It is an honour for me
to have been asked to give this address by the American Academy of Religion. I
am happy to give it, not only because the invitation comes from sincere
“friend of God”, but also because I am convinced that theme on which I have
been invited to speak corresponds to a deeply felt need in the world of today:
namely, the question of the presence of God and of religious values in the
history of individuals and entire peoples.
The faith of Abraham, who is rightly considered by our three religions as
“the father of our faith”, will be the subject of my reflections. I shall
remain within the limits of its essential values and not enter into a
consideration of the differences of these religions, united as they are in their
acceptance of Abrahamic faith and in their considering it to be a source of
inspiration and a guide for human life, capable of giving a satisfactory
response to the essential problems of man.
I think it is superfluous for me to say that since our purpose is to
consider in its substance this faith which so happily unites us, there is no
need for me to go back over past history with its tale of mutual
misunderstandings, injustices, faults, lack of generosity and so on. It would
have no point, since the purpose of our meeting is that it should be one of
friendship. Certainly we must study the past and learn from it, but life must
above all look to the present and to the future. The Christian mystic Meister
Eckhart said: “If a man has turned a way from sin and left it behind him, then
the God is a God of the present; as He finds you, so He takes you and accept
you. He does not ask what you have been, but what you are now”.
