Parliament of the World's Religions

The Parliament of the World's Religions

Section 1: Overview

[BEGINNER]

The World's Parliament of Religions was the first global interreligious conference in history. It was held in Chicago from 11–27 September 1893, as part of the World's Columbian Exposition marking the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas. For the first time, delegates from Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant), Shinto, Taoism, and the Baháʼí Faith (indirectly) addressed a single global audience.

It is widely considered the birth of the modern interfaith movement. Its centenary gathering in 1993, also in Chicago, produced the declaration "Towards a Global Ethic" drafted by Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Küng — the first serious attempt to articulate a shared moral framework across the world's religions.

[INTERMEDIATE]

Convened by: Rev. John Henry Barrows (Presbyterian minister) and Charles Carroll Bonney (Chicago lawyer).

Location: The "Hall of Columbus" in the then-new Memorial Art Palace of Chicago (now the Art Institute of Chicago), Michigan Avenue.

Participation: Approximately 4,000 delegates and addresses, with daily audiences reaching 4,000–7,000 listeners.

Significance for India: The Parliament introduced Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain thought to American and European audiences at an unprecedented scale. For Asia it marked the first assertion of non-Christian religions as world-historical equals on Western soil.

Appendix: Names Each Tradition Used to Self-Identify at Chicago 1893

This encyclopedia gives primacy to how each faith's own delegates named and defined themselves at Chicago 1893. This table records those self-designations:

Tradition (modern English)	Delegate(s) at Chicago 1893	Self-Designation(s) Used
Hinduism	Swami Vivekananda (Ramakrishna Order); Protap Chunder Mozoomdar (Brahmo Samaj); Manilal Nabhubhai Dvivedi	Hinduism / Sanātana Dharma / Vedanta (Advaita) / Brāhmo Samāj (reformist stream)
Theravāda Buddhism	Anagarika Dharmapala	Buddhism / Southern Buddhism (as the then-common distinction) / Sinhalese Buddhism
Mahāyāna Buddhism (Zen)	Soyen Shaku (translator: D. T. Suzuki)	Buddhism / Northern Buddhism / Japanese Buddhism / Zen
Jainism	Virchand Raghavji Gandhi	Jainism / Jaina philosophy / Jaina dharma
Zoroastrianism	Jeanne Sorabji (represented Parsee community of Bombay); Jinanji Jamshedji Modi (paper presented in absentia)	Zoroastrianism / Parsee Religion / Mazdayasna
Judaism	Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch; Rabbi Kaufmann Kohler	Judaism / Reform Judaism / Judaism of the Synagogue
Roman Catholic Christianity	Cardinal James Gibbons; Archbishop John Ireland	Catholic Christianity / Roman Catholic Church
Orthodox Christianity	Archbishop Dionysius Latas (Zante)	Greek Orthodox Church
Protestant Christianity	Various — Rev. John Henry Barrows, Rev. Henry Harris Jessup et al.	Evangelical Christianity / Protestant Churches
Islam	Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb (American Muslim convert)	Islam / Mohammedanism (period term the delegates themselves sometimes used, though considered disrespectful today — "Islam" was always the self-name)
Confucianism	Pung Kwang Yu (Chinese legation secretary)	Confucianism
Shinto	Nobuta Kishimoto; Shibata Reiichi	Shinto
Taoism	Pung Kwang Yu (delivered paper on Taoism)	Taoism / Tao-chiao
Bahá'í Faith	Introduced indirectly by Rev. Henry Harris Jessup quoting Bahá'u'lláh's letter to Edward G. Browne	Referred to at the Parliament as Bábism / the teaching of "the Persian Prophet" — the community's self-name was Bahá'í (established c. 1863 by Bahá'u'lláh), but it was not self-represented at Chicago
Sikhism	Did not formally participate in 1893; later Parliaments featured Sikh delegates	Self-name: Sikhī / Gurmat ("the Guru's way") / Khalsa Panth

How ELGODS uses these names: When defining a religion, we lead with the name its own representatives used. We retain external English labels (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, etc.) for accessibility, but we foreground the self-designation wherever possible. This is an editorial principle grounded in respect for each community's right to name itself.

Section 2: The 1893 Parliament — Landmark Addresses

Swami Vivekananda (Hindu / Vedanta)

Speaker: Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902), disciple of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. Opening address: 11 September 1893, beginning with the words "Sisters and brothers of America" — which received a standing ovation lasting several minutes.

Five addresses in total:

1. Opening address (11 September)
2. Paper on Hinduism (19 September)
3. "Address at the Final Session" (27 September)
4. "Religion Not the Crying Need of India"
5. "Buddhism, the Fulfilment of Hinduism"

Principles enunciated:

• Universal acceptance: "I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true."
• Unity in diversity: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take, through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee." (quoting the Shiva Mahimna Stotra)
• Rejection of sectarianism, bigotry, and fanaticism as the causes of human violence
• Duty rather than doctrine as the criterion of religion
• Presentation of the Advaita Vedānta philosophy of the universal Self (Ātman / Brahman)

Legacy: Vivekananda's addresses are universally regarded as the catalytic event introducing Hinduism to the modern Western world. His subsequent 4-year lecture tour through America and Europe founded the Vedanta Society (New York, 1894), which continues today.

Anagarika Dharmapala (Theravāda Buddhism)

Speaker: Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933), Sinhalese Buddhist revivalist and founder of the Maha Bodhi Society.

Principles presented:

• Buddhism as a rational, ethical, non-theistic path
• The Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path as universal moral principles
• Ahimsā (non-violence) as foundational ethic
• Rejection of caste and ritualism as obstacles to liberation
• Reclamation of Bodh Gayā as the central Buddhist pilgrimage site

Legacy: Dharmapala's addresses launched the global Theravāda Buddhist revival. His Maha Bodhi Society successfully restored Bodh Gayā to Buddhist control in the 20th century.

Virchand Gandhi (Jainism)

Speaker: Virchand Gandhi (1864–1901), 29-year-old Jain scholar.

Principles presented:

• Ahiṃsā paramo dharmaḥ — non-violence as the supreme dharma
• Anekāntavāda — the doctrine of multiple viewpoints; no single viewpoint captures absolute truth
• Syādvāda — the logic of conditional predication ("perhaps")
• Aparigraha — non-possession, minimalism
• Satya, asteya, brahmacharya — truth, non-stealing, continence
• Karma understood not as divine punishment but as impersonal moral physics
• Jain cosmology and the status of the Tīrthaṅkaras (ford-makers)

Legacy: First major presentation of Jainism to a Western audience. Virchand Gandhi subsequently lectured extensively in the USA and Europe before his early death at age 37.

Others

• Soyen Shaku (Japanese Zen master; teacher of D. T. Suzuki) presented Japanese Mahāyāna Buddhism — planting the seeds of Zen's later flowering in America
• Mozoomdar (Protap Chunder Mozoomdar) represented the Brahmo Samaj (reformed Hinduism)
• Jeanne Sorabji represented Zoroastrianism
• Rev. Narayan Hemchandra represented an ecumenical Indian Christianity
• Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch represented Reform Judaism
• Archbishop John Ireland (American Catholic)
• Baháʼí references: The Baháʼí Faith was introduced indirectly — a Christian pastor, Rev. Henry Harris Jessup, quoted Baháʼu'lláh's writings on 23 September 1893, the first public mention of Baháʼu'lláh in the Western world

Section 3: Shared Principles from 1893

Despite its Christian-Protestant framing and colonial-era context, the Parliament articulated principles that crossed traditions:

1. The ethical parity of religions — non-Christian faiths are not "heathen" but valid paths
2. Universal brotherhood — shared human dignity across race and faith
3. Religious freedom — the right of each to practice their tradition
4. Religion as character, not doctrine — conduct as the measure of spiritual life
5. Non-violence and compassion as cross-traditional ethical foundations
6. Rejection of fanaticism and sectarian violence

Section 4: The 1993 Centenary & the Global Ethic

Date: 28 August – 4 September 1993, Chicago. Attendance: ~8,000 participants from 125 faith traditions. Principal document: "Towards a Global Ethic: An Initial Declaration" — drafted by Hans Küng and signed by more than 200 religious leaders.

The Four Irrevocable Directives of the Global Ethic

1. Commitment to a culture of non-violence and respect for life
   • "You shall not kill!" / "Have respect for life!"
2. Commitment to a culture of solidarity and a just economic order
   • "You shall not steal!" / "Deal honestly and fairly!"
3. Commitment to a culture of tolerance and a life of truthfulness
   • "You shall not lie!" / "Speak and act truthfully!"
4. Commitment to a culture of equal rights and partnership between men and women
   • "You shall not commit sexual immorality!" / "Respect and love one another!"

Underlying Principles

• Golden Rule — "What you do not wish done to yourself, do not do to others" — identified as universal across traditions (Confucius Analects 15.23; Mahābhārata Anushasana 113.8; Matthew 7:12; Hillel Shabbat 31a; Qur'ān, hadith of al-Nawawi 13; Ādi Granth; Buddhist Udānavarga 5.18)
• Dignity of the human person — non-negotiable foundational principle
• Commitment to non-violent conflict resolution
• Ecological responsibility as shared moral imperative

Section 5: Later Parliaments

Subsequent gatherings (every 5–7 years):

• 1999 — Cape Town, South Africa (post-apartheid interfaith reconciliation)
• 2004 — Barcelona, Spain (coinciding with the Universal Forum of Cultures)
• 2009 — Melbourne, Australia (indigenous spirituality emphasized)
• 2015 — Salt Lake City, Utah (women's rights, climate change)
• 2018 — Toronto, Canada
• 2023 — Chicago (return to birthplace; held at McCormick Place, 14–18 August)
• 2026 — Next gathering planned

Section 6: Significance for This Encyclopedia

The 1893 and 1993 Parliaments are the historical anchor-points for treating the world's religions as equal objects of study. Principles articulated at these gatherings — religious pluralism, the Golden Rule, ahiṃsā, the dignity of every person, interfaith dialogue as a moral duty — underpin the editorial stance of ELGODS as a respectful encyclopedia of divine traditions.

Section 7: Key Facts

• 1893 Parliament: 11–27 September 1893, Chicago; ~4,000 attendees
• Sponsor: World's Columbian Exposition / Rev. John Henry Barrows
• Signal moment: Vivekananda's "Sisters and brothers of America" (11 September)
• 1993 Centenary: Hans Küng's "Global Ethic" declaration
• Chicago return: 2023 (130th anniversary)
• Secretariat: Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (Chicago)