death these parts are separated: the body once again becomes and remains dust until the resurrection, when it will be reunited to the soul. The soul, though, goes directly to God who executes judgment upon it. This is the more commonly held belief.

 Whatever the case may be, with this background of belief and myth, Islam promises man happiness in this life and in the next. To achieve “success” here in this world, and above all in the next, it is absolutely necessary to believe in God, who is One, Great and Merciful. Works are necessary – especially those defined as the five pillars: witness, prayer, almsgiving, fasting, pilgrimage. The Muslim and the Christian faiths are in agreement in believing that the world, time and man are moving towards an encounter with God. They differ, however, in their understanding of eternal happiness: for Muslims it consists of the spiritual and sensual joys of Paradise, described in terms not unlike those of the Christian tradition; for Christians eternal happiness consists especially and above all in union with God.

6. A Saving Presence: Judaism

 Finally we come to Judaism – the prototype of monotheistic religion. Here human history moves between two poles: creation at the beginning and salvation at the end. The beginning and pledge of this salvation is God’s intervention in the history of the Jewish people through Abraham, Moses and the prophets. God’s covenant with this people is a sign of His saving presence in the history of mankind; this is its function. The people of Israel will achieve this salvation to the extent that they are faithful to the Law and committed to justice. Although it has its roots in history, salvation always has an eschatological dimension, something that is true for Christianity and Islam as well.

7. Unity and Diversity of Meanings

 Salvation has different meanings in different religions. These meanings highlight salvation’s variety – but at the same time its unity. All religions consider salvation a journey towards the sacred or towards some state different from this earthly one. Man undertakes this journey because he is aware of his own incompleteness and vulnerability; he hopes to escape these things; he is dissatisfied with his present state and his own limitations. The evils from which he hopes to free himself are many: fear, suffering, guilt, spiritual or material poverty. The root of these evils is usually outside himself – in the body, in matter, in the laws of the cosmos or the cycle of return. Monotheistic religions emphasize guilt and voluntary transgression of the Law of God, which makes man unworthy to stand in God’s presence.

 The horizon of salvation and the ways to reach that horizon are just as various. There are religions that place salvation in the past, the first morning of the world, Eden as yet undefiled by time and history. For others the horizon of salvation is in the future: either an individual or a collective eschatology. It is difficult to define it precisely. Is it purely symbolic as in Islam, or does it transcend space, time and the senses as in Hinduism and Buddhism? In religions with a monotheistic background (Persian Zoroastrianism, Islam, Indian or Buddhist bhakti), salvation is sharing the very life of God; in other cosmic-mystical systems salvation comes from abandoning the individual ego and immersing oneself in the source of all being. Ultimately salvation may be a gift, an achievement or a combination of the two; it can be universal, the destiny of all men, or it can be the reward of only a few categories of people, particular groups or nations, elite who possess specific secrets, the men of the book, monks, ascetics.

 There are many paths to salvation and no one path excludes another. Hindu schools of thought distinguish the path of ritual or social-ethical action, the way of knowledge (the intuitive perception of the divine reality and the spiritual ego), the way of meditation (man reflects, frees himself from the senses and prepares himself for ecstasy). Finally there is the way of love – submission and dedication to God who is accessible to all. Similar paths of salvation are found in Hinayana (Lesser Vehicle) Buddhism; in Mahayana (Greater Vehicle) Buddhism devotion and trusting invocation is more common. For Islam the five pillars, the fundamental duties of every devout Muslim, constitute the path to salvation. Other religions, such as Jainism, accent the primacy of the spiritual and a rigorous asceticism to enjoy absolute interior freedom.

 There are mediators and helpers to salvation. In Hinduism there is the guru (the spiritual master); in Buddhism there is the monk, whose task is to lead to enlightenment. Priests and specialists in the sacred perform particular functions. In Mahayana Buddhism, Bodhisattvas are figures who help others find salvation. In Hinduism there is the Avatar -–an incarnation of the divine in one or another created form, for example Krishna is the avatar of the god Vishnu. Bodhisattvas are individuals who have reached the salvation of enlightenment but moved by compassion they hold off entering Nirvana so that they can help others reach enlightenment.

 Then there is the “savior” who can belong to the past, the present or the future. Many religions look to a savior in the future – especially those religions founded on history.

 We should not neglect those popular paths to salvation ordinary people are fond of: prayers, sacrifices, fasts, pilgrimages, symbolic offerings, intercession of patron saints and mediators. These characteristics of religion are universal. Men seek salvation with the means intuition and spontaneity make available.

POINTS FOR REFLECITON

- This journey through various religions has shown us that everyone nourishes a desire for salvation. As Christians, do we give sufficient importance to this dimension? Does your own ministry emphasize salvation? What things do we sometimes not mention – or not give sufficient importance?

- Asia is exposing our Institute to a new experience, an encounter with the great religions. What sort of preparation should we give missionaries who must face this new challenge?

- Do you believe that our experience in Africa and America paid sufficient attention to native religious traditions? Did we see them as an expression of the longing for salvation? What can we do today to increase our appreciation of the religious roots of those people among whom we minister?

- Am I willing to enter into dialogue with people of other religions, or people who do not believe in God? How should I go about this? What can I learn from them?

[1] Santo Domingo, 1992, no. 248.1