Any relationship has to be based on freedom. The relationship of God and human is the most precious of all relationships that supersedes all human relationships including marriage. No human can and needs to mediate in that relationship. And any human, no matter from what religion, belief system, or dogma thinks a special exclusive power has been given to that human from God is, in my opinion, deluded. And if anyone thinks that I am deluded in saying this, I can only say that I am at this point, true to my conscience, happy in staying in this kind of delusion. The destiny of a human being is solely decided by that human and God. This secure truth is not grasped and appropriated by many. Relationships thrive only in the climate of love, freedom, trust, equality, honesty, fairness, understanding, compassion, tolerance, and a healthy compromise among humans. Unlike humans, the God of my conception and belief is always reaching out to the humans. The relationship between God and human is not based on equality. That is precisely the reason we need to develop a theology for the modern world, a theology that is simple, intelligible for all, based on truth and freedom. This theology for the modern world is not really new; it is as old as ever. There was this lawyer who trying to throw Jesus into confusion asked him: Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus asked him: What is written in the law? He answered: You must love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. You have answered right, said Jesus, do this and life is yours. But the man not giving up his attempt to disconcert Jesus asked: And who is my neighbor? Jesus replied narrating the most beautiful and powerful Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10: 29-37) that should govern all human relationships all the time. My neighbor is any and every human being in the entire world. If this is not enough, the Golden Rule that sums up all the prophets and all the commandments: So always treat others as you would like them to treat you(Matthew 7:12). Nobody needs more than these maxims. On the other hand the three very meaningful temptations (Matthew 4: 1-11) before Jesus begins his public ministry assume great importance in the context of modern life that is engaged in cut-throat competition for wealth, sensual pleasure, and power and pomp. While Jesus was tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews, 4: 15), the temptations that we are focusing here relate to material needs and wants, vain glory, and power. Jesus did not succumb to these temptations. In the context of these temptations and without getting distracted too much from our main theme it is very relevant to ponder where our current theology went wrong, and where moral leadership is stunningly lacking by citing some greed-related, vainglorious, and salacious news items.

             Everyday main stream news that help sell news media relate to flaunting of womens bodies, who among celebrities date or seduce or sleep with whom, or who of these women get pregnant or how to celebrate a queen's jubilee of coronation floating 200 ships on river Thames, or who are the wealthiest men and women in the world. I was appalled to read that 48 billionaires (Indo-Asian News Service: Hindustan Times - March 9, 2012), that is, 4% of world's billionaires, are in India, where I was born ,that has starving millions side by side with ostentatious, scandalously rich persons. These persons will not be able to spend their fortunes in 100 life times. I do not think morally and spiritually any individual in the world has the right to amass that kind of uncontrolled wealth on the backs of starving human beings, perhaps in billions, in the world. No socially just society can allow that. This world, currently bankrupt in matters related to the Spirit and one's conscience, considers accumulation of massive wealth to be a value in itself. There is no other reason I see for flaunting wealth without evaluating how that wealth is used for the welfare of humanity. Interestingly, a person concerned about the well-being of society would not in good conscience hoard that kind of wealth in the midst of such pathetic poverty and inequality. If one believes in God one has to clearly understand that we are all brothers and sisters, and that we are all one another's keepers. A meaningful theology for the modern world, therefore, needs to address this unjust and unbridled capitalism and greed as money and the power that comes from it is unquestionably the root of all evil.

Theology of Love

            The simple theology for the modern age is one of love, and our religion is also one of love where we take care of each other. We do not live up to anyone's expectations but only to what is communicated to us in our conscience. A theology for the modern age needs to include the aspirations of every human being. A basic theology needs to go beyond color, caste, creed, gender, and ethnic origin. It needs to specially relate to the plight of the oppressed, the down-trodden, and those persecuted for the cause of truth, justice, and equality. Liberation theology that developed in Latin American countries and the women's movements that started in America and Europe are of great importance. The world's religions and scriptures have been greatly influenced by the cultures of their time. When an orthodox Jew thanks God for not being born as a woman, that clearly tells in what esteem a woman is held. When an orthodox Hindu says that a woman has to be reborn as a man to attain liberation (mukti), that tells me that a woman is thought of belonging to an inferior sex. When the official, hierarchical Catholic Church tells me that a woman cannot be ordained as a priest on account of her gender, and justifies that theologically as coming from God, I do not accept that theology as right and relevant for the time. There are other misogynic practices that we should look into. A menstruating woman, for instance, cannot go to Sabarimala in front of Ayyappan. Ritual purification or churching of a woman after childbirth is still practiced in Eastern Christianity. For ritual purity priests in certain sections of Christianity abstain from sexual relations with their wives on the eve of major holy days in order to celebrate Eucharist on the following day. We still do not have a gender inclusive language that can help us express our ideas without awkwardness and clumsiness.

            While I respect all the world's sacred scriptures that do not go against reason, I am rooted in Christian (Bible) and Hindu (Bhagavadgita and Upanishads) Scriptures. To me they complement each other. My mind and spirit are mostly satisfactorily nourished by them. In very difficult and dark moments of my life, I find great solace in them; they calm my perturbed mind and soul, and restore me to serenity. Buddha's profound philosophy related to all suffering resulting from desiring more than what can be achieved, and the eight-fold path as a solution for desiring only what can be attained are extraordinary contributions to the realm of the spirit. A new theology has to deal with immanence and transcendence of God. While Shankaracharya's Advaida (non-duality), for instance, aham brahmasmi (I am Brahman), tatvamasi (Thou art That) is very tempting and appealing to me, Ramanuja's Visishtadvaida (wherein I am of the essence of God but also different from God) makes more sense even as I swing between advaida and visishtadvaida. While Hinduism emphasizes immanence, the stress in Christianity is on transcendence. To keep a fine balance between immanence and transcendence is very tricky. But then again, as no human can comprehend this profound mystery, it is better left alone. We can find the needed help in God. Jesus said: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11: 28-30). Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on (Matthew 6: 25). In Bhagavadgita Sri Krishna says: Let go off all actions, righteous (or non-righteous), and come to me, the only refuge (Sarvadharman parithyajya mamekam saranam vraj - 18: 66). As Christ called us friends (John 13: 13-15), we are children brothers and sisters - of God. Christ dared to call God, Abba, dear father, something that was offensive to the Jews of the time. In the greatest prayer in Christianity and the only prayer Jesus is reported to have taught his disciples, Jesus addresses God as Our Father (Matthew 6: 7-15).