Sunday, June 04, 2006

more on perennialism

I haven't written about Perennialism for a couple of months now. But yesterday I found a page called The Le Floch Report which linked to an earlier Grenada piece on the subject. As far as I can tell, The Le Floch Report is a traditional Catholic site which promotes views similar to Traditionalism/ Perennialism but ultimately wants to reject it. The site also links to other pages which give a different perspective on Perennialism, especially as it relates to Catholicism. Personally Perennialist views and authors (S.H. Nasr, Martin Lings, Charles Le Gai Eaton, and others) appeal to me but I still wouldn't consider myself a card-carrying member.

Basically, I believe that God is eternal and that the human condition (including our basic spiritual needs) is more or less unchanging. So if a religion truly satisfied those needs thousands of years ago, then it should still be able to "work" today. If a religion was ever true, then it is "always" true. That is a bit of an oversimplification, but that's where my sympathies are. (see for example, qurbani)

4 comments:

Tavis J. Hampton said...

I agree with you on many levels. One book that clarified what I already believed was "Islam and Religious Pluralism" by Shahid Murtadha Mutahhari. I consider it a must-read. I think al-islam.org just added to their online library, although I read it in print.

DA said...

I love Le Gai Eaton's work. "Remembering God: reflections on Islam" was nothing short of brilliant.

Abdul-Halim V. said...

I almost got that book when I was using my gift card the other day. I haven't gotten to that one yet. I've read Islam and the Destiny of Man and really liked that one.

Abdul-Halim V. said...

I'll have to check al-islam.org then. I'll check it out.