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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 March 2013
There is increasing pressure on religious thinkers and leaders to construct theologies thoroughly grounded in the particularities of a faith tradition but truly appreciative of religious pluralism. This essay argues that a significant contribution towards articulating a Roman Catholic theology of religious diversity can be advanced by explicitly integrating developments in pneumatology and sacramental theology. Pneumatology has obvious pluralistic implications insofar as Catholic theologians and the magisterium itself have emphasized the universal presence of the Holy Spirit. The sacramental tradition is more ambivalent. On the one hand, the sacramental principle and sacramental nature of human existence would seem to endorse the authenticity of religious pluralism. On the other hand, sacramental theology in the West has historically been shaped by a Christomonism which necessarily tends toward exclusivism. This tendency can be overcome by understanding sacraments in light of a Spirit Christology from below.
1 E.g., Tissa Balasuriya, Jacques Dupius, and Peter Phan were specifically targeted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) for their views on religious pluralism. Some censures, such as those of Roger Haight and Jon Sobrino, may focus on Christology or sotieriology, but suspicion directed towards their work was connected to their openness to religious pluralism. See Hinze, Bradford, “A Decade of Disciplining Theologians,” Horizons 37 (2010): 92–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 See Tilley, Terrence W. et al. , Religious Diversity and the American Experience: A Theological Approach (New York: Continuum, 2007).Google Scholar
3 E.g., Pope Benedict XVI's comments on Islam and violence given at the University of Regensberg in 2006 are still a point of tension. See his lecture “Faith, Reason and the University: Memories and Reflections” (12 September 2006), http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg_en.html (accessed 11 October 2010).
4 Early arguments especially for religious pluralism often made the mistake of ignoring real differences across religions either because they were too eager to find commonality or driven by a grand theory of religion that made differences inconsequential. In the former scenario, the argument for religious pluralism required the jettison of too many fundamental faith commitments resulting in a theology that was no longer recognizable by a majority of its adherents. In the latter case, the grand theory of religion was too reflective of one culture or faith tradition making the intended pluralistic argument an inclusivist argument at best. Although intellectually and morally enticing, the pursuit of another grand theory of religion is not what is urgently needed in our pluralistic age. Such a project is at best grossly premature and prone to projecting false universalisms. What is needed in a world with many histories, cultures, and religions are arguments from within various religious traditions that develop pluralistic sensibilities that cultivate respect and reverence for the other in their faithful.
5 On the Holy Spirit's “junior status,” see McDonnell, Kilian, The Other Hand of God: The Holy Spirit as the Universal Touch and Goal (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2003), 81–90.Google Scholar
6 Initially, many twentieth-century reflections on the Holy Spirit were offered in connection to the renewed interest in the doctrine of Trinity. Some feminist theologians have also drawn attention to the Spirit as a way of both retrieving intimate, nurturing and relational images of God from the tradition and neutralizing the effect of the maleness of God incarnate. Greater contact with the Eastern Orthodox tradition, driven in part by the ecumenical concerns of Pope John Paul II and the collapse of the Soviet Union, has also been an important stimulus for exploring the role of the Holy Spirit. Lastly, several works in pneumatology have also grown out of and in response to charismatic movements within many Christian traditions, including the Roman Catholic Church.
7 A few highlights from such a list: Congar, Yves, I Believe in the Holy Spirit, 3 vol. in 1 trans. Smith, David (New York: Crossroad, 1997)Google Scholar; Coffey, David, Grace: The Gift of the Holy Spirit (Manly, NSW: Catholic Institute of Sydney, 1979)Google Scholar; Lampe, Geoffrey W. H., God as Spirit (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1984)Google Scholar; Holl, Adolf, The Left Hand of God: A Biography of the Holy Spirit, trans. Cullen, John (New York: Doubleday, 1998)Google Scholar; and Welker, Michael, God the Spirit, trans. Hoffmeyer, John F. (1994; reprint, Minneapolis: Fortress, 2004).Google Scholar
8 Cooke, Bernard, Power and the Spirit of God: Toward an Eexperience-based Pneumatology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; McDonnell, Other Hand of God. The 2003 College Theology Society annual convention which focused on the Holy Spirit should also be noted along with its annual volume, Hinze, Bradford, ed., The Spirit in the Church and the World, College Theology Society Annual Volume 49 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2003).Google Scholar
9 Jones, Serene and Lakeland, Paul, eds., Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005)Google Scholar; the following explication of these two themes is deeply indebted to the book's concluding chapter written by Ada María Isasi-Díaz, Barbara Holmes, Serene Jones, Catherine Keller, Walter Lowe, Jim Perkinson, Mark Wallace and Sharon Welch.
10 Perkinson, Jim, “The Jazz of the Spirit: A Poetic Perspective” in Constructive Theology, 272.Google Scholar
11 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 61.Google Scholar
12 Welch, Sharon, “Discerning Spirit: An Interrelational Communal Perspective,” in Constructive Theology, 265–67.Google Scholar
13 Isasi-Díaz, et al. , “Spirit,” in Constructive Theology, 244.Google Scholar
14 Ibid.
15 Fischer, Louis, Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World (New York: New American Library, 1954), 130.Google Scholar
16 Isasi-Díaz, et al. , “Spirit,” 244–45.Google Scholar
17 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 96–97.Google Scholar
18 Ibid., 213.
19 Buber, Martin, I and Thou, trans. Smith, Roland Gregor (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1937), 39Google Scholar, cited in McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 214.Google Scholar
20 Chauvet, Louis Marie, Symbol and Sacrament: A Reinterpretation of Christian Existence, trans. Madigan, Patrick and Beaumont, Madeleine (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1995), 513.Google Scholar
21 Ibid., 522. See also McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 229Google Scholar, where a similar view is expressed.
22 Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate), in Flannery, Austin, ed., Vatican Council II: The Basic Sixteen Documents, rev. ed. (Northport, NY: Costello, 1996), 569–74.Google Scholar The universal presence of the Spirit is affirmed on several occasions in the Vatican II documents, especially in Gaudium et Spes. It is also a common theme found in several of John Paul II's encyclicals. See Mitchell, Nathan, Meeting Mystery: Liturgy, Worship, Sacraments (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006), 140–41, 254–55.Google Scholar
23 It should be noted that even in the very cautious interpretation of religious inclusivism advanced by Dominus Iesus, there is a clear affirmation that the “customs, precepts, and teachings” of other religions continue to “nourish and maintain” a “life-relationship with God” (art. 8). Elsewhere, endorsing the view of Pope John Paul II, the document states that “the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church's visible boundaries' must not be excluded” (art. 19). See Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church (Dominus Iesus), 6 August 2000, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html (accessed July 16, 2009).
24 The authors of Constructive Theology assert that in a pluralistic age any discernment of the Spirit that remains locked down by traditionalism will be less reliable then a contextual discernment done in true collaboration with those that are different (248).
25 Osborne, Kenan, Orders and Ministry (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2006), 199.Google Scholar
26 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 34.Google Scholar He follows the lead of Eichrodt, Walter, Theology of the Old Testament, 2 vols., trans. Baker, J. A. (Philadelphia: Westminister, 1961).Google Scholar
27 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God 35.Google Scholar
28 Koch, Klaus, The Prophets: The Babylonian and Persian Periods, trans. Kohl, Margaret (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1982), 199Google Scholar, quoted in McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God 35.Google Scholar
29 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 35.Google Scholar
30 Ibid, 36.
31 It is also tempting to make connections to contemporary developments in the Roman Catholic Church. There is much concern about ritual rubrics, a desire to revive traditional devotions and nostalgia for an idealized past. These are not the marks of a pilgrim church looking towards the future, but a Church fearing the future, in denial about the present, and overly sentimental about the past.
32 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 37.Google Scholar
33 Ibid., 52–53.
34 Ibid.
35 Likewise, it is also possible to politicize liturgy for the purpose of serving some particular social cause.
36 Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration 31.26–27, in Discours 27–31 (Discours théologiques), ed. and trans. Gallay, Paul and Jourjon, Maurice, SC 250 (Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1978)Google Scholar, quoted in McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 143.Google Scholar
37 Cooke, Bernard, Sacraments and Sacramentality (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1994)Google Scholar; Osborne, Kenan B., Sacramental Theology: A General Introduction (New York: Paulist, 1988)Google Scholar; Noll, Ray, Sacraments: A New Understanding for a New Generation (Mystic, CT: Twenty-Third Publications, 1999)Google Scholar; and Vorgrimler, Herbert, Sacramental Theology, trans. Maloney, Linda M. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1992).Google Scholar
38 Leijssen, Lambert, With the Silent Glimmer of God's Spirit: A Postmodern Look at the Sacraments (New York: Paulist, 2006)Google Scholar; Seasoltz, R. Kevin, God's Gift Giving: In Christ and Through the Spirit (New York: Continuum, 2007).Google Scholar In addition, although it responds specifically to the Catholic Charismatic movement, Gelpi's, DonaldCharism and Sacrament: A Theology of Christian Conversion (New York: Paulist, 1976)Google Scholar should also be recognized for its attentiveness to the Holy Spirit in the sacramental encounter. Even earlier, the liturgical theologian Edward Kilmartin was profoundly guided in his work by a very strong pneumatology. See Hall, Jerome M., We Have the Mind of Christ: The Holy Spirit and Liturgical Memory in the Thought of Edward J. Kilmartin (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2001).Google Scholar
39 Chauvet, , Symbol and Sacrament, 531.Google Scholar
40 A considerable contribution towards a pluralistic view of sacramentality can be found in Mitchell's Meeting Mystery and in Phan's, Peter development of the concept of “liturgy of life” in his Being Religious Interreligiously: Asian Perspectives on Interfaith Dialogue (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2004).Google Scholar Most significantly, in both authors the doctrine of the universal presence and saving activity of the Spirit figures prominently.
41 Aquinas, Thomas, Summa theologiae III, q. 60Google Scholar, a. 1, in Summa Theologica, 3 vols., trans. the Fathers of the Dominican Province (New York: Benzinger, 1948), 3:2345–46.Google Scholar
42 Thomas, , Summa theologiae III. q. 62, 3:2355–61.Google Scholar
43 Chauvet, , Symbol and Sacrament, 464.Google Scholar
44 Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium), in Flannery, , ed., Vatican Council II, 52.Google Scholar
45 Phan, , Being Religious Interreligiously, 257–78.Google Scholar
46 The empowerment of the laity will continue to be stymied so long as hierarchical thinking and concerns about power dominant discourse concerning the distinction between the common and ordained priesthood. This internal Catholic debate is important for discerning the movement of the Spirit outside of the Christian community because it is difficult to reconcile more inclusive or pluralistic theologies of religious diversity without the recognition of the full ministerial potential of all the members of the Church.
47 For a brief account of Schillibeeckx's theology of creation in relationship to Christology see Haight, Roger, The Future of Christology (New York: Continuum, 2007), 117–20.Google Scholar
48 Schillebeeckx, Edward, Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God (New York: Sheed and Ward, 1963), 15.Google Scholar
49 See Kasper, Walter, Jesus the Christ, trans. Green, V. (New York: Paulist, 1976)Google Scholar; Colle, Ralph Del, Christ and the Spirit: Spirit Christology in a Trinitarian Perspective (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994)Google Scholar; Gelpi, Donald L., The Firstborn of Many: A Christology for Converting Christians, vol. 3 (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2001)Google Scholar; and Johnson, Elisabeth, She Who Is: The Mystery of God in Feminist Discourse (New York: Crossroad, 1992).Google Scholar
50 See Haight, Roger, Jesus Symbol of God (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1999).Google Scholar A briefer account of his Christology that addresses the controversy over his work can also be found in The Future of Christology.
51 Haight, , Jesus Symbol of God, 396.Google Scholar
52 Haight offers a succinct account of his understanding of normativity in the context of religious pluralism in The Future of Christology, 148–64. Phan, Peter (Being Religious Interreligiously, 93–98)Google Scholar reaches a similar conclusion in his discussion of the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.
53 Haight, , Jesus Symbol of God, 448.Google Scholar
54 McDonnell, , The Other Hand of God, 228.Google Scholar
55 It should be noted that Haight's work in Christology essentially begins with an appeal “to the Christian experience of grace”—or Spirit—”as an analogy for understanding what is going on in Christology” (Jesus Symbol of God, 447).
56 Ibid., 463.
57 Although particularity and universality have often been understood as mutually exclusive, they need not be and in our current pluralistic and postmodern environment it would be unwise to do so.
58 Himes, Michael, “Catholicism as Integral Humanism: Christian Participation in Pluralistic Moral Education,” in The Challenge of Pluralism: Education, Politics and Values, ed. Power, F. Clark and Lapsley, Daniel (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 117–39, at 123.Google Scholar
59 Jacques Dupuis' understanding of the significance of the humanity of Christ is especially relevant to this point. For Dupius, the humanity of Christ makes it possible for all of humanity through the Spirit to participate in the advent of the reign of God. For an excellent account of Dupuis' Christology with respect to religious pluralism, see Brecht, Mara, “The Humanity of Christ: Jacques Dupuis' Christology and Religious Pluralism,” Horizons 35 (2008): 54–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
60 Chauvet, Louis-Marie, The Sacraments: The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2001).Google Scholar
61 Osborne, , Orders and Ministry, 5.Google Scholar