“My church,” Terry Kyllo admits, “limited my capacity to relate to people of diverse cultures and traditions….” As a “cradle Christian,” he “was taught that, in Christianity, God calls forth an exclusive in-group….” That was then, this is now: Kyllo, a Lutheran cleric, now serves as executive director of Paths to Understanding, a Washington State organization that partners with ‘’people across religious, cultural, ethnic, and social lines, in multi-faith peacemaking to bridge bias, and build unity in all the human family.’’
Christians, he avows in his book, “do not have to live divided from one another. We can…create a better future together.” But, “to make interfaith work possible, the Christian majority needs to discover their own tradition’s calling to recognize our common humanity.” And that is what he strives to do in Go and Do Likewise. “Coming from an ordained Lutheran pastor,” a Pacific Lutheran University professor emeritus reckons, “gives his interpretation of religious pluralism more currency….”
“I have come to believe,” Kyllo affirms, “that knowing, respecting, and working with people of diverse traditions is an inherent part of being faithful to Jesus.” After all, Jesus was called “to gather a community that recognizes all people as equally human….”
Go and Do Likewise: Following Jesus Into Our Common Humanity
By Terry Kyllo
Paths to Understanding, 2023
