Stepping Stones to Other Religions: A Christian Theology of Interreligious Dialogue

Acknowledgements 13

Abbreviations 15

Introduction 17

I Theology in a Radically New Context 24

1 9/11 and the New Globalisation 24

a The Modern Neglect of Religion 25

b The Turn to Multiculturalism 26

c A Post-9/11, New Interest in Religion 28

2 The Ambiguous Return of Religion to the Public Square 29

a The Impact of Globalisation 29

b The Rise of Vague Religiosities 29

c The New Visibility of Religion - A Matter of Debate 30

3 Theology Caught between Modernity and Post-Modernity 34

a Collapse of the Classical Synthesis of God, the Cosmos and the Self 35

b The Rise of Onto-Theology 37

c David Taylor's Take on the Gradual Shift from Faith to Unbelief 39

4 A Peep at Post-Modernity 42

a The Mood of Post-Modernity 43

b Some Positive Aspects of Post-Modernity 44

c The Possibility of a New, Second Modernity 45

2 The Explicit Treatment of Other Religions 141

a The 1961 Lecture 142

b Christ in Non-Christian Religions 144

c The Importance of Other Religions for Salvation 146

d The Universal Presence of the Spirit in the World 147

3 A Critical Review of Rahner 149

a A Pioneer of Dialogue and Inclusivism 149

b A Critical Examination of Rahner on Christ in Relation to Other Religions 250

c Rahner's Treatment of Other Religions 152

4 Standing on the Shoulders of Rahner in the Context of Inter-Religious Dialogue 155

a Rahner and Post-Modernism 155

b Inclusive Pluralism 159

c Christianity as an Open and Unfinished Narrative 161

V The Turn to the Spirit: Elements Within a Fundamental Theology of the Holy Spirit 169

1 A Starting Point for Dialogue with the Religions: Pneumatology and/or Trinity? 171

a Taking a Trinitarian Approach 171

b Adopting Pneumatology 172

c Reasons for starting with Pneumatology 173

2 Bernard Lonergan and Frederick Crowe on the Priority of Pneumatology 175

a Lonergan's Principles 176

b Crowe's Development of Lonergan 178

c Consequences and Challenges 180

3 Philosophical Problems with Spirit-Talk 183

a A Cultural Awkwardness with Spirit-Talk 183

b Summary of Prejudices against a Discourse about the Spirit 184

4 Philosophical Resources for Spirit-Talk 185

a The Shift from Substance to Subject 185

b Engaging critically with the Turn to the Subject 187

c New Analogies 190

5 Signposts to Spirit-Talk 190

a Anthropology and Pneumatology 192

b Putting Spirit Back into Matter 194

c 'To Think Spirit… Think Materially' 198

VI Pneumatology and Revelation 204

1 Reasons prompting a Pneumatology of Revelation 205

a Vatican II and John Paul II 205

b Pauline Literature Links the Spirit with Revelation 206

c The Action of the Spirit in Judaism and Creation 206

d The Spirit as 'the Subjective Possibility of Revelation' 207

2 Review of Dei Verbum 208

a A Shift in the Understanding of Revelation at Vatican II 208

b An Overview of Dei Verbum 209

c Gaps in Dei Verbum 210

d Linking Pneumatology and Christology in the Service ofRevelation 212

3 The Ingredients of a Pneumatology of Revelation 214

a Imagination and Theology 214

b Imagination and the Holy Spirit 216

4 Different Types of Revelation 219

a Rahner's Two-Fold Revelation: Transcendental andCategorical 220

b Monotheistic Revelation and Mystical Revelation 223

c Christ as the 'Completion' of the Revelation of God in History 224

d The Universality of the Revelation of God among the Nations and the Religions 226

5 Knowledge, Reason and Faith 47

a There Is More than One Way of Knowing 47

b Questioning the Self-Sufficiency of Secular Reason: Expanding Horizons 50

c The Relationship between Faith and Reason 54

II The Catholic Church and Other Religions 62

1 Vatican II on Other Religions 63

a The Gentle but Determined Influence of John XXIII 63

b An Outline of NostraAetate 65

c Light on Nostra Aetate from Other Documents of Vatican II 67

d Initial Evaluation of Nostra Aetate 69

2 The Reception of Nostra Aetate in the Post-Conciliar Period 70

a Encyclicals of John Paul II Promoting Dialogue with Other Religions 71

b Dialogue and Proclamation (1991) 72

c Dominus Iesus (2000) 73

d Post-Conciliar Documents on the Jews 75

e Prophetic Gestures of John Paul II 76

3 Benedict XVI on Inter-Religious Dialogue 79

a Benedict XVI and Catholic-Jewish Relations 80

b Benedict XVI and Islam-A Shift in Focus 81

c Benedict XVI and Assisi 2011 86

4 Challenges Arising from Vatican II Regarding Other Religions 87

a Nostra Aetate as a Theological and Pneumatological Event 87

b The Council as a Christological Challenge 88

c Nostra Aetate as an Ecclesial Call to a Dialogue of Mutuality 89

III Mapping the Debate in the Twentieth Century and Early Twenty-First Century 96

1 Overview of the Debate in the Twentieth Century and EarlyTwenty-First Century 98

a The Three-Fold Typology 99

b Discussion among Theologians 100

c Interventions by the.Catholic Church 101

2 A Critique of the Three-Fold Typology 107

a Critique of Religious Pluralism 108

b The Legitimacy of Theological Pluralism 110

3 Moving Beyond the Impasse 111

a Inclusive Pluralism 111

b Universal-Access Exclusivism 113

4 The Dialogical Imperative of Vatican II 114

a Paul VI on Dialogue and Vatican II 114

b Elements within a Theology of Dialogue 116

c Dialogue as Conversation 118

d Guidelines for Dialogue 120

e Dialogue - A Shared Search for Truth 123

f Dialogue between the Particular and the Universal 126

IV Karl Rahner's Contribution to Inter-Religious Dialogue 133

1 Rahner on Christ and Other Religions 134

a The Experience of God 135

b Relocating the Christ-Event within the History of the World 136

c The Presence of a Searching Christology within Other Religions 139

VII Developing a Christian Theology of the Holy Spirit 235

1 The Spirit in the First Testament 235

a Spirit in the History of Israel 236

b Spirit in the Stories of Creation 237

2 The Spirit in the Second Testament 242

a The Gift of the Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus 242

b The Gift of the Spirit in the Early Christian Communities 243

3 Constructing a Spirit Christology 244

a Congar, Crowe and the Patristic Period 244

b Reasons for a Spirit Christology 246

c A Plurality of Spirit Christologies 248

d Advantages of a Spirit Christology 252

4 Towards a Spirit Ecclesiology 253

a A New Pentecost at Vatican II? 253

b Calls for a Spirit-Centred Theology 255

c Recovering a Spirit-Centred Ecclesiology 257

d Ecclesiology in the Service of Pneumatology 258

5 Discerning the Spirit in the Churches, in Religions and in the World 260

a Historical Narratives of the Spirit in Judaism and Christianity 261

b Theological Criteria 263

c Attending to the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit 263

VIII The Jewish-Christian Dialogue: A Sign of Hope for the Future of Inter-Religious Dialogue 271

1 A Breakthrough at Vatican II 271

a A Summary of Nostra Aetate, Article 272

b Documents Supporting Nostra Aetate 272

2 The Unrevoked Covenant of God with Israel 273

a Returning to Romans 9-11 273

b From an Extrinsic to an Intrinsic Relationshipwith Second Temple Judaism 275

3 Doing Christology in the Light of Nostra Aetate 276

a The Jewishness of Jesus 277

b The Jesus Movement as a Reform Movement withinSecond Temple Judaism 280

c A Gradual Parting of the Ways 281

4 Unresolved Theological Questions in theJewish-Christian Dialogue 284

a The Horror of the Holocaust 284

b Where Is God in Human Suffering? 285

c Keeping the Memory of the Shoah Alive andthe Williamson Affair 289

d One or Many Covenants? 292

5 Other Disputed Theological Issues 295

a The Question of Mission 295

b Prayer for the Jews 299

c Similar but Different Eschatologies 300

Epilogue 309

Select Bibliography 314

Index 317