- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index
Abstract and Keywords
From the first days of the early church, Christians were confronted with religious pluralism. The Roman Empire was teeming with different religious cults. Three interesting attitudes to this religiously pluralist reality are discernible within the first few centuries that continue to shape the experience of most contemporary Christians. First, there was a clear emphasis on the necessity of faith in Christ for salvation. Second, some early Christian intellectuals had learned greatly from Greek philosophy and could not help but wonder at the wisdom they had found there: truths that were consonant with revelation, moral exhortation of a high order, and, indeed, philosophical frameworks that allowed for the sophisticated explication of Christian revelation and for its defense against philosophical attacks. Third, the early Christians were faced with the question of the righteous of Israel. Much of the modern debate is affected by the extent to which modernity has shaped theology. This article examines theology and religious diversity, medieval and reformed Christianity, and the development of theological traditions during the modern period.
Keywords: Christianity, modernity, theology, Roman Empire, religious pluralism, Christians, faith, salvation, revelation, Israel
Gavin D'Costa is Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Bristol. He has published six books on interreligious dialogues and advises the Catholic Church in Britain and the Vatican on interreligious dialogue.
Access to the complete content on Oxford Handbooks Online requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a subscription.
Please subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.
For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can''t find the answer there, please contact us.
- [UNTITLED]
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors
- Introduction
- Historical Reflections on Religious Diversity
- A Religious Studies Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Philosophical Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- A Sociological Approach to Questions about Religious Diversity
- Pluralism and Relativism
- Religious Exclusivism
- The Diversity of Religious Experience
- Interreligious Dialogue
- The Religious Alien
- Religious Diversity and a Global Ethic
- Theology amid Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity, Evil, and a Variety of Theodicies
- Religion and Revelation
- Religious Diversity and Globalization
- Religious Demographics and the New Diversity
- New Religious Movements in Global Perspective
- Race, Ethnicity, and Religion
- Religious Diversity, Secularization, and Postmodernity
- Multiple Modernities and Religion
- Religious Violence and Peace
- Religious Diversity in Public Education
- Religious Diversity and Religious Environmentalism
- A Hindu Perspective
- A Buddhist Perspective
- An African Religions Perspective
- A Chinese Religions Perspective
- A Jewish Perspective
- A Christian Perspective
- An Islamic Perspective
- A Feminist Perspective
- A Continental Perspective
- A Naturalistic Perspective
- Index
