An Introduction to the Theology of Religions: Biblical, Historical & Contemporary Perspectives [Paperback]

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 23, 2003

Early in the nineteenth century Ernst Troeltsch, the great German liberal thinker, published the influential essay "The Place of Christianity Among the World Religions." The question of the relation of Christianity to other religions is every bit as relevant as and perhaps even more urgent today than it was then. Beginning with a consideration of the biblical perspective, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen surveys the variety of diverse answers proposed by teachers of the church down through the ages. His reviews include the writings of Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and Clement of Alexandria, as well as those of Augustine, Luther, Calvin, and a broad selection of later Protestant and Catholic thinkers. He completes the historical section with an astute look at the radical challenges of Enlightenment and classical liberalism and the emergence of the fulfillment theory of religions. The bulk of Kärkkäinen's work provides a detailed and comprehensive survey of major confessional movements and theologians' opinions on the contemporary scene. Kärkkäinen provides succinct and trenchant descriptions of a wide diversity of theologians, including Karl Barth, Hendrik Kraemer, Paul Althaus, Karl Rahner, Hans Küng, Jacques Dupuis, Gavin D'Costa, Paul Tillich, Wolfhart Pannenberg, Lesslie Newbigin and M. M. Thomas, as well as Sir Norman Anderson, Clark Pinnock, Amos Yong, John Hick, Stanley Samartha, Raimundo Panikkar, Paul Knitter, Millard Erickson, Harold Netland and Vinoth Ramachandra. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions is an indispensable guide for anyone seeking to grasp and work their way through the full range of alternatives offered in answer to the question, What is the relation of Christianity to other religions?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This introduction is a major contribution to the growing body of literature in theology. It is a well-researched and balanced approach to the theology of religions that is acutely relevant for the religious pluralistic world in which we are living. This book sets a standard for all future work in this area. It is an absolute must for serious students in theology, missions and church history." (Japie J. La Poorta, Deputy President of the Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa, and former principal of Sarepta Theological College in Cape Town )

"Professor Karkkainen continues his excellent theological cartography in this intelligent and illuminating survey of theologies of religions. Anyone who wants to explore this territory will find this map to be clear, compact and discerning--in short, invaluable." (John G. Stackhouse Jr., Sangwoo Youtong Chee Professor of Theology and Culture, Regent College, Vancouver, Canada )

"This is a most useful book. It provides an up-to-date and comprehensive survey of the theology of religions. Dr. Kärkkäinen covers the major themes and introduces the main thinkers who have contributed to the theology of religions in the past century. He writes lucidly and presents the views of each scholar in a fair and balanced way. Anyone--and that should include all of us--who is concerned to follow developments in the theology of religions will find this to be a reliable and informative guide." (Wilbert R. Shenk, Paul E. Pierson Professor of Mission History and Contemporary Culture )

"Given today's theological agenda, it is of utmost significance to take into account the challenge of a Christian theology of religions. Dr. Karkkainen, a prolific and creative theologian in this field, takes the issue of religious pluralism seriously from biblical, historical and contemporary perspectives. His treatment of the Christian theology of religions in diverse contexts is comprehensive, impressive and compelling. His book is worth reading and discussing as a platform for improving Christian attitudes toward religious others. His book can also be used as a textbook in the fields of theology and religious pluralism. "Although the author's intent is to introduce diverse aspects of a theology of religions, he actually goes much further. In so doing, he does not confine the future of a Christian theology of religions to the intellectual play of pluralists, but instead builds on the common interests of various Christian traditions (whether Catholic, Protestant, liberal, conservative or Pentecostal) and their attempt at steering a course between the particularity of the gospel and the universality of its mystery. In this regard, Dr. Karkkainen makes plausible a systematic discourse about religious others as a theological discipline with the task of listening attentively to the mystery of God in the midst of people of other faiths. " (Paul S. Chung (D.Th.), author of Martin Luther and Buddhism: Aesthetics of Suffering, and lecturer in theology and Asian spirituality, Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, California )

Product Details

• Paperback: 372 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (October 23, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 083082572X
• ISBN-13: 978-0830825721
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #367,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Quite Helpful, But Some Reservations, May 23, 2009

By 

Matt K. "happy reader" (Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to the Theology of Religions: Biblical, Historical & Contemporary Perspectives (Paperback)

In this recent contribution to the growing literature on Christian theology of religions, Fuller Seminary (USA) Professor Veli-Matti Karkkainen sets for himself an ambitious agenda. He wants to "look more closely at the pilgrimage of the Christian church" vis-à-vis its response to other faiths (27). Retaining a "neutral" posture, he wants to present material from the Bible, church history, and from the contemporary theological scene. As such, his work aims to be a compendium of Christian opinions and attitudes formulated through interaction with religious plurality. That Karkkainen generally succeeds is without question. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions is a well-written and very useful resource for anyone engaging this field. Due to its encyclopedic nature, it would be tedious to review the entire book. Therefore, this review will highlight some positive features and offer a few criticisms.

First, particularly helpful is Karkkainen's ability to summarize the views of major thinkers in just a few pages. His selection of major contemporary thinkers reads like a who's-who in the field: Farquhar, Barth, Kraemer, Rahner, Dupuis, D'Costa, Tillich, Pannenberg, Newbigin, Pinnock, Hick, Knitter, Netland and many others. Happily, however, Karkkainen does not limit himself to western thinkers like these. He also recognizes the richness of South Asian perspectives, and thus includes MM Thomas, Raymond Panikkar, Stanley Samartha, and Vinoth Ramachandra. In each case he is able to present the views of each thinker in 5-12 pages. These summaries present the views of the thinker in question without comment.

Second, also noteworthy are the sections throughout the book in which Karkkainen engages in "critical reflections and questions." While the author is careful to maintain the book's character as "descriptive, and...not prescriptive" (168), his probing insights and questions enable the reader to engage in critical reflection for him- or herself. This is a sound pedagogical technique. For example, at the end of his look at the biblical "raw material" (35), he guides the reader through such biblical tensions as, "How do we reconcile the apparent exclusivism with the universality of the concept of the biblical God?, What does the...unique...role of Jesus in salvation mean to those who have never heard the gospel?..." (51). At the end of his look at "Ecclesiastical Approaches" a section which highlights official positions from the Roman Catholic Church, Anglican Churches, Mainline Protestant Churches, and the Ecumenical and Evangelical Movements, he makes this astute observation: "there are two giants among ecclesiastical opinions: the Roman Catholic Church's inclusivism and the quite exclusivistic stance held by evangelical, Pentecostal...and other...churches. Pluralism governs the academy, but in the pews these two other views tend to predominate" (160).

Third, in a central chapter, Karkkainen rightly draws our attention to the "all-important role of the Enlightenment" (90). With its questioning of traditional beliefs, its focus on the autonomous reason, its doubt in the supernatural, and its subjectivist approach to religious reality, the Enlightenment was a major pivot point in the Christian engagement with religious plurality. In fact, it is clear that contemporary pluralist ideologies are direct descendents of Enlightenment thought. He writes, "there have not been...any self-pronounced pluralists among Christian theologians before the time of the Enlightenment" (107), and "the momentous shift in thinking and the beginning of radical polarization happened with the advent of modernism in the aftermath of the Enlightenment" (108). As such, Karkkainen shows that the "mainstream view of the Christian church" (166) has been either Christocentric inclusivism or exclusivism. It is therefore refreshing to see that he devotes a smaller section of his book to the pluralist viewpoint.

Fourth, noting the increasing dissatisfaction with the old "exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism" taxonomy, Karkkainen presents a new "orientation" to the study of theologians of religions. The range of views typically called "exclusivist" he calls "ecclesiocentric," "inclusivist" views he calls "Christocentric," and pluralist views he calls "theocentric/realitycentric" (165-173). He argues that the old taxonomy focuses too much on the question of salvation, and tends to set up the views in opposition to one another. He feels that his new taxonomy "helps widen the focus," while allowing the views to be seen in their "continuity." Based on the definitions he gives, his new orientation allows the student to see various approaches to religions in a new light.

However, in some ways, Karkkainen's taxonomy has only replaced confusion with more confusion. First, why has he replaced a tripartite taxonomy for another? If the desire is to increase clarity among the range of views, 3 typical views seems to be unnecessarily limiting. Second, most who read "ecclesiocentric" will think of the Roman Catholic view "extra ecclesiam nulla salus - outside the church no salvation," though Karkkainen tries to distance himself from this view (167). At least among evangelicals, the accent is not on what could be called "church only" exclusivism, but on "Christ only" exclusivism. Karkkainen seems to forget that since the Reformation, most Protestants have insisted that it is not membership in any church that saves, but explicit faith in Jesus Christ. This is a Christocentric view if ever there was one! While the church is significant in such a view, it will certainly seem strange to its proponents to find themselves labeled "ecclesiocentric." Finally, it would seem that proponents of all three views would like to think of themselves as "theocentric."

Fifth, Karkkainen, perhaps unintentionally, has marginalized the Bible in his study. The biblical section occupies 15 pages of the total volume. By contrast, post-Enlightenment ecclesiastical approaches and theologians occupy over 260 pages. Perhaps this is because, in Karkkainen's view, "no comprehensive solution to this issue [Christianity's relationship to non-Christian religions] can be found in the Bible, but it does offer some leads" (33, quoting Senior and Stuhlmueller). He also points out that "merely referring to `the biblical view' is highly problematic" (50). While it is true that the Bible in no way works out a systematic theology of religions, it can be argued that the "leads" of the Bible do in fact lead somewhere, namely, toward comprehensive solutions. That there is not a singular view or solution should not cause anyone to sideline the biblical testimony as ambiguous (32). In fact, the very complexity of the biblical teaching on other religions argues for its comprehensiveness. After all, religions are complex phenomena. This is where Karkkainen's lack of a comprehensive look at the Bible comes in. Any Christian theology of religions must deal not only with a few biblical case studies where people in the Bible encountered plurality, nor merely with "themes" like "universalism and particularism," but also with the biblical teaching on creation, revelation, salvation, salvation history, mission to all nations, and the church. While Karkkainen has admirably captured a few biblical "leads" (33), there is much more that can be and should be said regarding the biblical testimony.

Sixth, despite the fact that such a study must be very selective, the reader should take note of certain voices that are missing from Karkkainen's discussion. First, since Christianity's long encounter with other faiths is in part a function of its missionary character, it would have been nice to see more missionary voices included. As it is, with a few exceptions, the volume is dominated not by "voices from the field," but "voices from the study." Second, since the fastest growing churches in the world today are in the Pentecostal and Charismatic stream, it would have been nice to see more voices from that tradition. Finally, since the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches have long lived as minorities in the midst of other faiths, it is regrettable (Karkkainen also admits this) that more voices from these traditions are not heard in his study.

In spite of these cautions, let it be reiterated that An Introduction to the Theology of Religions is a helpful contribution to a growing field of study. It should prove useful for teachers and students alike for many years to come.