Remembering Fred Streng

·期刊原文
Remembering Fred Streng: Frederick John Streng, 1933-1993

by David W. Chappell
Philosophy East and West

Vol.44 No.2

pIII(4) 1994.04

Pp.111-114

Copyright by University of Hawaii

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On June 21, 1993, Frederick J. Streng, founding member and second
president of the Society of Asian and Comparative Philosophy, died
of cancer at his home in Dallas, Texas.
Fred was a large man, standing well over six feet tall, and a
commanding presence in any gathering. But it was the largeness of
his vision and the generosity of his understanding that made him a
central figure in comparative philosophy and the history of
religions during the last thirty years.
Although a son of Texas and a professor at Southern Methodist
University since 1966, the themes that were Fred's trademark emerged
during his graduate study at the University of Chicago under Mircea
Eliade, Joseph Kitagawa, and Bernard Meland from 1956-1963.
Completing his doctoral at Chicago on the Buddhist thinker Nagarjuna
(later published as Emptiness - A Study in Religious Meaning
[Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1967]), Fred argued that religious
knowledge is understood best not as information or new concepts, but
as an awareness that is transforming. Accordingly, he asserted that
Nagarjuna's intent was soteriological, not speculative, and even
though his wisdom lacked an object of knowledge, it was saving
knowledge because it removed ignorance and attachment and was a
means to ultimate transformation. Because of Fred's insightful
interpretation of Nagarjuna and emptiness within the framework of
the religious life, his book became required reading for leading
philosophers and theologians in America. As a result, there is no
liberal theologian today who is not conversant with the theory of
Buddhist emptiness, and Fred's book is the single-most important
interpretation of this Buddhist doctrine for Christian thought.
Fred has always been interested in religious pluralism and
comparative religion. His father was a Lutheran minister, but Fred
always felt restricted by just one religious identity and in later
life was an active supporter of the Unitarian Universalist Church.
Beginning in 1969, he launched The Religious Life of Man Series with
Dickenson Publishing Company that included separate volumes by
different authors on Islam, Japanese Religion, Chinese Religion,
Buddhism, Hinduism, Primitive Religion, Judaism, Christianity, and
Native American Religions.
Fred maintained that we must try to see religion both from inside
and outside, both objectively and subjectively. Accordingly, to
supplement these works, additional volumes were published to include
original materials from the traditions themselves to help students
to understand the "thoughts, feelings, and attitudes" of the members
of the major religions from within. Many books from the series
became the standard textbooks used during the next two decades to
introduce these traditions to undergraduates, and have assisted
hundreds of thousands of students.
As the Series Editor, Fred wrote Understanding Religious Man (that
became Understanding Religious Life in the second and third editions
in 1976 and 1985). In his 1976 Preface he explained that the reason
for making changes was to emphasize "that religious life is a
complex of processes through which people are being transformed."
This view of religion not in terms of structure or belief systems,
but in terms of process, was further supported in a book co-edited
with Charles L. Lloyd, Jr. and Jay T. Allen titled Ways of Being
Religious: Readings for a New Approach to Religion (Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1973). In his Emptiness book Fred
had divided Indian thought into three ways of religious
apprehension: the mythical, the intuitive, and the dialectical. Now
he also included personal encounters with the holy, ritual, and
living harmoniously through conformity to the cosmic law. Since this
book argued that "any reasonably specific means that any person
adopts with the serious hope and intention of moving toward ultimate
transformation" should be considered religious (p. 6), later
chapters also included methods for self-integration, activities to
achieve human rights, the new life through technocracy, and living a
fully sensuous and aesthetic life. Accordingly, Fred's definition of
religion as a "means toward ultimate transformation" came to be seen
as a process within two contexts: either within a transcendent,
cosmic context or within a human, deep-structure orientation.
By the third edition of Understanding Religious Life, Fred's
emphasis on religion as a "means to ultimate transformation" had
developed a chapter on "Understanding Through Interreligious
Dialogue" because for "any person to know the nature of religious
life or of authentic living at the deepest level, he or she must
seek out alternate religous forms and compare them" (p. 236). Fred
proposed that this may involve either a mystical sense of unity
beyond all religious differences, or valuing the alternative and
complementary ways of other religions, or to focus on the enriching
personal experience of interfaith encounter.
"What is the sound of liberating truth?" This question was presented
by Fred as his life's koan in his Presidential Address at the Fourth
International Buddhist-Christian Conference in August, 1992.
Although granting that others might offer many different answers, it
is revealing that the place where he found the sound of liberating
truth was in "mutual transformation." Three primary areas where
mutual transformation offered liberating truth for Fred were in the
internal and external pluralism found in Buddhist-Christian
dialogue, second in the dialogue between the personal commitments of
religion and the objectivity of academic-scientific studies, and
lastly in the encounter between religion and the various physical
and human problems of our global community. It was the generosity
and largeness of Fred that no particular form of liberating truth
could ever be sufficient or satisfying for him, but that it must
always be evolving and emerging anew out of ongoing encounters.
For Fred, religious knowledge had to be understood in the context of
the search for ultimate transformation, and enriched through
comparative studies and ongoing personal and global dialogue. These
insights and values were shared with others through the leadership
that he offered various professional societies over the years, such
as the presidency of the Society for Asian and Comparative
Philosophy (1970-1972), the American Oriental Society, Southwest
Branch (1982-1983), the American Society for the Study of Religion
(1987-1990), and the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies
(1991-1993).
When I asked Fred whether his definition of religion as "a means to
ultimate transformation" included being run over by a steam-roller,
he laughed and said that for him the adjective "ultimate" always
implied something positive. A few days before he died, his wife,
Susie, mentioned some local political obstacles to bringing relief
to needy children. While supporting her concern, Fred laughed and
warned her that he only had room for positive thoughts, not
complaints. This has always been his way, and he is treasured by his
friends and family for not having a mean bone in his body, for his
ready laughter and clear intelligence, and for his generous concern
and inclusiveness of others. And should we complain that he left us
too soon, we can be reminded of his 1989 publication "Thanksgiving
as a Worldwide Response to Life" and be grateful for how he touched
and changed our lives.
Fred Streng is survived by his wife, Susan Streng, and by his
children, Elizabeth Ann Devoll, Mark Andrew Streng, Steven Deane
Streng, and Lisa Evans. Although he resided in Dallas, he was a
citizen of the world, and he brought the world home to America
through his leadership in comparative studies and his deep
commitment and joy in the variety of others as the means of our
renewal.