This week's program of Interfaith Voices ("a public radio show promoting religious harmony and interfaith understanding") includes a feature of Harvard theologian, Harvey Cox, and Buddhist military chaplain, Thomas Dyer.
Harvey Cox, Hollis professor of Divinity at Harvard University, looks inside the idea of ‘spritual but not religious’, and discovers that modern believers are abandoning creeds and doctrine for practices that emphasize a direct experience with the divine in his new book The Future of Faith. He speaks of this current development as Christianity, and religion in general, entering the "age of the Spirit." This is an idea that would resonate significantly with Unity ministers, students, and churchgoers of all stripes. One of the central tenets within Unity circles is that creeds, dogmatic statements, and static belief are not the cornerstones of authentic faith. Rather, it is first-hand experience of the Divine or Sacred or Spirit that promotes faith and engenders spiritual growth.
And Thomas Dyer is the first Buddhist military chaplain. A former Southern Baptist minister, Dyer is now a practicing Buddhist that has entered the military as as spiritual guide and counselor for Buddhist and non-Buddhist soldiers alike. With the increasing number of Americans becoming interested in Buddhism it is completely understandable how eventually a representative of the growing American Buddhist traditions would be included in military chaplaincy. Interfaith Voices conducts an intriguing interview with chaplain Dyer.
Check out these features and more at Interfaith Voices.
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