Christian theology ... ought to rejoice at being at the frontiers of the next phase of Christian history

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What is Theology of Religions?

 

Theology of religions is that discipline of theological studies which

attempts to account theologically for the meaning and value of other

religions. Christian theology of religions attempts to think

theologically about what it means for Christians to live with people

of other faiths and about the relationship of Christianity with other

religions.

 

Recently some authors have proposed the label " theology of religious

pluralism, " as is evident in the monumental work of the Roman

Catholic Jacques Dupuis, S.J., Towards a Christian Theology of

Religious Pluralism. An earlier book by Race, Christian and Religious

Pluralism, shows the same orientation in the way he defines theology

of pluralism: " The Christian theology of religions has come to be the

name for that area of Christian studies which aims to give some

definition and shape to Christian reflection on the theological

implications of living in a religiously plural world. " The focus of

pluralism in defining the content of theology of religions is

appropriate in that it highlights the most significant challenge to

theology of religions. Nevertheless, the phrase " theology of

religions " most probably has gained an established status as a

general title for this field of study.

 

A distinction should be made between theology of religion (singular)

and theology of religions (plural).

 

The theology of religion asks what religion is and seeks, in the

light of Christian faith, to interpret the universal religious

experience of humankind.; it further studies the relationship between

revelation and faith, faith and religion, and faith and salvation. " 10

 

Eventually the theology of religion becomes a theology of religions,

which studies the various religious traditions from the perspective

of Christian faith and its foundational affirmation concerning Jesus

Christ. Consequently, a general theology of religions treats all

different religions as a whole, as the reality of human culture

embedded in cultures and worldviews, whereas theologies of particular

religious traditions focus on the relationship between Christianity

and a particular religion. The Christian-Jewish dialogue provides an

example. These particular theologies of religions are also called

local theologies of religions: African theology of religions, Asian

theology of religions and, for example, Indian theology of

religions.. An African theology of religions inquires into the

continuity between African traditional religions and the Christian

message. The same principle applies to an Asian or Latin American

theology.

 

The goal of the present book is to introduce Christian theology of

religions. In principle—even though not much work has yet been done—

there also could be a theology of religions from the perspective of

other religions, such as a Buddhist or Hindu theology of religions.

The goal of each of these theologies would be to reflect on the

meaning of other religions in relation to its own convictions and

underlying foundations. Christian theology of religions is by far the

most developed type of theology of religions.

 

Wilfred Cantwell Smith, the famous Islamic expert, has suggested

a " world theology " instead of a particular Christian or other

theology of religions. According to him, this type of theology is the

only one that does justice to the new global awareness of religious

pluralism. A world theology would be one " for which the `religions'

are the subject, not the object; a theology that emerges out of " all

the religions of the world.' " In Smith's mind, that kind of world

theology would mean not diluting Christian faith but rather

transcending it, in the sense that it would become " the faith for all

of us. " 12 ...

 

As a separate field of study, theology of religions is a rather

recent phenomenon. It emerged first in the Catholic circles beginning

with the radical reorientation of Catholic theology as a result of

the Second Vatican Council (1962) and soon spread to Protestant

spheres as well. In the wake of these dramatic Catholic changes, the

World Council of Churches, under the leadership of Stanley Samartha

of India, published The Living Faiths and Ultimate Goals in 1974,

followed next year by Towards World Community; Resources and

Responsibilities for Living Together. Currently, theology of

religions is one of the most (if not the most) rapidly growing branch

of theological studies. Beginning in the late 1980s, there has been a

steady flow of publications that intensified at the turn of the

millennium.

 

Although theology of religions did not have a prominent place in

theological curriculum until the 1960s or so, some influential voices

had been speaking decades earlier. The great German liberal thinker

Ernst Troeltsch, sometimes called the " father of pluralism, "

published the essay " The Place of Christianity Among the World

Religions, " and the American philosopher William Hocking wrote his

widely read Rethinking Missions a few years later, in 1932. Both of

these works argued for historical relativism and a nonexclusive

attitude toward other religions. Even earlier, in the beginning of

the century, John Farquhar, a Scottish Protestant missionary to

India, argued that Christ is The Crown of Hinduism (1913).

 

Even though theology of religions is a fairly new discipline in

theology, the questions it asks are not new. In the past, they were

treated as part of other theological loci. The main question is,

naturally, that of salvation: Is salvation to be found only in

Christianity, and more specifically only in the church? Is salvation

tied to the person and work of Christ? What is the lot of those who

have never heard of the Christian message? Several related questions

have also been raised as part of theological studies: Is revelation

to be fond only in Christ, or are other religions revelatory, too?

What is the relation of the Christian conception of God to other

religions' views?

 

A path was paved for the emergence of theology of religions from the

beginning of the twentieth century by the rise of the study of

comparative religions. Christian theologians became aware of the

nature and distinctive features and beliefs of other religions in a

new way. Implied in the emergence of Christian theology of religions

is the realization that Christian theology can no longer develop in

isolation from the opinions and views of other religions.

Consequently, an encounter with religions also contributes to the

growth of Christian self-identity. When challenged to define one's

own convictions vis-a-vis other alternatives, one always receives an

opportunity to see more clearly what is different from and similar to

other worldviews.

 

Alan Race comments that some now believe

 

that the future of Christian theology lies in the encounter between

Christianity and other faiths. If they are correct in this, then the

Christian theology of religions needs present no apologia for adding

one more specialism to the Christian theological enterprise as a

whole. Rather, it ought to rejoice at being at the frontiers of the

next phase of Christian history.13

 

The late theological giant Paul Tillich already saw this when, in his

last published lecture, he predicted that the future of theology lies

in the " interpenetration of systematic theology study and religious

historical studies. " As a result, in contact with the history of

religions " every individual doctrinal statement or ritual expression

of Christianity receives a new intensity of meaning. " 14

 

An Introduction to the Theology of Religions, pp. 20-3

Veli-Matti Karkkainen

Intervarsity Press (September 2006)

ISBN-10: 083082572X

ISBN-13: 978-0830825721

 

 

Notes:

10. Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology, p. 7

12. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, Towards a World Theology (London;

Macmillan, 1981), pp.124-25.

13. Race, Christians and Religious Pluralism, p. xi.

14. Paul Tillich, " The Significance of the History of religions for

the Systematic Theologian, " in The Future of Religion (New York:

Harper & Row, 1996), p. 91

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