CHRISTIANITY AND THE ENCOUNTER OF WORLD RELIGIONS. CONSIDERATIONS TO A CONTEMPORARY THEOLOGY OF RELIGION

Abstract

A basic problem of the contemporary religious-theological discussion may consist in the task of connecting a methodically sensitive cultural-hermeneutical theory of religion with a normative perspective. This task cannot be fairly developed either from theologies of religion oriented by the religious-theological triadic pattern of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism, or from the conceptions of comparative theologies. In my essay, I take up this question and try to show further aspects for the present religious-theological discussion by means of Tillich’s lectures on Christianity and the Encounter of the World Religions. His contribution is a threefold one: (1.) Through the methodic assimilation of the concept of religion, the pluralism of religions becomes, in principle, recognized. (2.) The foundation of the history of religions leads to a differentiated perception of the complex interreligious exchange processes. (3.) Tillich’s theology of religion involves not only the recognition of religious pluralism, but also a methodological justification for a normative criterion for the evaluation of religions. In the form of six theses, I would like to answer the question of the consequences of what has been said so far for the reflection and treatment of religious pluralism within theology.