THE INTERACTION BETWEEN CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND OTHER RELIGIONS 

One of the many issues relative to the task of constructing a Christian theology, is that of inquiring what Christian theology has to do with the other religions of the world.  We ask if there are things in common that we have with people of other faith traditions or whether we believe that divine truth is enclosed  and incapsulated within the Christian faith, its Scriptures, and traditions.  Some Christians will say that we should seek to "build bridges," and other Christians will say that we should not even bother because the theology of other faith traditions is false and non-resonant with Christian theology.

To be a Christian seems to entail the judgment that being a Christian is superior to being anything else.  To display this superiority has often been seen as the task of Christian apologetics.  This has not necessarily meant a claim that Christians are morally or humanly superior to others, but it has normally meant the conviction that the God from who alone salvation can be received is known or present to Christians as nowhere else (John B. Cobb, Jr. in "The Religions."  Christian Theology: An Introduction to Its Traditions and Tasks. Peter C. Hodgson and Robert H. King, eds.  Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1994, p. 353)

This, of course, raises  the question as to whether God has been revealed to people of other faith traditions and if so, if that revelation is somewhat "inferior" to the revelation that Christians have received.  It also raises the question as to whether Christian theology has a monopoly or domination of the entirety of divine truth.

Today this habit of thought is severely challenged by increasing awareness of the many impressive ways in which human beings are organizing their lives and seeking and finding truth, wholeness, or salvation.  To more and more Christians, approaching others with the assumption of the superiority of their own religion seems false to Christian love.  Is it not better to listen appreciatively to what others have learned and experienced than to assume that we already know better (Cobb, op. cit., p. 353)?

But this gives rise to problems too. Does it mean that we abandon the conviction that Jesus Christ is the savior or liberator of all?  Do we become relativistic, accepting private decisions of others as beyond criticism? Does this charitable tolerance extend to everyone-to racists for example? Or does our faith provide grounds to decide in advance what the limits of respect should be? If so, are we being truly open to those others whom we are called to love and who judge by other norms (Ibid)?  

Prior to World War I, the problem was often formulated as that of the finality or absoluteness of Christianity.  Can we appreciate the achievements of other  religious traditions and still evaluate them from the Christian point of view?  Has Christianity in principle already grasped the final truth, or must we recognize that Christianity is just one way of believing and living alongside others which have equal justification for their exclusive claims (Ibid.)?

This theologian believes and is convinced that since God is sovereign and that Christ is cosmic, that we cannot limit divine revelation and truth to one specific tradition.  We cannot place God in a box.  God is beyond our human ideological constructs.

Some may want to argue that since Christian theology is based on "divinely revealed truths," and other religions are "man made," that we have to pay no heed to the claims of other religions.  The notion here is that God has been revealed "for once and for all" through the Christ of Bethlehem and through the Scriptures and traditions which attest to Him.  My counter-argument is that God is the Lord of both creation and history, that therefore, God cannot be limited or restricted to a particular set of beliefs and practices.  To attempt to do would be another way of saying that God is the product of our imaginations and thoughts.  This then, would be that we are creating God in our image and likeness instead of God creating us in God's image and likeness.  

En fin, no religious tradition has a monopoly on divine truth.  Each tradition, including the Christian tradition, has a limited glimpse of what divine truth is.  We see dimly as through a mirror.

In the Name of the Creator, and of the Liberator, and of the Sustainer. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Juan A. Carmona 

Past Visiting Professor of Theology

Tainan Theological College/Seminary