Browsing by Author "Matsumoto, Fumihiko"
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    Beyond speech acts: the significance of silence in the Shinto marriage ritual
    (Bangkok : Assumption University Press, 2023) Matsumoto, Fumihiko
    Rituals and ceremonies in the Western tradition, give priority to the spoken word and various kinds of declarations. But in the Asian tradition, there is also an appreciation for the unspoken. In this article, the researcher will examine the non-verbal communication which takes place in the Shinto marriage ritual. The marriage is accomplished without “words,” “announcements,” or “declarations.” The consummation of the marriage takes place when the couple quietly drinks the sacred liquid, three times in three different cups, for a total of nine times. It is only then the marriage is accomplished. By investigating such a ritual in the Japanese culture or Eastern culture, the paper also suggests limits to Western speech act theory as developed by John Searle.
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    A teleological interpretation of John Hick's threefold typology
    (Assumption University Press, 2019) Matsumoto, Fumihiko ; Kajornpat Tangyin
    This research critically investigates the soteriological ground of John Hick’s religious typology and his understanding of Religious Pluralism. It begins by considering the criticsims of Gavin D’Costa who, in his early work, favored Hick’s typology in Theology and Religious Pluralism, but later became critical of it in his work, Impossibility of a Pluralist view of Religions. It will also consider Paul Knitter’s alternative fourfold typology introduced in his work, Introducing Theologies of Religions, and Mark Heim’s ideas concerning religious pluralism in his work Salvation. Finally, the paper will investigate Zen Buddhism’s view of a “positionless position” as a “non-common denominator” from Masao Abe’s Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue to see if Hick’s idea of ultimate reality is viable basis to defend religious pluralism. After demonstrating these critiques of Hick’s main soteriological grounds of this threefold typology, the research defends a new framework of threefold typology, not built on soteriological grounds, but on teleological grounds, in order to fulfill Hick’s own wishes for promoting peace both spiritually and socially. This is a new framework which can embrace the beliefs of not only pluralists, but also exclusivists and inclusivists, and those who comprise the majority of Christians in the world today.