Christianity and World Religions Disputed Questions in the Theology of Religions

by D'Costa, Gavin

• ISBN13: 9781405176743
• ISBN10: 1405176741
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-03-09
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

An engaging and accessible introduction to Christianity's relationship with other world religions, addressing the questions of why the reality, and vitality, of other religions has become a challenge, and showing how Christianity is equipped to deal with religious plurality at both the doctrinal and social level. Timely and accessible, this book tackles the question of why the reality, and vitality, of other religions has become a challenge for Christianity Makes a decisive contribution to debates about the clash between Islam and the West, arguing that the major threat to religious freedoms come from secularism, and that Islam and Christianity both have the resources to develop a vibrant and pluralist public square; one informed by intellectual rigor and debate Considers the wider issue of how modernity has defined 'religion', and provides a substantial critique of secular ways of controlling religions Shows how Christianity is very well suited to deal with religious plurality at the doctrinal and social level Addresses the core issues and describes the various answers that have been proposed in recent years - making it an ideal introduction to the field, and one which will stimulate ideas and discussions

Author Biography

Gavin D’Costa is Professor of Christian Theology at Bristol University. He also works with the Church of England and Roman Catholic Committees on Other Faiths, and the Pontifical Council for Other Faiths, Vatican City, advising these communities on theological issues. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Theology and the Public Square (Wiley-Blackwell, 2005), Sexing the Trinity (2000), and The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity (2000).

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Charting the Territory: Theology of Religions	p. 1
Early Map Making	p. 3
Introduction	p. 3
Pluralism	p. 9
Inclusivism	p. 19
Exclusivism	p. 25
Changing the Angle: Recent Maps	p. 34
Some Criticisms of the Threefold Typology	p. 34
Comparative Theology	p. 37
Postmodern Postliberalism	p. 45
The Making and Meaning of Religions	p. 55
Modernity's Story	p. 57
Introduction	p. 57
Modernity's Story about Religions	p. 58
An Alternative: The Secular Construction of the Sacred Modernity as the Establishment of a New Ruling Religion	p. 74
Conclusion	p. 102
Religions in the Public Square	p. 103
Whose Religion and Which Public Square?	p. 105
The Public Square	p. 105
A Taxonomy of Secular Modernity and Postmodernity	p. 107
Christian and Muslim Public Squares	p. 128
Roman Catholicism, Modernity, and Religious Plurality	p. 128
Islam, Reasoned Debate, and Religious Plurality	p. 136
Christ's Descent into Hell	p. 159
Old Doctrines for New Jobs	p. 161
Introduction	p. 161
"The Descent": Introduction to the "Circles of Hell"	p. 165
The Limbo of the Just and the Unevangelized	p. 167
Further into the Inferno	p. 188
Purgatory and the Non-Christian	p. 188
The Children's Limbo	p. 194
The Descent into Hell	p. 201
Bibliography	p. 212
Subject Index	p. 225
Index of Works	p. 233
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