Common heritage

I recently visited the Sacred exhibition at the British Library in London*. It’s well worth a visit. For the first time, treasured texts from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim collections at the Library were displayed together, with some from other institutions as well.

The books, fragments and scrolls were arranged thematically. This highlighted some of the things that the three faith traditions hold in common, and showed how in times past they influenced each other.

So often in discussion about religion - or in other areas such as politics - the focus is on where people disagree. We all know that many wars have been fought by people of faith seeking to defend what they hold dear, when it seems threatened.

But all too rarely do we concentrate on what we hold in common. The exhibitions sub-title was “Discover what we share”. At heart all three faiths share belief in one God, whom they believe has revealed the divine nature in the world. The three faiths, in many places, have similar moral and spiritual teaching. They all have sacred texts. There are differences in emphasis and interpretation, of course, but that happens between adherents of the same faith as well as those of different ones.

In listening to those of others faiths, we often learn about our own, but more importantly we can begin to build bridges between people and challenge the many stereotypical, but often false, pictures that we create in our minds. It’s all too easy to think we know what someone else is thinking without really taking time to listen to them and their tradition.

In a world where religion is often used to divide people, this exhibition was a wonderful example of how it can also bring people of different traditions together.

With best wishes
Sarah

*(open daily until 23rd September)