The Poor You Will always Have: A Reflection on Poverty

by Dr Lim K Tham

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In her book, This is What Inequality Looks Like (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2018), the sociologist Teo You Yenn gauges that "roughly a fifth of the resident population of Singapore could be defined as poor." This estimate presenting a high proportion of people in poverty is likely to raise eyebrows, given that the city-state in question has been often hailed as one of the richest in the world.

 

But Teo’s claim is not without basis. It is made, she notes, in accordance with the poverty line defined by some international organisations and scholars—at the level of less than half the median household income of the population.

 

Whether the poverty line adopted by Teo is too high or too low is a question which is best left to the social scientists, economists, policymakers, and other experts. A related and perhaps more basic question to ask would be whether a poverty line is needed, and it is with this that I wish to begin.

 

Some people may find it surprising that Singapore is among the few developed countries in the world in which there is no officially agreed upon poverty line. Renewed calls to establish one have been rejected by the government. Explaining the stance taken, the then Minister for Social and Family Development (MSF) Chan Chun Sing writes,

A poverty line does not fully reflect the severity and complexity of the issues faced by poor families, which could include ill health, lack of housing or weak family relationships. If we use a single poverty line to assess the family, we also risk a “cliff effect”, where those below the poverty line receive all forms of assistance, while other genuinely needy citizens outside the poverty line are excluded.

 

That seems to me plain and satisfactory enough. Even so, one must take seriously the counterpoint that if poverty is not measured, the poor may be inadvertently misrecognised or swept under the carpet. To quote from a study by Irene Y H Ng entitled "Definitions and Measurements of Poverty," the "problem of not recognising poverty as poverty is that less societal redistribution is channelled to them than is needed."

 

In hindsight and in light of the foregoing discussion, is it not prudent of the early church in Jerusalem to require of Paul and Barnabas only one thing for going forth to preach the good news to the Gentiles—that they "remember the poor"? (Gal 2:10). That obligation, we read, was also the very thing the apostle and his associate were eager to do.

 

Remembering the poor goes beyond merely thinking about the poor or having sympathy for their plight. The kind of remembering upon which the Bible lays stress, involves social engagement and practical action on the part of the believers.

 

Throughout the Bible, we find an entrenched tradition of upholding the poor as deserving of special care, attention and solicitude. Indeed, the rights of the poor are viewed as divinely sanctioned. Hence the assertion, "Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honours God." (Prov 14:31; see also 17:5).

 

Recall also how Jesus famously taught that whatever we do for the poor we do it for him; and conversely, that if we fail to help the poor we are deemed to have been derelict in the duty of love we owe to him. (Matt 25:40, 45). Even more significantly, in Jesus’ proclamation of the good news, the poor are mentioned as the ones to whom his life-giving message is specifically directed. (Luke 4:18; 6:20; see also Isaiah 61:1).

 

To be sure, the concept of poverty in the Bible has been treated in a variety of ways and from different perspectives. Different words with a range of meanings and nuances are used to describe the poor and their situation. Being poor is sometimes praised or considered a virtue, but at other times, regarded as a disgrace or even a curse.

 

All this makes for a confusing or contradictory account of poverty. As a contributor to the Oxford Handbook of Christianity and Economics states, "It would be seriously misleading . . . to suggest that there is either a single or a simple Christian understanding of 'poverty'."

 

It does not help that certain oft-remembered words of Jesus Christ have been often misread. When Jesus says, "The poor you will always have with you" (Matt 26:11; John 12:8), he is not expressing an attitude of resignation to the persistence of poverty, as though poverty is something about which one can do nothing or very little. Nor is he suggesting a shoulder-shrugging apathy towards the poor.

 

Those words of Jesus were derived from Deuteronomy 15, one of the most loaded "Jubilee" texts in the Bible. In that chapter, two important aspects of poverty are embodied. The first is a promise that if the people were to fully obey God and keep God’s commands, poverty will be done away with: "[T]here need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you." (verse 4). The second is a command, namely, that since "there will always be poor people in the land" we are to be "open-handed" towards our fellow citizens who are poor and needy. (verse 11).

 

Both the aspiration that there will be no more poverty, and the instruction to help the poor and the needy constitute the core of a Christian understanding of poverty. So the words, "The poor you will always have with you", I suggest, are to be understood with reference to and against the context of that Deuteronomic source.

 

This would be good place to point out that the passages in the Bible which deal with poverty can be differentiated between those which have a spiritual significance, and those which refer to a particular social situation.

 

"Blessed are you poor" (Luke 6:20) is clearly concerned with the former. Other texts, especially those found in the prophets, are about material poverty. A single example among many must suffice here: "The poor and needy search for water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst." (Is 41:17). The failure to appreciate such nuances has led some to make light of real poverty, mistaking being poor for a spiritual problem. Some people, on the other hand, have pressed into service materialistic solutions to questions which arise from spiritual poverty.

 

In discussions about poverty in Singapore, one is often first disabused of the notion that there is no poverty in the city-state, or of the notion that the poor comprise only a very small proportion of the population.

 

Teo, whom we have cited, sought to do that by her estimation that "roughly" a fifth of the residents live in poverty. Irene Y H Ng whose study was quoted earlier, skilfully begins in the following vein, "Many Singaporeans do not think that poverty exists in Singapore. This might be because Singaporeans think of poverty as extreme deprivation experienced by malnourished and dying children in poor countries."

 

In reality, manifestations of poverty are all around us; the most disconcerting are the images of elderly men and women eking out a living as cleaners, security guards, tissue-paper sellers, or as collectors of recyclable cardboard. These images can of course be variously interpreted.

What we must not fall for is take poverty for granted or as divinely given. Such a mindset encourages token alms giving while leaving unattended the root causes of poverty.

 

We have been reflecting on the issue of poverty and attempting to delineate a biblical or Christian perspective within which it may be helpfully understood. I realise I may have treated poverty as if it were a problem that beset only the "other," within a "us-versus-them" dynamic—between those who are rich and can render help and those who are poor and in receipt of assistance.

 

Such an opposition is furthest from my mind, for the obvious reason that the Christian readers I have in mind can be either rich or poor, even of anything in-between! To my mind, all are called upon to help check the mechanisms and systems by which so much poverty is caused. The rich can take up the cause of the poor while the poor can do the same for those even poorer. At all events, the manner in which we deal with the poor will reflect whether we are in the good graces of God, or not.

 

[This article was first published by Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.]

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Faith with Understanding

by Dr Lim K Tham

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The Prince of Wales caused quite a furore when he said that he would like to be known as the "Defender of Faith" rather than the "Defender of the Faith" when he is crowned King. He has since clarified that he will stick to the traditional path and take the latter title. Be that as it may, the heir to the British throne may have unintentionally brought to the fore the two distinct senses in which the word "faith" has been used. What these senses connote and how they interrelate deserve our careful attention.

 

The first sense in which the word is used is as a shorthand for a body of beliefs which characterises a religion like Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam, to name a few. The royal title—the one with "the" in it—reflects that usage; as do the New Testament instruction "to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people," and the self-incriminating report cited by St Paul that "the man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy’’ (Jude 1:3; Gal 1:23).

 

Such use of "faith" to refer to a body of beliefs has been quite standard since early times. The reason for this is not hard to see. Religious adherents regard the set of beliefs which their religion teaches or holds to be true in what they claim about the divine, about the adherents themselves, and about the world. It is often the case that such belief systems have a normative role, calling forth religious trust and commitment. Given the use of "faith" in the sense discussed here, some thinkers like Paul Tillich, have argued that atheism too qualifies as faith since it has a set of beliefs, even though included in this set is the denial of God’s existence.

 

The second sense of the word "faith" indicates the response that an encounter with the divine elicits—that of trust, confidence, and conviction. This involves not only emotions but a commitment to the truth intellectually received. Faith in this "personal" sense is central to the New Testament, figuring prominently in the teaching of Jesus. Such faith is what Jesus requires of those who come to him. To his disciples, he regularly exhorts, "Have faith in God" (Mk 11:22; cf Mt 17:20, 21:21; Lk 17:6). Unsurprisingly, the lack of faith on the part of Jesus’ followers invites his rebuke (Mt 8:26, 14:31); and where it is absent, he is said to be unable to do many miracles (Mt 13:58). In other New Testament writers, the centrality of faith is a regular theme. St Paul, for instance, insists that it is through faith, and faith alone, that one is justified and made right with God.

 

At this point it is important to note that the distinction of the two senses of faith is not a watertight one. Indeed, they are interconnected. For a person’s faith does not only concern the content of beliefs which he or she confesses and trusts in; faith involves thoughts, emotions, actions, and the like. One may ask why then the distinction? The answer is that it is to help us better explore the idea of faith and understand how faith affects or is appropriated in the believer’s life.

 

There is a tendency among some religious people to assume that what matters is to have a "personal" faith, of the sort that gives rise to trust and commitment, and not of the sort that implies the content of what is believed. The two senses of faith which we have distinguished are thus set against one another, with "faith" in "the faith"—the belief systems comprising dogmas, creeds, doctrines and so on—deemed of secondary importance.

 

It is true, as has been pointed out by James (2:19) about the demons also having belief, that a merely cognitive faith is inadequate. Yet, faith in God must involve and rest on right beliefs about God. For as Paul tells us, "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ" (Rom 10:17). It is through the word that faith is sown. Hence the frequent stress on orthodoxy (i.e. the holding of right beliefs) by Paul, and his rebuke of those who preach a gospel other than the one he has preached. (Gal 1:6).

 

This leads us to consider an error in the opposite direction of which we may be susceptible. It is to think of orthodoxy as the whole of faith. Accordingly, assent to the church’s doctrines, creeds, and statements of faith is simply mouthed or read off with little or no understanding. The suggested corrective is that we do well to place our trust not merely in the words uttered but in what they denote or express. All this involves a measure of understanding on the part of the believer, even though he or she can never attain complete comprehension. But the attempt to seek more understanding will enhance the whole experience of faith.

 

We may perhaps come to appreciate that the treatment of faith as having a content and as calling forth a response is helpful. The two aspects are essentially about one thing. An oft-quoted verse by the writer of Hebrews neatly encapsulates the idea of faith as follows: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" (Heb 11:6). What is being insisted upon by that writer is that one must assent to the fact that there is God in order that one can approach or engage him.

 

[This article was first published by Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.]

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How Faith Can Help Navigate Uncertainty

by Dr Lim K Tham

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The word “faith” can be used in two quite distinct ways. Firstly, it can mean a body or system of belief. Thus, the expression “many faiths are practised in Singapore” can be understood as saying that the people of Singapore are adherents of a wide range of religions. This usage of the “faith” as religion is, however, not how I would like to use the word here. Rather, I will be using the word “faith” to indicate an inner attitude of trust and confidence in God. In other words, faith to me is about the conviction of a divine reality that surpasses and sustains everything that exists—both the seen and the unseen.

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That said, what I would now like to share is how my experience of faith has helped me during the present pandemic. Firstly, and most importantly, faith has helped me disarm fear—the fear of being infected, or even of death. I am not implying that I am somehow immune to coronavirus because of faith. No; for I may well be infected and die. Rather, fear is disarmed because I have the assurance of divine presence. As one scripture writer testifies, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Ps 23:4).

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The pandemic has presented a second problem: it has caused people to be isolated from others. The upshot is a sense of loneliness. Most of us now pine for company. My faith enables me to deal with this in two ways. One, I recognise that being at a distance from friends is an opportunity for me to get close to God. His presence is a resource for me. Two, I have also come to appreciate that social distancing is—in a sense—an act of social solidarity. How so? Because even though we are at a physical distance from one another, the implication is that we are interconnected. As John Donne famously said a long time ago, “No man is an island…”  At any rate, faith helps me to celebrate the fact that I remain a member of my faith community, a community that transcends time and space. This seems to be the idea behind the apostle Paul’s mind when he writes, “we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” (Rom 12:5).

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As the pandemic lingers on, the inevitable question that presses on us is, “Why are we inflicted with it?” Many answers have been offered, including some not so helpful ones. For me, the best answer is the one that admits that it is not given to us to know the reason why. While I may not understand why people are suffering or dying, I can trust the One I have faith in—the One who loves, and who controls and gives life. I find it more meaningful to ask the “what” question, namely, what does God want us to do in such a time?

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Does the way of faith that I and my fellow believers identify with, conflict with science in coping with the current pandemic? The short answer is: it should not. This is because of our belief that “all truth is God’s truth.” It follows that the truths that science is revealing about the virus, about how it spreads, and about how to fight it, should be heeded.

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Talk by Dr Lim K Tham given at “Harmony of Faiths Talks” series organised by the National Library Board & Inter-Religious Organisation on Sunday 31 October 2021.

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The Discipleship of the Cross

by Dr Lee Soo Ann

 

Scripture Text:

John 21:15-19

15. After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ”Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”  Yes, Lord,’ he answered, “you know that I love you”. Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.”

16  A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord, “he answered, “you know that I love you”. Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep”.

17 A third time Jesus said, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.

18 “ I am telling  you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to, but when you are old, you will stretch our your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don’t want to go”.

19 (In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God). Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

 

I am honoured to be invited to speak today.  The DTC is a seminary and yet it is not called that. There is something special about DTC. Other seminaries are called “colleges” or “bible school”. However DTC is called a discipleship training centre.

For a small country, we have many seminaries. Yet only 18% of Singaporeans are Christian according to the latest census. In many aspects of economic and social life, we are bigger than what we are.  Singapore is a networking centre and there is considerable freedom for any activity which can attract foreigners.  We have a huge airport patronized by foreigners, and foreigners find it convenient to study Christianity despite the expense of staying in Singapore. However SGP is not what it seems to be.  In the course I teach at the NUS, I explain that the income of Singapore island is much more than the income of Singaporeans.  It is foreign capital and foreign labour which make Singapore rich.  

Foreigners soon discover that Singaporeans are not as rich as Singapore island.   They can point this out to SGPoreans.  SGPoreans can learn this from the foreigners who come to Singapore.

Material success does not satisfy the heart of Singaporean Christians and I myself have been led to study fulltime in a seminary at a late age of 49. That is one lesson foreigners can teach SGPoreans.

There is another lesson SGPoreans can learn. Let me put this by raising the question as to whether there is any difference between theological education and discipleship training? The scripture passage read is about the encounter between Jesus and his foremost disciple, Peter. This was after the resurrection of Jesus.

We all know what happened when Jesus was being led to the cross. Peter denied Jesus three times. How could the foremost disciple of Jesus do that? Does a discipleship training centre help us to avoid denying Jesus? A consequential question is how Jesus restored Peter to be a disciple again? How was Peter able to be restored?  Judas Iscariot also denied Jesus.

We read that all the disciples fled when Jesus was brought before Pilate for cross examination. The disciples saw the enmity to the world towards Jesus. They were afraid to identify with Jesus when Jesus was regarded as the enemy of Rome.  They were afraid of failure. Their closeness to Jesus for two or three years did not prepare them for this disappointment. It is true that often they had no place to sleep, they often had to go without food and there was hostility from non-believing fellow Jews. The disciples had to minister in rough situations.

I would like to suggest that discipleship training or seminary education may not go far enough. It is clear that the training of the disciples did not go as far as the cross. Only Jesus could go all the way to the cross.  Why could not the disciples? Do we then give up on discipleship training? I would like to suggest that training in DTC and theological education in Singapore and elsewhere should go on. Discipline, community living and virtuous acts build us up.   It has been said that the purpose of all learning is to appreciate how much we have not learned.  There should however be no presumption that we can always be fully trained to be disciples.

This is because part of discipleship training is that of experiencing failure. The disciples had to recognize their weakness. Peter recognized his failure and was open to Jesus restoring him. For Judas failure was the end of his relationship with God. In a DTC or seminary, we should learn what it means to fail. We should learn how much we do not know. No matter what we may have learned, much has to be unlearned otherwise we cannot receive more. It is only with empty hands that one can be filled.

In this context, Singapore may not a good place to learn failure. There is considerable pride in what the Singapore economy has achieved over the last sixty years, although much of the achievement is due to foreign labour and foreign capital.  DTC can be a community in which Singapore is viewed as being empty of its success. It is foreigners who built up much of Singapore, not necessarily only SGPoreans. We have built up Singapore as a successful educational centre. Can DTC be a contrarian educational centre?

Many times Jesus told his disciples that he was going to the cross. However they chose not to listen to those words or if they did listen, they chose not to obey the steps he took to go to the cross. The going of Jesus to the cross was deliberate on the part of Jesus. You and I as disciples in training need to focus on going to cross, not in what we study in a DTC or seminary.  The disciples of Jesus were more interested in the success of their ministry.

When confronted with the power of Rome, the disciples thought that the ministry of Jesus had failed.  Jesus however knew that God would eventually triumph over apparent failure. God resurrected Jesus because Jesus was a person who need not go to the cross. After the disciples had experienced failure, they were one step nearer to being good enough to go to the cross. However they could not themselves go the cross, unless they respond positively to their failure. Jesus by challenging Peter to feed the lambs of Jesus reminded him of his failure.  In accepting, Peter accepted that he had been a failure. God perfected Peter through his recognition of his failure. Failure matters!

The discipleship of the cross means the failure of what seems to be success. Discipleship is hard.

 

[This message was prepared for delivery at the DTC 53rd Valedictory & Thanksgiving Service held on 11 May 2022]

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Reflection on Christian Unity

by Dr Lim K Tham

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Introduction

In my English dictionary, unity is defined as “oneness” or ‘the state of being one.” Isn’t this a brilliant definition? To be united is simply to be—One!

 

Importance of Unity

Rick Warren the author of the popular book, The Purpose-driven Life, has raised an interesting observation. He tells us that the Bible talks more about unity than it does about either heaven or hell. Warren’s remarks should give us pause. Perhaps, we have not fully realised how important unity is.

 

The psalmist is among the first persons to extol unity. Enthusiastically he exclaims, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

 

In his longest and most penetrating prayer (John 17), Jesus prayed not once but four times that Christians may be one.

 

Need for Unity

Though some of us might like to believe that the early church was perfect, it was not. It was still a community of sinners. St Paul, for instance, had little success in getting Christians in his day to be united. To the church in Corinth, he writes,

 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.  My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.  (1 Cor 1:10-13)

 

In our modern time, the situation is not much different. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there some 40,000 denominations worldwide. This is a very huge figure! (Perhaps the term denominations had been rather loosely defined.) Still, it does seem there is little unity among Christians.

 

The American writer Mark Twain used to tell of an experiment which he conducted. In a cage he put a dog and cat together to see if they could get along. They did, so he put in a bird, pig, and goat. They too got along after a few adjustments. Then, into another cage, he put a Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Roman Catholic. He stayed away for a while. When he returned to see results, the cage of animals was all right, but in the other there was utter chaos--not a human specimen left alive!

 

What is Unity?

At this point, it is useful that we clarify what unity is about. Unity is not uniformity; it is not sameness; it is not conformity. When Jesus prayed to the Father—recall his exact words “that they may be one as we are one”—he had in mind a unity of which the mutual love of the Father and the Son is its basis. That is to say, the unity Jesus encourages us to seek is a unity of relationships between and among individual believers and communities.

 

Even so, we are challenged by David Watson not to fool ourselves by pious statements that we are already united. “Where is the evidence? What visible demonstration is there of our oneness in Christ?” he challenges. Thus, even though we are not concerned about external unity, we need to do more to foster unity among us. As Watson further notes, “we can no longer excuse our disunity by appealing to the invisible unity of all true Christians.” If I may say so, this evening’s ecumenical service and those being held this week and in the next, are a small step in the right direction!

 

Outcomes of Being United

I come now to my final point. Jesus mentions two possible outcomes when believers are united. The first is evangelistic---that “the world will know that you sent me.” (John 17:23).  As a former Archbishop of Canterbury has noted “a disunited church is a church evangelistically enfeebled.” For why should people be persuaded about the good news of Jesus Christ when they face a torn and divided church? The second outcome is that when we believers are united, we will get to be where Jesus is, beholding his glory. (17:24). What this means is we as one will feel the whole divine weight, namely the splendour, riches, dignity of who God really is. That glorious vision would be something worthwhile to obtain.

 

Earlier, we joined the Revd Eric Ang in praying that we may learn to “Do Good and Seek Justice.” Those words taken from Isaiah 1:17 form the theme of the 2023 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. I believe this enormous and worthy task will require the concerted effort on all who name the name of Christ. That is to say, we need to be united first!

 

[This message was delivered by Dr Lim K Tham on Wednesday 18 January 2023 at the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity service held at Sembawang Presbyterian Church]

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What do the Tenets & Traditions of your faith share and guide on the essence of existence & coexistence?

by Dr Lim K Tham

 

I speak as a Christian. What follows are my own views concerning the question of how people of faith, or none, interpret religious difference, and how they relate to each other as co-citizens.

 

According to the teachings of my religion, Christians are supposed to be engaged in the practice of “making room for all”. By “all” we don’t just mean friends, colleagues, neighbours, and people we know, but also those who are different from us in terms of race, language, culture, or religion. This principle of inclusion is evident in the way Jesus Christ reached out to and embraced those who came to him. One of Jesus’ key apostles, Paul, whose letters are considered by Christians as scripture, instructs, “Live at peace with everyone.” (Rom 12:17).

 

Inclusivity is today highly valued. It is the doctrine that all religions are on par with each other and that the path to truth is not the sole possession of any one religion. It contrasts directly with exclusivism, a doctrine that only one’s own religion is true and that it has the correct path to salvation while all others are false. In a recent study on interreligious relations in Singapore, the researchers have advocated that inclusivity be promoted as a counter to forms of behaviour such as interreligious strife, conflict, and violence.[1]

 

What if your religion takes an exclusivist stance on the way of salvation, as does mine? Jesus famously claims, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). A local academic in a paper on Christian identities has identified five features of Christianity that combined to put the said religion “in a highly disjunctive and segregated position in relation to all other religions.”[2] As a matter of interest, the five features are (i) an evangelical imperative; (ii) an eschatological fear; (iii) a compassion for the salvation of others; (iv) an exclusive monotheism; and (v) an injunction against idolatry. It hardly needs to be said that exclusivist views are also present in other religions.

 

For myself even while both remaining a Christian and believing that Jesus is who he claims to be, I have sought to be inclusive. However, I feel that the popular claim that all religions are essentially the same fails to take cognizance of the fact that different religions are different in their fundamentals. I also suspect that it is not respectful to tell a follower of a certain religion that he or she merely seeks the same things as the follower of another. The French philosopher, Levinas has a word of advice for all of us involved in interreligious dialogue---such dialogue should not start by reducing the other to ourselves!

 

Adhering to a religion that makes a unique claim to truth however need not mean an abandonment of inclusivity. There are two principal considerations to be mindful of. The first is that what one believes and holds to be “truth” is not just a body of beliefs and practices, but rather it is relational. Let me expand on this a bit more. In Christianity, the notion of truth is also understood as a person, and this person we believe is none other than Jesus Christ. It therefore follows that it is incumbent upon Christians to be in dialogue with members of other faiths, even if parties involved are not in total agreement. For as much as religious people are convinced that they are in possession of the truth, they should be humble enough to accept that divine reality is infinitely greater than their own vision of it. The second consideration springs from Jesus’ teaching to “love thy neighbour”. If love truly operates, people of different beliefs can live with each other and accept each other with respect rather than animosity. Of the three great virtues in Christianity—faith, hope and love—the greatest of these is love. (1 Cor 13:13). Christians—and I include myself here—have tended to exalt faith (belief) above love with the consequence that doctrine, rather than love, is used as the yardstick by which we conduct our social intercourse.

 

My final point is both an affirmation and an expression of hope. I affirm that religious beliefs, at least some of them, contain the conceptual resources for peaceful and harmonious co-existence between people; I express the hope that all of us may learn to draw out such resources as are needed to enable us to live and co-exist with our fellow citizens in peace and harmony.

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[1] Kong, Lily; Woods, Orlando; and Abdul Wahid, Acmal Zuheyr Iefan, "Countering exclusivism, promoting

Inclusivism: The way forward for Singapore" (2020). Research Collection School of Social Sciences. Paper

3250. https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3250. Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3250

[2] Robbie B. H. Goh (2009) “Christian identities in Singapore: religion, race and culture between state controls and transnational flows.” Journal of Cultural Geography, 26:1, 1-23, DOI: 10.1080/08873630802617135

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[Talk by Dr Lim K Tham at 4th Faithfully Asean 2022 opening dialogue Tuesday 20 Dec 2022 Furama Riverfront hotel]