Explaining Bread & Wine to Muslims & Buddhists

 In Arcana Coelestia we read: 

"The ancients divided the neighbour into different categories, giving each category one of the names that describe those in the world who are plainly in the greatest need of help. They also taught how charity should be exercised towards those belonging to one category and towards those belonging to another. In this way they organized their teachings; and they regulated their lives in accordance with those teachings" (AC6705).

If we are to take the Lord's advice to cast our nets to the right side of the boat, which means evangelizing and proselytizing charitably, then we will surely want an appropriate way to evangelize to, for instance, Muslims or Buddhists.

One has a developed system of tools for New Church evangelization to Muslims -- here and elsewhere --which spring from a desire to engage in positive, sharing, mutually-enriching evangelization. It is how one conceives of bringing the religions of the world to sit at the Divine Human's feet. One wishes to gradually comb the religions of the world on account of Divine Providence's promises that we  will certainly find the reason why other world religions exist; because this is a holy duty in charitable evangelization.

The apparent criticisms of foundational Christian beliefs found in the Muslim Book all involve quite pointed wording which leaves much leeway with God the Worder. God also says, in multiple parts of the Koran, that He will decisively explain the differences between Jews, Christians and Muslims to them. 

In this regard -- this is important -- we see the casual way that Jesus upends the ages old appellation "Son of David" in favor of building a yet greater edifice of revelation... God has really laid this on thick in the Koran, in the sense of preparing the way for later upending an interpretation of long standing of merely human origin; according to a schedule of when it is appropriate to release a given effect into human civilization. 

All  the Koran's more obvious criticisms of Christanity involve various false beliefs about Jesus Christ, such as the Son of Mary not being God in their Book; which is indeed false because that would mean, spiritually, that the Lord did not overcome the sin nature of His maternal human. 

As concerns the Heavenly marriage as it may be perceived in Islam or best perceived by Muslims, this stands out:

"I spoke with Mohammedans about spiritual marriage, saying that it is a marriage of good and truth; that good loves truth and truth good like a married couple; and that these wish to be joined and bring forth goods and truths like daughters and sons, and as it were to procreate families. They understood this well, as also that conjugal love comes down from that spiritual origin, and that everything spiritual in man undergoes a change, so that it is scarcely recognizable, when it comes down to the natural; it can only be recognized by correspondences" (Marriage 46).

As to how to approach positive evangelization with Buddhists, that is very interesting! Because the Tripitaka's Sonadanda Sutta whittles Sonadanda down, in essence, to the will and understanding in which are the bread and wine:

"It’s when a brahmin is ethical, mature in ethical conduct; and he’s astute and clever, being the first or second to hold the sacrificial ladle. A brahmin must possess these two factors for the brahmins to rightly describe him as a brahmin" (Sonadanda Sutta). 

One may also share with Buddhists the following from Spiritual Experiences:

"About the Indochinese

I was in bed and sleeping sweetly and quite pleasantly, for 6 hours if not more, and when I awoke, above me were some Chinese at a distance there, sitting with feet crossed as Indians are accustomed to do, and it was said to me that angels had spoken with them wisely about God and about His wonderful acts, and that they had been delighted by this, and as a result I sat [on my bed] in peaceful quiet. Others were unable to approach, because there was a spiritual heavenly [quality in the air]. When I awakened the group withdrew" (Spiritual Experiences 6067).

This passage has particular meaning to one; because it is in this sense that one intends for people to take 'bringing world religions to sit at the Divine Human's feet'. One very much sees a process of unprecedentedly sharing evangelization which is not a cudgel as other evangelizations in the past; but genuinely commends itself to the higher functions and reason and will of people in those religions. And gives them a perspective on how the underlying architecture of bread and wine applies in their religion and other religions and their own hearts and thoughts. 

One earlier alluded to a teaching in Divine Providence which caused one to see sharing evangelization to specific world religions as a charitable duty. This is the specific passage:

"Islam presents no problem, though, to people who believe that Divine Providence is over everything. They try to discern where it is, and they find it" (DP255).

Buddhism, too, presents no problem to people who believe that Divine Providence is over everything. They try to discern where it is, and they find it. 

One hopes that these tools will be of practical use in a New Evangelism, since a general desire to share New Church teachings must communicate to everyone in their native tongues, just like in Acts; essentially a loving technology couched in terms which make bread and wine meaningful to them without trashing their religions. 

A nebulous evangelization would surely not speak to everyone in their native tongue, according to their several temperaments and religiosities. We must bridge the gap, which may seem daunting. But Jesus Christ has put breadcrumbs such as these in all the major religions of the world. 

We try to discern where they are, and find it.

Appendix:

"I heard a certain clergyman from the Christians saying that no-one can have an idea of a Divine Human, and I saw him led about to various Gentiles successively more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and at length to the Christian heaven, and everywhere communication of their more interior perception concerning God was given him. He then noticed that they had no other idea of God than the idea of a Man, which is the same as the idea of a Divine Human" (Divine Love & Wisdom 11).

People might well go: why does this matter, all this about making the Divine Human and bread and wine relevant to Muslims, Buddhists and sundry?

It matters because you would never care about something yourself unless someone made the effort to show you its relevance and efficacity. Why would you expect Muslims and Buddhists to do what you would not? And almost all of what has hitherto been called evangelizing has failed to demonstrate relevance & efficacity; and has been a bludgeon -- I'm thinking more of mainline Christianity here -- demanding that people change their religion. Which a sensible and decent person from those backgrounds would just ignore. 

Note: Muslims may find much more in "Islam as an example of Jesus Christ's world religions" on this blog. Your Koran is right on those repeated, pointed occasions when Allah says He will explain the differences between Christians, Muslims and Jews.