by Gavin D'Costa. D'Costa (Bristol Univ., UK) offers a Roman Catholic analysis of how Christianity relates to other religions. He describes his existential engagement with the subject: namely, as an African-born theologian of Indian Catholic descent, the brother of a Buddhist, and a teacher in a modern secular setting. He offers what he believes to be a nuanced and therefore useful typology of theological positions, critically evaluating leading proponents of each in turn. He also gives attention to what one means by "religion," and seeks to include secular modernity rather than to allow it to maintain a privileged objectivity. D'Costa proposes alliances and deeper conversation among Christians and Muslims in Europe, to meet the challenge of the comparatively young religion of secularism that idolizes the sovereign state and seeks to exclude other religious options from the public forum. Finally, he takes a position within what he calls Christian universal-access exclusivism, which assumes that one must explicitly hear and trust the gospel for salvation, but that this may happen after death. He finds convincing substantiation for his position in biblical, patristic, and medieval Christian doctrine. Summing Up: Recommended. --Choice (Check Catalog)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Christianity and world religions : disputed questions in the theology of religions
by Gavin D'Costa. D'Costa (Bristol Univ., UK) offers a Roman Catholic analysis of how Christianity relates to other religions. He describes his existential engagement with the subject: namely, as an African-born theologian of Indian Catholic descent, the brother of a Buddhist, and a teacher in a modern secular setting. He offers what he believes to be a nuanced and therefore useful typology of theological positions, critically evaluating leading proponents of each in turn. He also gives attention to what one means by "religion," and seeks to include secular modernity rather than to allow it to maintain a privileged objectivity. D'Costa proposes alliances and deeper conversation among Christians and Muslims in Europe, to meet the challenge of the comparatively young religion of secularism that idolizes the sovereign state and seeks to exclude other religious options from the public forum. Finally, he takes a position within what he calls Christian universal-access exclusivism, which assumes that one must explicitly hear and trust the gospel for salvation, but that this may happen after death. He finds convincing substantiation for his position in biblical, patristic, and medieval Christian doctrine. Summing Up: Recommended. --Choice (Check Catalog)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment