“To know only one religion is seldom to really know that one,” the 19th-century German scholar Max Mueller wrote.

We are four Christians who believe Mueller was right. To learn about other religions, we meet with about two dozen women every other month at the public library in Goshen, Ind.

We are the planners for the group, called Interfaith Inquiry. Three of us come from Mennonite background; one grew up Catholic.

As we learn, we enrich our own faith as we find divine truth in multiple religious traditions. We want to avoid being either arrogant or ignorant. We wish to be both ecumenical and interfaith.

We bring interfaith experience to our effort:

— Bonnie King lived in the Muslim culture of Nigeria and among Muslims and Hindus in Hyderabad, India, for eight years.
— Judith Davis values friendships formed as an assistant to the dean in the Yeshiva University Graduate School of Education, a Jewish institution in New York.
— Sally Jo Milne became acquainted with people loyal to diverse religions when she served with Mennonite Central Committee in Africa and Asia.
— Dorothy Yoder Nyce lived for years in India before joining a tour group to Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.

Learning depends on asking helpful questions. Why do Muslims value prayer to the extent that many of them do? Might Christians enrich our view of our own scripture if we knew why Buddhists name Buddha’s teachings as one of their three prime gems (along with Buddha and the community of Buddhists)? Or if we heard why Sikhs consider their scripture (Guru Granth Sahab) to have such authority?

What extra values do people gain from being a minority religion? How might Christians benefit from knowing the three ways that Hindus might achieve liberation?

The Latin word religio means “to bind.” Religions bring people together. Religions thrive on principles of wisdom and have more in common than many people realize.

Consider what Christians call the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Matthew 7:12).

— Judaism states: “What is hateful to you, do not to your fellowman. That is the entire law. All the rest is commentary.”
— Hindus declare: “Do not to another what is disagreeable to yourself.”
— Zoroastrians affirm: “That nature alone is good which shall not do unto another whatever is not good for its own self.”
— Islam states: “None of you is a believer until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself.”

Our interfaith speakers have included guests and “in group” members, in person and via Zoom. These have included:

— Saadia, a Muslim, spoke about wearing the hijab (women’s head covering) and explained the Sunni and Shia branches of Islam.
— A woman rabbi from South Bend addressed the Jewish reform tradi­tion, Shema (the prayer that begins, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one”) and Shoah (mass murder of Jews by Nazis).
— Breanna (not a Muslim) elaborated on the Quran, the significance of God commanding Muhammad to “Recite!,” and prophets.
— Paul, a leading advocate of globally responsible interreligious dialogue, author of over 10 books on the subject and a practicing Christian Buddhist, taught us a lot.
— Sreekala spoke about Hindu karma (cause and effect), moksha (liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth), namaste (a greeting that means “to honor God within you”) and Amma (a Hindu spiritual leader).
— Jay integrated Mennonite culture with Buddhism’s three gems — Buddha, dharma (teachings) and sangha (community) — and adapted several Christian hymns with Buddhist concepts.

What a wealth of learning to enrich our Christianity!

When we think of the one universal God as Mystery, known by diverse names and in various forms, we look for what more we might come to know about Divinity.

We gratefully acknowledge that other major religions teach moral rightness. We value what we hold in common, and we respect what differs. We seek to be as ready to be informed as to inform, to hear as to tell. Openness to others matters, as does the freedom to express our convictions and to act on them.

We are convinced that people loyal to diverse religions are believers in God if they know themselves to be. That means that we each know some of the truth, but not all of it. We wish to receive all whom God receives. ­Decisions about inclusion are God’s, not ours.

Our meetings foster friendship, solidarity, respect for others and gratitude for sacred belief. We welcome all women of faith who want to be better informed about other faiths.

We look forward to two meetings this fall that will focus on Native American religious beliefs and practices.

The planners of Interfaith Inquiry attend Mennonite churches in Goshen, Ind.: Sally Jo Milne and Bonnie King, College Mennonite; Judith Davis, Assembly Mennonite; and Dorothy Yoder Nyce, Eighth Street Mennonite.