Theology Of Religions Research Articles

종교신학으로 본 종교교육 유형 및 전망: 니터의 관계모델을 중심으로

[Objective] This paper aims to explore a desirable form of religious education, focusing on Paul Knitter’s ‘Mutuality Model’ within theologies of religions. [Contents] To accomplish this purpose, the study evaluates the attitudes that religious educators should adopt towards other religions by examining Knitter’s four models: the Replacement Model, the Fulfillment Model, the Mutuality Model, and the Acceptance Model. These four models are then applied to analyze the three types of religious education: confessional religious education, religious education as religious studies, and education for religiousness. [Conclusions] Education for religiousness is well-suited to the Mutuality Model and is considered appropriate for the following reasons: 1) its goals align with both the Ministry of Education's curriculum and the mission of religiously-affiliated schools, 2) it can mitigate conflicts associated with traditional confessional religious education, and 3) by recognizing religiousness as a shared foundation among religions, it promotes interreligious dialogue, unity, and cooperation in the classroom.

On the Profile of Intercultural Theology: A Discipline (Still) in the Making

This article distinguishes the discipline of Intercultural Theology from other theological disciplines (exegesis, church history, Systematic Theology) and from World Christianity and Anthropology of Christianity. The main thesis is that although Intercultural Theology has a broader methodological spectrum than Mission Studies, and although it approaches its subject matter in a far more differentiated way, the discipline will need to maintain its basis in mission theology lest it dissolve into pure cultural studies. Based on this premise, the article proceeds to discuss both methodological questions and the subject matter of the discipline. Finally, it highlights the following topics as of particular relevance at present: intercultural hermeneutics and the understanding of power, theologies of mission and the understanding of universality, and theologies of religion and the understanding of recognition.

Review of Thurner, <em>Die Geburt des Christentums als Religion</em> (2021)

Supervised by Michael Bergunder at Heidelberg, this PhD thesis outlines Ernst Troeltsch’s Theology of Religion (Part I) and investigates the sources of that Theology (Part II). It concludes that judging by the latter, Troeltsch’s Theology with its notion of Christianity as a religion cannot be understood merely in terms of a continuation of early 19th century (and earlier) traditions but draws on an entirely new, global, perspective on religion, which emerged in the late 19th century.

Remembering George Lindbeck at the Centenary of his Birth

Remembering George Lindbeck at the Centenary of his Birth J. Augustine Di Noia O.P., S.T.Mag. WHEN I MOVED INTO St. Mary’s Priory in New Haven in the fall of 1974 to begin graduate studies in the department of religious studies at Yale University, about ten years had passed since the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council.1 George Lindbeck—the man with whom I was to work on the theology of religions and interreligious dialogue—had been among the delegated observers at the council (1962-64), representing the World Lutheran Federation. He had already written a book about his experience and the implications of the council for the future of Catholic theology.2 He was fascinated by the fact that my time of formation in the Dominican Order had coincided with the years of the council and its somewhat tumultuous immediate aftermath. It was not until years later that I would become more reflective about the impact of the council on the formation communities of the Province of St. Joseph. At the time of my conversations with Lindbeck, I recalled my formation years as largely peaceful ones. Considering my experience in the light of the fragmentation that he had seen elsewhere in the post-conciliar Church, Lindbeck marveled at the comparative [End Page 131] tranquility of the situation I remembered and eventually he found a way to interpret it for me. Some of what I learned from him in those conversations I later ventured to formulate in a lecture in 2009 on the occasion of the dedication of the new academic wing and theological library at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Lindbeck had helped me to see the importance, for the Dominicans, of the relatively calm assimilation of the renewal measures promulgated by the Second Vatican Council. This development was due, at least in part, to the fact that during and after the years of the council the faculty and senior friars in the DHS community and in the province construed the conciliar teachings as being in essential continuity, rather than a disruption or break . . . with previous Catholic teaching and the tradition. As I acknowledged in that lecture: Although there were difficulties, perhaps especially during the 1970s, the council was generally not experienced as a revolution. Without the destructive turmoil that had beset some other Catholic institutions and communities, the fundamental patterns of the Dominican religious and liturgical life of the priory, as well as those of formation and theological education in the Thomistic tradition, while undergoing necessary adjustments, continued more or less undisturbed.3 When I heard Pope Benedict XVI, in his momentous Christmas discourse to the Curia on December 22, 2005, contrast the hermeneutic of discontinuity and rupture with the hermeneutic of reform and continuity in the interpretation and implementation of the Second Vatican Council, I naturally thought of Lindbeck who had, over thirty years before, first introduced me to these categories for understanding the postconciliar period. I What I had absorbed in my conversations with Lindbeck about the impact of Vatican II on the eastern province of [End Page 132] Dominican friars was just one element in his analysis of the state of late-twentieth-century theology. For me—and probably for others as well—the immense interpretive power of this analysis only emerged gradually as I began to teach theology after leaving Yale in 1980. In his first-rate new guide to Lindbeck’s life and thought, Shaun Brown notes that “coming out of his experience as an observer at Vatican II,” Lindbeck’s “cautious optimism” about the future of Roman Catholic theology was on display in the book bearing that title in 1970.4 Five years later, however, his essay “The Crisis of American Catholicism” marked a shift in his thinking as he noted that, instead of the “great upsurge of Christian vitality and faithfulness within the Roman Catholic communion . . . the aftermath of Vatican II can be read as disastrous.”5 During our conversations in the following decades, Lindbeck framed his analysis of the fractious state of American theology in terms of a perceptive account of the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council. According to this...

"What Is so Amazing about All This?": Buddhist Criticism of Christianity in Sixteenth-/Seventeenth-Century Japan

abstract: The first Christian missionaries arrived in Japan in the middle of the sixteenth century. They missionized quite a number of Japanese people but also angered many through their disrespectful behavior and destruction of temples and shrines. Less than 100 years later, Japan closed its borders, persecuted Christians, and banned Christianity in total. The reasons for this drastic step weren't solely political but also theological. Theological arguments concerning theism, eschatology, ethics, and theology of religion are found in official edicts, in "disputes" between Christian missionaries and Buddhist scholars, as well as in theological treatise. One of the reoccurring arguments against Christianity includes the description of the arrogant behavior of the missionaries. According to the documents, they displayed an attitude of knowing everything concerning the world next to the ignorant Buddhists. This exclusivist mindset wasn't compatible with the order of Japan and the three teachings. In the eyes of the authorities, this doctrine secured peace and ensured domestic stability. Especially the Japanese and former Christian Fabian Fucan, as well as the Buddhist monk Suzuki Shōsan, adduce various Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist teachings against the charge of ignorance. Conversely, Fucan's writing, as well as the edicts, records of religious "disputes," and other treatises, include the accusation that Christianity does not contain any new doctrine advancing the local one. Moreover, it is stated that Christian salvation exclusivism suggests a powerless God, and the missionaries were described as hypocrites and liars, as they did not keep their commandments.

Minority theology

The aim of this article is to contribute to the development of minority theology by actualizing, developing and assessing a set of analytic tools. We strive to fulfil this aim by pursuing three parallel paths. Firstly, we relate our discussion of minority theology to other kinds of minority studies in order to benefit from theoretical perspectives and empirical findings provided by other disciplines. Secondly, because minority theology is a consequence of religious diversity, we explore how concepts developed in theology of religions and aimed at clarifying the relation to the (religious) other, can prove helpful for the task of identifying and analysing the theological coping strategies and the identity work adopted by both majorities and minorities. Thirdly, in order to avoid an all-too-encompassing definition of minority studies in theology, which might lead to a blurring of the concept, we develop and argue for a distinction between theology by, about, because of, and with minorities.

Religions as Yogas: How Reflection on Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions Can Clarify the Threefold Model of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism

Religions as Yogas: How Reflection on Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions Can Clarify the Threefold Model of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism

Theological Valorization of the Other from an Orthodox Christian Perspective: Dorin Oancea’s Model of Theology of Religions in Relation to Social and Theological Developments of Modernity

This paper analyzes the model of theology of religions elaborated by the Romanian Orthodox theologian Dorin Oancea and highlights the possibilities for openness towards other religious realms and for real theological validation of non-Christian religions. It focuses both on the modern premises of this model and on the ways in which the author ensures its continuity inside the Tradition and its acceptance within the Orthodox-Christian world. Dorin Oancea’s construct, a unique system of pluralistic inclusivism, elaborated by an Orthodox theologian who wants to remain aligned with the Eastern Orthodox patristic and traditional theological thinking while still addressing current topics by means of contemporary instruments and present-day language, is a valuable example of religious change that takes place within Orthodoxy, which is regarded as a traditional branch of Christianity. This paper identifies forms of theological newness in Dorin Oancea’s manner of addressing the challenges of present times in relation to the dynamics of the field of theology of religions and of Orthodox theology.

What Does J.N. Farquhar Have to Say about Islam?

Abstract John Nicol Farquhar was a Scottish missionary and orientalist, well-known even today for his ideas on fulfilment theology. Whereas Farquhar’s position on Hinduism vis-a-vis Christianity is still widely discussed, few are aware of what he wrote about Islam. This is because it is assumed that his view of Islam was no different from his view of other religious traditions. This article discusses the question of whether Islam was merely part of Farquhar’s broader conception of religious traditions in their Christ-ward journey. My provisional answer to this question is that while it is true that for Farquhar, Islam was part of the broader context of religions, he also viewed Islam as being distinct from other religious traditions, both mainstream and marginal. His view was that Islam stood alongside Christianity as an ally, as a catalyst of reform in religions, and as such, Islam was not just an object of Christ-ward transformation. In this article, I focus on three of Farquhar’s major writings containing material on Islam, which may not be very well-known to readers and commentators today. It is aimed at theological students and teachers, particularly those interested in the theology of religions and dialogue with Islam, so that they can build on what they already know, and shape their thinking about how to relate to Islam and Muslims as partners, not merely as objects in God’s mission.

Utilizing the Theology of Religions and Human Geography to Understand the Spatial Dimension of Religion and Conflict

This paper argues for an interdisciplinary approach within the study of religion and conflict. Using a religious studies framework, it demonstrates that tools from human geography, peace studies, and the theology of religions can be used to shed light on the intractability of conflicts where religion is not “innocent”. Within human geography, the spatial dimension of individual and communal identity, most particularly the concept of “mythical space”, can illuminate the non-empirical, affective factors that condition attitudes to religious and ethnic others. Similarly, within the theology of religions, the typology of exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism can aid understanding of tendencies within all human communities, religious and non-religious, when faced with perceived threats from significant others. Two case studies, Sri Lanka and Israel/Palestine, are examined through this interdisciplinary approach, using illustrative “moments” within each conflict. Both highlight the affective power of primal imaginaries that are informed by narratives about religion, land, and identity. Without dismissing the importance of political and economic factors in the arising of conflict, this paper argues that it is not enough to analyse these factors alone. Other disciplines are necessary and this paper argues for two important examples: human geography and the theology of religions.

Problematising the Islamic Theology of Religions: Debates on Muslims’ Views of Others

Race’s typology has been widely used outside of the Christian tradition; however, it has been constructed in the light of the epistemological and soteriological concerns raised by Christian approaches towards other religions. Even though different questions generate the Christian and Islamic theologies of religions, Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have used Race’s classification to present the Islamic theology of religions. This paper presents different usages of Race’s three-fold typology and shows that Race’s threefold classification is not fully applicable to the Islamic theology of religions. The inclusivist position in the Islamic theology of religions (or its application to them) seems to be the most problematic issue. This is not because no inclusivist theology exists in the Islamic theology of religions, but rather because some scholars emphasise soteriology when applying Race’s inclusivism to the Islamic theology of religions, whilst others take epistemological concerns into account. Unlike these scholars, this paper eventually offers that contemporary Muslim theologians offer two-sided arguments. The supersessionist theory (Islam is the only true religion that supersedes other religions) is the best way to distinguish between these positions. According to Knitter’s classification, this paper considers this theory as a form of exclusivism, which would be seen as the “Replacement Model”. Contemporary discourse on the Islamic response to religious pluralism takes place between exclusivists who believe that Islam is the only religion that has superseded other religions and pluralists who think the opposite.

Pope Francis and Interreligious Encounter

The article examines the contributions of Pope Francis to the theology of religion and interreligious dialogue by examining his political, sociopolitical, and practical approach, and contrasting this approach with the doctrinal and theological dialogue and deploying the implications of his four principles—“time is greater than space”; “unity prevails over conflict”; “realities are more important than ideas”; and “the whole is greater than the part”—for the practice of interreligious dialogue.

List of Contributors

James Butler(PhD, Durham University) is the Assistant Coordinator and lecturer of the MA Programme at Church Mission Society, Oxford, UK and Post-doctoral Researcher at the University of Roehampton, London, UK. His PhD explored how Small Missional Communities sustain their social action.Rachel Iwamony(PhD, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is a staff member of the faculty of theology at Indonesia Christian University in the Moluccas and now serves as the director of Graduate Program. She teaches courses in theology of religions and Christian spirituality.E.J. David KramerE.J. David Kramer is Lecturer in Systematic Theology at the

Herman and Johan Herman Bavinck on the Uniqueness of Christian Theism

Abstract This article presents Herman Bavinck and Johan Herman Bavinck’s explications of the uniqueness of Christian theism in terms of the absolute personalism of the Christian Scriptures. Both argue that, outside of Christian special revelation, absoluteness and personality appear in irresolvable dialectic. The dogmatician Herman Bavinck detects this tension in the history of Western philosophy, and the missiologist Johan Herman in the religions of Java. They argue that the Christian Scriptures present the absolute personality of the triune God as the subversive fulfillment of the contradictory theisms of philosophical speculation and of non-Christian religions respectively. This article thus attempts a retrieval of a promising neo-Calvinist theme for the sake of a Reformed theology of religions and missiological encounter.

Vloga nekrščanskih verstev v apologetiki profesorja Lamberta Ehrlicha

Theologian and professor Lambert Ehrlich (1878–1942) was an internationally renowned expert on the history and theology of religions. He was teaching religious studies, missiology and apologetics at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana. He included the subject matter of non-Christian religions in all his subjects. Ehrlich defended Christianity in relation to non-Christian religions as the main purpose of his scientific work was to prove the truth of the Christian revelation, passed on by the Catholic Church. In apologetics, he was discussing living and ancient religions and wanted to prove their fallacies. A peculiarity of his apologetics is the comparison of analogies in the religious texts of ancient peoples and in the Old Testament. The examples of other religions in his teaching are only in the service of the defense of the Biblical revelation and Christianity. Ehrlich’s comprehension of non-Christian religions is in accordance with the theological standards of the first half of the twentieth century when the magisterium of the Catholic Church was not yet encouraging interreligious dialogue.

Undoing and Unsaying Islamophobia: Toward a Restorative and Praxis-Oriented Catholic Theology with Islam

This article explores how Christian theology has historically contributed to the modern ideology of Islamophobia. After arguing that contemporary popular and political Islamophobia has its sources in replacement theology, theological supersessionism, anti-Judaism, antisemitism, Christian-Islamic polemics, Orientalism, and modern racism, it seeks to reorient Catholic theology by undoing and unsaying this discursive and political harm. Constructively, the relatively novel genealogy of Islamophobia this article tentatively traces is based on three discursive moves: linking (1) replacement theology/supersessionism with medieval anti-Islamic theology, (2) the latter to Orientalism, and (3) the previous two to Islamophobia. These three discursive moves are possible because they were and remain sustained by supremacist theologies begotten by replacement theology/supersessionism. The article draws from theories of ideology and social imaginaries to recognize that the words, symbols, narratives, and metaphors that constituted a Christian theology of Islam since the seventh-century emergence of the Islamic tradition cannot be subverted merely by forgetting or ignoring them; they cannot be unlearned merely by learning “positive views” of the Islamic religious traditions (from Muslims, scholars, or both); they cannot be undone through a religion-blind, apolitical theology of religions that rejects nothing that is true and holy in religions; finally, they cannot be dismantled even by a Catholic theology of Islam that cherishes specific beliefs and practices in common with Muslims. It concludes by beginning to construct a Catholic theology of interreligious praxis intended to dismantle and disrupt Islamophobia today. This praxis-oriented theology is grounded in a Christian conception of restorative justice and the Catholic sacrament of reconciliation. At the core of this proposal is the assertion that theologies of the past remain the politics of the present. If Catholic theology has shaped the sociopolitical ideology and structure of Islamophobia today, then an anti-Islamophobic Catholic theology must be political; otherwise, it will remain ineffective in undoing the political harm it has produced.

Christianity as “True Religion” According to Karl Barth’s Theologia Religionum: An intercultural Conversation with Selected Asian Christian Theologians


 
 
 This article orchestrates an intercultural theological conversation between Karl Barth’s theology of religions and selected Asian Christian theologians. The latter rightly stress that Barth’s criticism of religions is mainly concerned with Christian religion, although it does allow for the recognition of “other true lights.” Yet, insufficient attention is paid to the fact that Barth considers Christianity in particular “the true religion.” In critical conversation with these Asian reflections, it becomes clear that we need to move beyond Barth because (1) his Christocentrism neglects God’s presence as Creator and Spirit in other religious traditions, (2) Barth’s actualism does not allow him to properly distinguish between the word of God in the Christian Scriptures and in the “other lights,” and (3) this actualism stands in the way of a full recognition of the historical nature of revelation and salvation in Christ.
 
 

Graded Theism: A Fundamental Theology of Religions

This article is set in the context of the pastoral difficulties in embracing interreligious dialogue. Tracing the problem to the seeming incompatibility between dialogue and proclamation, it goes on to argue that this difficulty can be overcome by providing an adequate conceptual framework. Using some recent work in fundamental theology, the article proposes ‘graded theism’ as providing the needed conceptual grounding for overcoming the said incompatibility. This article clearly distinguishes fundamental theology from theology of religions, philosophy and theology from scientific study of religions, the common ground required for dialogue from the lowest common denominator of religions postulated on the basis of scientific study. The last distinction enables one to maintain both commonalities as well as particularities of religions, and collaborate with people of other faiths without undermining proclamation.

Merawat Hidup Bersama Di Tengah Kemajemukan dan Konflik Antarumat Beragama

Wayame is one of the villages that did not get involved in the social conflict in 1999. This does not mean that Wayame village does not care about other villages because it does not participate in conflicts. However, in Wayame village, it is true that the conflict only brings destruction in the social ties of the community which in turn can have a traumatic impact on the pluralistic Wayame community. Wayame Village, which is not involved in the conflict and looks harmonious - is not as easy as one might imagine. The existence of a harmonious life process in the midst of diversity in Wayame village has hard efforts made by village governments, religious leaders, and especially people who have a love for Wayame village. Efforts and work to maintain harmony in Wayame village require the involvement of all elements of society, therefore Wayame village formed a TEAM 20 consisting of 10 Christians and 10 Muslims to maintain the stability of the village and the community so as not to get involved in the conflict at that time. In efforts to maintain harmony in the midst of a pluralistic society, it is necessary to understand the religions that exist in society, therefore the theology of religions is necessary to find a common goal as religious human beings in the midst of diversity.

Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural

Believing in Bits: Digital Media and the Supernatural