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”Theology of Religions” is among the most burning issues within Christian theology today. The challenge to study and discuss different ways of handling conflicting truth claims and religious narratives between religions is taken up by a growing number of theologians across denominational boundaries. This is a common and ecumenical effort undertaken by Christian theologians all over the world. And yet, the impact of specific ecclesiastical or theological traditions on different concepts of theology of religions should not be underestimated. As well known, the Second Vatican council with its pivotal decree Nostra Aetate (On the relation to other religions) not only set the agenda for Catholic theology, but even influenced the wider discussion on the topic. The papers of this volume were all given at a conference in Uppsala, Sweden in October 2017. The structure of Faithful Interpretations follows closely the way the conference was conducted. A general introduction to the development and present status of ”Theology of Religions” by Marianne Moyaert opens the book. Archbishop J Augustine Di Noia of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith then treats the recent developments in the teaching of the Magisterium regarding theology of religions. Anna Bonta Moreland adresses the issue of Muhammad and Christian Prophecy. Diego R Sarrió Cucarella focuses on early Christian theological views of Islam and concludes that Islam has been from the begining a ”disturbing” factor in the Christian view of salvation history. Wilhelmus G B M Valkenberg discusses the impact of Nostra Aetate on the Church’s relation to Muslims, using especially the precedent of Nicolaus of Cues as regards a constructive approach to Islam. Klaus von Stosch adresses a sensitive issue in Muslim-Christian relations and illustrates the advantages of the comparative theology approach for the theology of religions. Complementing this perspective, Peter Jonkers offers a hermeneutical perspective on truth claims, and reflects on ”the religious Other” with references to Jacques Derrida among others. Reinhold Bernhardt argues in favour of a biblically grounded “relational-existential” theory of truth, which would be most helpful with regard to other religions. To conclude, the prominent Catholic specialist on Theology of Religions, Gavin D’Costa, widened the perspective by addressing the relation to Judaism from the point of view of the covenant and the promises of the land. Altogether, the papers of this volume give a clear impression of the status of Roman Catholic Theology of Religions.

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Fullness of Life is a basic introduction to the Catholic understanding of salvation. It begins with a presentation of the background against which the teaching on salvation must be situated (the contemporary context of the question of salvation, the positions of other religions, the teaching of the magisterium) (chapter one), and a concise sketch on the history of soteriology (chapter two). The following chapters are a discussion of models for interpreting salvation relating to Christ's death on the cross (chapter three) and the totality of His life (chapter four). These considerations are concluded with a presentation of St. Thomas Aquinas' interpretative proposal (chapter five), which proves to be an apt way to synthesize the discussions presented earlier. The model of salvific mediation eventually turns out to be a higher-order model that allows to close the entire presentation (chapter six). The body of the text is supplemented by appendices that discuss a chosen set of particular problems related to the reflections in the corpus, that is, the “scapegoat” as a figure of Christ, the salvific function of other religions, substitution in Aquinas, and salutary suffering. The entire text ends with a selection of relevant sources. With the help of such a structure, the book proposes a basic explanation of (sometimes distorted) interpretations of sacrifice, substitution, satisfaction, divinization. It helps to bring readers from their first steps of soteriological reflection to Aquinas’ synthesis and to help them to discover that – taking into account the contemporary discussions and problems – Aquinas’ account can still offer a very convincing way for synthesizing soteriology. The book is addressed primarily to students of theology. However, it has been written in such a way that any Christian properly motivated to deepen their faith can benefit from reading it. And since it may serve as an aid in learning how to interpret the whole of soteriology, professional theologians may also find themselves inspired by it.

Although Newman certainly did not write the Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine with the intention to do systematic theology, his ten principles serve as a framework for ordering the content of the essay with reference to Newman's other works. The result in this present book is a systematic analysis of the theological themes considered by Newman throughout his writing career. Newman’s writings were circumstantial in nature, written in response to controversies or needs of the moment. Nevertheless, he was able to shed light on those specific situations by appealing to timeless theological insights. The originality of this book consists in placing these insights in a systematic context. The arrangement is structured as a fundamental theology, following the usual discourse on God's revelation and faith as a response, with a brief intermediate exposition of fundamental Christology and ecclesiology. In order to give it Newman's own imprint, the author has provided only brief introductions or comments, as well as references to other authors, giving priority to Newman's own texts. In this way the work serves as an introduction to the thought and even to the life of John Henry Newman, whose literary style denotes the union of theological questions with a living faith.