The religious community is currently facing a variety of issues on the diversity of life that continues to grow. Therefore, they need to carry a constructive and appreciative attitude, thoughtfulness, and wise manner towards every plurality of human being. Graduate Student of Doctoral Program, Faculty of Philosophy UGM, Win Usuluddin, in his dissertation titled The Theology of Karl Theodore Jaspers and its Relevance to the Development of Religious Thinking in Indonesia, mentioned that in the last few decades, Indonesian people lived harmoniously in diversity. However, horizontal conflicts continuously occur. Ironically, religious difference is assumed to be one of the causes.
According to Usuluddin, in theology religious people need to be humble, accept limitations and interpret God because no living being can understand Him. “Human beings are only capable of capturing transcendental signs or texts,” said Win Usuluddin during his public doctoral examination at the Faculty of Philosophy UGM, Wednesday (5/9).
In the theology that Jaspers expressed, transcendence, cipher, das umgreifende and philosophical faith are used to express the inability of human beings to completely perceive God and their belief in His existence.
Win Usuluddin believed that Jaspers’ theological philosophy as a theistic existentialist is relevant to diversity thinking in Indonesia, particularly when interpreting the purpose of his philosophy that aims to restore man to his own self to clearly understand the meaning of life.
He argued that Jaspers’ philosophy is important for the attempt to become a whole human being when humans are equal in the eyes of God. The heterogeneous and plural human life is a latent inevitability, but not necessarily a reason to ignore the existence of others.
“For that reason, everyone is equally in charge of respecting the values and perspectives of the others, even challenged to understand other cultures and be tolerant of other people’s religious practices,” he concluded.