The role of other religions in salvation in the context of the Christian affirmation that Jesus is the Saviour of all humans has been a point of lively discussion in Asian theology in recent years. The difficulty and the timeliness of this question have been pointed out by the document Dominus Iesus. It says: “In the practice of dialogue between the Christian faith and other religious traditions, as well as in seeking to understand its theoretical basis more deeply, new questions arise that need to be addressed through pursuing new paths of research, advancing proposals, and suggesting ways of acting that call for attentive discernment.” (§ 3) Later in the same document we read: “With respect to the way in which the salvific grace of God – which is always given by means of Christ in the Spirit and has a mysterious relationship to the Church – comes to individual non-Christians, the Second Vatican Council limited itself to the statement that God bestows it ‘in ways known to himself’. (Ad Gentes, 7) Theologians are seeking to understand this question more fully. Their work is to be encouraged, since it is certainly useful for understanding better God’s salvific plan and the ways in which it is accomplished.” (§ 21) This effort has been encouraged by the Asian Bishops (1) and theologians (2) too. But, while traditional faith affirmations need to be interpreted in new contexts, such interpretations should not question the basic affirmations of faith. I shall attempt here to present the main questions usually raised in this discussion and set them in the context of the faith of the Church. Since the starting point for this discussion is our attitude to the other religions, I shall begin there.
The International Theological Commission, in a document on Christianity and the World Religions has the following to say regarding the other religions as “ways of salvation.”
Some texts of Vatican Council II deal specifically with non-Christian religions: those which have not yet received or heard the gospel are oriented in different ways to the People of God, and belonging to these different religions does not seem to be indifferent to the effects of this “orientation” (LG 16). It is recognized that in the different religions are rays of truth which illuminate all men (NA 2) and seeds of the word (AG 11); because of God’s disposing there are in these religions elements of truth and goodness (OT 16); one finds elements of truth, of grace and goodness not only in the hearts of men but also in the rites and customs of peoples, although all must be “healed, elevated, and completed” (AG 9; LG 17). Whether the religions as such can have salvific value is a point that remains open. (my emphasis)
The encyclical Redemptoris Missio, following and developing the way traced by Vatican Council II, has emphasized more clearly the presence of the Holy Spirit not only in men of good will, taken individually, but also in society and history, in peoples, in cultures, in religions, always with reference to Christ (RM 28,29). A universal action of the Spirit exists, which cannot be separated from or confused with the specific, peculiar action that develops in the body of Christ which is the Church (ibid). From the formulation of the third chapter of the encyclical, entitled “the Holy Spirit, Principal Agent of Mission,” it appears that it can be deduced that these two forms of presence and action of the Spirit are derived from the Paschal Mystery. In fact, after developing the idea of the mission set into motion by the Holy Spirit in n. 21-27, nn. 28-29 talk about the universal presence of the Spirit. At the end of n. 28 it is clearly affirmed that it is the risen Jesus who works in the hearts of men through the Holy Spirit, and that it is the same Spirit who distributes the seeds of the Word present in the rites and religions. The distinction between the two ways of the Holy Spirit’s acting cannot lead us to separate them as if only the first were related to the salvific mystery of Christ (3).
1. See the text in Peter C. Phan (ed), The Asian Synod. Texts and Commentaries. (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2002), pp. 22, 40, 49.
2. Cf. Office of Theological Concerns of the FABC, Methodology: Asian Christian Theology. Doing theology in Asia Today. (FABC Papers 98, Hong Kong, 2000); also East Asian Pastoral Review 40 (2003) 259-286.
The International Theological Commission leaves the question of the role of other religions in salvation open. It is not negative. John Paul II and Asian Bishops, however, are more positive.
I. THE CHURCH AND OTHER RELIGIONS
The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences said at their first General Assembly (Taipei, 1974):
In Asia especially this (evangelization) involves a dialogue with the great religious traditions of our peoples. In this dialogue we accept them as significant and positive elements in the economy of God’s design of salvation. In them we recognize and respect profound spiritual and ethical meanings and values. Over many centuries they have been the treasury of the religious experience of our ancestors, from which our contemporaries do not cease to draw light and strength. They have been (and continue to be) the authentic expression of the noblest longings of their hearts, and the home of their contemplation and prayer. They have helped to give shape to the histories and cultures of our nations. How then can we not give them reverence and honour? And how can we not acknowledge that God has drawn our peoples to Himself through them?(4) (my emphasis)
The Asian bishops were positive to the prayer methods and traditions of Asian religions. They said:
Sustained and reflective dialogue with them in prayer (as shall be found possible, helpful and wise in different situations) will reveal to us what the Holy Spirit has taught others to express in a marvelous variety of ways. These are different perhaps from our own, but through them we too may hear His voice, calling us to lift our hearts to the Father(5).
Nos. 81-82.
For All the Peoples of Asia, I, p.14.
Ibid., p.35.
The Theological Advisory Committee of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences published a set of Theses on Interreligious Dialogue in 1987. Explaining Thesis 2 which accepts religions as “significant and positive elements in the economy of God’s design of salvation”, it says:
Its experience of the other religions has led the Church in Asia to this positive appreciation of their role in the divine economy of salvation. This appreciation is based on the fruits of the Spirit perceived in the lives of the other religions’ believers: a sense of the sacred, a commitment to the pursuit of fullness, a thirst for self-realization, a taste for prayer and commitment, a desire for renunciation, a struggle for justice, an urge to basic human goodness, an involvement in service, a total surrender of the self to God, and an attachment to the transcendent in their symbols, rituals and life itself, though human weakness and sin are not absent.
This positive appreciation is further rooted in the conviction of faith that God’s plan of salvation for humanity is one and reaches out to all peoples: it is the kingdom of God through which he seeks to reconcile all things with himself in Jesus Christ. The Church is a sacrament of this mystery – a symbolic realization that is on mission towards its fulfillment (LG 1:5; cf. BIRA IV/2). It is an integral part of this mission to discern the action of God in peoples in order to lead them to fulfillment. Dialogue is the only way in which this can be done, respectful both of God’s presence and action and of the freedom of conscience of the believers of other religions (cf. LG 10-12; Ecclesiae Sanctae 41-42; RH 11-12)(6)
The Guidelines for Interreligious Dialogue of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India’s Commission for Dialogue and Ecumenism says:
The plurality of religions is a consequence of the richness of creation itself and of the manifold grace of God. Though coming from the same source, peoples have perceived the universe and articulated their awareness of the Divine Mystery in manifold ways, and God has surely been present in these historical undertakings of his children. Such pluralism therefore is in no way to be deplored but rather acknowledged as itself a divine gift(7).
Asian Bishops at the Synod for Asia
Such a positive attitude to other religions and the belief that there is only one divine economy of salvation that embraces every one in the world are almost taken for granted by the Asian Bishops on the occasion of the special Synod for Asia. The Indian Bishops in their response to the Lineamenta say:
6. See J. Gnanapiragasam and Felix Wilfred (eds), Being Church in Asia. (Manila: Claretian Publications, 1994), p. 13.
7. No. 25. (New Delhi: CBCI Centre, 1989), p.29.
As God’s Spirit called the Churches of the East to conversion and mission witness (see Rev 2-3), we too hear this same Spirit bidding us to be truly catholic, open and collaborating with the Word who is actively present in the great religious traditions of Asia today. Confident trust and discernment, not anxiety and over-caution, must regulate our relations with these many brothers and sisters. For together with them we form one community, stemming from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth. We share with them a common destiny and providence. Walking together we are called to travel the same paschal pilgrimage with Christ to the one Father of us all (see Lk 24:13ff, NA 1, and GS 22)(8)
They continue to say:
In the light of the universal salvific will and design of God, so emphatically affirmed in the New Testament witness, the Indian Christological approach seeks to avoid negative and exclusivistic expressions… The implication of all this is that for hundreds of millions of our fellow human beings, salvation is seen as being channeled to them not in spite of but through and in their various sociocultural and religious traditions. We cannot, then, deny a priori a salvific role for these non-Christian religions(9).
The Bishops from Indonesia view the people of other faiths as “bearers of the ‘seeds of the Word’ (who) try to live up to authentic religious values which lead them to God’s Reign. They are our fellow wayfarers to the same Reign of God, to whom we all have access in the Spirit through Jesus Christ(10).” The Korean Bishops assert that the great traditional religions in Korea “play a part in the salvific economy of God(11).” The Vietnamese Bishops affirm: “Since God is the creator of all things, one should say that, in a sense, the existence of these non-Christian religions is equally part of his Providence.”(12)
Other Religions in the Teaching and Practice of John Paul II
Such a positive approach to other religions is encouraged by John Paul II. When he invited the leaders of other religions to come together to Assisi in October 1986 to pray for peace in the world, many authoritative commentators suggested that this invitation legitimized other religions as facilitators of divine-human encounter. Marcello Zago said:
At Assisi, the welcome given to the religious representatives and people being present at the prayer offered by various religions were in some way a recognition of these religions and of prayer in particular, a recognition that these religions and prayer not only have a social role but are also effective before God(13).
In a speech to the Cardinals before Christmas that year John Paul II insisted that all authentic prayer is from the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit can obviously work through the symbols and rituals of other religions – when they pray, for example.
In his encyclical Redemptoris Missio, John Paul II affirmed formally the presence and action of the Spirit in other religions and cultures.
8. See Phan, The Asian Synod, p.21.
9. Ibid.,p.22.
10. Ibid., p.24.
11. Ibid., 32.
12. Ibid., p.48.
13. See Marcello Zago, “Day of Prayer for Peace”, in Bulletin of the Secretariat for Non-Christian Religions 22 (1987), p.150.
The Spirit manifests himself in a special way in the Church and in her members. Nevertheless, his presence and activity are universal, limited neither by space nor time (DEV 53)… The Spirit’s presence and activity affect individuals but also society and history, peoples, cultures and religions… Thus the Spirit, who “blows where he wills” (cf. Jn 3:8), who “was already at work in the world before Christ was glorified” (AG 4), and who “has filled the world… holds all things together (and) knows what is said (Wis 1:7), leads us to broaden our vision in order to ponder his activity in every time and place (DEV 53)… The Church’s relationship with other religions is dictated by a twofold respect: “Respect for man in his quest for answers to the deepest questions of his life, and respect for the action of the Spirit in man.”(14)
The Document Dialogue and Proclamation says:
Concretely it will be in the sincere practice of what is good in their own religious traditions and by following the dictates of their conscience that the members of other religions respond positively to God’s invitation and receive salvation in Jesus Christ, even while they do not recognize or acknowledge him as their Saviour(15).
The Views of Non-Asian Theologians on Other Religions
This open and positive attitude to other religions has been supported by theological reflection. The Asians and Indians are in a privileged situation because of their daily and close contact with the believers of other religions(16). But non-Asians too have developed such a positive attitude. Just to cite a few examples, Raniero Cantalamessa asks:
Can we say that there is yet another way in which Christ draws people to himself, and that is by means of all that is true and valid in other religions? The Council and the magisterium have not ruled out this possibility, and it has now become an active focus of theology(17).
Karl Rahner insists on the universal salvific will of God and the availability of salvation in Christ to all humans. He adds that this salvation is available in and through the religions that they live.
In view of the social nature of man and the previously even more radical social solidarity of men, however, it is quite unthinkable that man, being what he is, could actually achieve this relationship to God – which he must have and which if he is to be saved, is and must be made possible for him by God – in an absolutely private interior reality and this outside of the actual religious bodies which offer themselves to him in the environment in which he lives… If man can always have a positive, saving relationship to God, and if he always had to have it, then he has always had it within that religion which in practice was at his disposal by being a factor in his sphere of existence.
14. Nos. 28-29.
15. No. 29.
16. For the reflections of Indian theologians see Kuttianimattathil, Practice and Theology of Interreligious Dialogue, pp. 326-362.
17. Raniero Cantalamessa, “Good Friday Meditation”, Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection 67 (2003) 344.
An Italian Biblical scholar, after a study of the Wisdom tradition, comes to the following conclusion:
It seems legitimate to affirm that, for whoever looks at them from the perspective revealed by Wisdom reflection, religions present themselves as the context by antonomasia where man allows himself to be taught by Wisdom and guided by her towards the destination of the whole of humanity: full, invigorating and eternal communion with the living God.
Pietro Rossano, former Secretary of the Vatican Secretariat for Non-Christians, suggests that “grace and truth do reach or may reach the hearts of men and women through the visible, experiential signs of the various religions.” A similar openness to the role of other religions in salvific history can also be found in other European theologians.
The Role of the Church in the Salvation of All Peoples
A positive appreciation of other religions, however, does not mean that they are parallel or complementary ways to God or salvation. God’s plan of salvation is one. The history of salvation has a structure. All the religions, excluding whatever may be sinful in them, are integrated in this structure. They themselves may not be aware of it. We believe that God through the Word and the Spirit is leading all things to a unity in ways unknown to us. As John Paul II affirms:
The entire human race, in the infinite complexity of its history, with its different cultures, is “called to form the new people of God” (LG 13) in which the blessed union of God with man and the unity of the human family are healed, consolidated, and raised up.
Recognizing the possibility of salvation for those who were not guilty of a sinful refusal to belong to her (LG 14-16), the Council spoke of them as being “related to the church in various ways”. The term used is “ordinantur” – related. (LG 16) John Paul II, referring to those who are not formally and visibly members of the church, says in Redemptoris Missio: “Salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church, but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation.” (10: emphasis mine)
18. Karl Rahner, Theological Investigations, Vol. V (London: Darton, Longman and Todd, 1969), p. 128.
19. Giovani Odasso, Bibbia e religioni: Prospettive bibliche per la teologia delle religioni. (Rome: Unbaniana, 1998), p. 222. Quoted in Dupuis, Christianity and the Religions, p. 142.
20. Pietro Rossano, “Christ’s Lordship and Religious Pluralism In Roman Catholic Perspective,” in G.H.Anderson and T.F.Stransky (eds), Christ’s Lordship and Religious Pluralism.(Maryknoll: Orbis, 1981) p.103.
21. Quotations can be multiplied. Cf. Gustave Thils, Présence et salut de Dieu chez les non-chrétiens. (Louvain-la-neuve, 1987); Joseph Doré, Le christianisme vis-à-vis des religions. Namur: Artel, 1997; H.R.Schlette, Towards a Theology of Religions. London: Burns & Oates, 1965; E. Schillebeeckx, Church: The Human Story of God (London: SCM Press, 1990), p. 165-166; Adolph Gesché, “Le christianisme et les autres religions”, Revue théologique de Louvain 19 (1988) 339; C. Duquoc, Dieu different (Paris: Cerf, 1977), p.143. See also his more recent book L’Unique Christ. La symphonie différé. (Paris: Cerf, 2002)
22. Talk to the Roman Curia, Dec. 22, 1986, No.6.
John Paul II continues to say: “Even in relationship to the religions therefore Christ the Saviour is mysteriously at work and in this work he unites to himself the church, constituted ‘as the sacrament… of intimate union with God and of the unity of the entire human race(23).” Other religions too have a role of participatory mediation, though always in relationship to Christ’s own mediation and that of the Church. As John Paul II says: “Although participated forms of mediation of different kinds and degrees are not excluded, they acquire meaning and value only from Christ’s own mediation, and they cannot be understood as parallel or complementary to his.”(24)
The many “ways” in which God is reaching out to all peoples are part of the one salvific plan of God in which the Church has a special role. Traditionally this role has been described as the Church being the sacrament of universal salvation. The role of other religions does not exclude the fact that all humans are “ordained” to the Church, as the Second Vatican Council says. (LG, 16)
The Church is therefore is not one way to salvation among others. The other religions, with the ‘seeds of the Word’, are not parallel or complementary ways, but related to, ordained to the Church. It is to avoid possible confusion that now-a-days I often prefer to talk of God as saviour in Jesus Christ through the Spirit and in relation to the Church. The religions are only the facilitators of the saving encounter of God with the humans. As a matter of fact, religions do not save. Even the word mediation can be avoided when referring to them. There is only one way and mediator in salvation, namely Jesus Christ.
II. THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM
The relationship between the other religions and the Church is sometimes set in the context of the Kingdom of God. The Second Vatican Council says: “The Church, endowed with the gifts of her founder and faithfully observing his precepts of charity, humility and self-denial, receives the mission of proclaiming and establishing among all peoples the kingdom of Christ and of God, and she is, on earth, the seed and the beginning of that kingdom. While she slowly grows into maturity, the Church longs for the completed kingdom and, with all her strength, hopes and desires to be united in glory with her king.” (Lumen Gentium, 5) John Paul II continues this teaching:
The Kingdom of God is meant for all mankind, and all people are called to become members of it(25) … The Kingdom is the concern of everyone: individuals, society, and the world. Working for the Kingdom means acknowledging and promoting God’s activity, which is present in human history and transforms it. Building the Kingdom means working for liberation from evil in all its forms. In a word, the Kingdom of God is the manifestation and the realization of God’s plan of salvation in all its fullness.
23. Osservatore Romano, February 5, 1998, 4.
24. Redemptoris Missio, 5. See also Dominus Iesus, 14, which refers to Gaudium et Spes, 45.
25. Redemptoris Missio, 14.
We can compare this with an earlier statement of John Paul II in the same letter:
The Old Testament attests that God chose and formed a people for himself, in order to reveal and carry out his loving plan. But at the same time God is the Creator and Father of all people; he cares and provides for them, extending his blessing to all (cf. Gen 12:3); he has established a covenant with all of them (cf. Gen 9:1-17). (emphasis mine)
John Paul goes on to say:
The disciples recognize that the Kingdom is already present in the person of Jesus and is slowly being established within man and the world through a mysterious connection with him(28). (emphasis mine)
One may not separate the Kingdom from the Church. It is true that the Church is not an end unto herself, since she is ordered toward the Kingdom of God of which she is the seed, sign and instrument. Yet, while remaining distinct from Christ and the Kingdom, the Church is indissolubly united to both… The result is a unique and special relationship which, while not excluding the action of Christ and the Spirit outside the Church’s visible boundaries, confers upon her a specific and necessary role …
The Church is effectively and concretely at the service of the Kingdom. This is seen especially in her preaching, which is a call to conversion… The Church, then, serves the Kingdom by establishing communities and founding new particular Churches… The Church serves the Kingdom by spreading throughout the world the “Gospel values” which are an expression of the Kingdom and which help people to accept God’s plan. It is true that the inchoate reality of the Kingdom can also be found beyond the confines of the Church among peoples everywhere, to the extent that they live “Gospel values” and are open to the working of the Spirit who breathes when and where he wills (cf. Jn 3:8)…
The Church is the sacrament of salvation for all mankind, and her activity is not limited only to those who accept her message. She is a dynamic force in mankind’s journey toward the eschatological Kingdom, and is the sign and promoter of Gospel values (GS 39). The Church contributes to mankind’s pilgrimage of conversion to God’s plan through her witness and through such activities as dialogue, human promotion, commitment to justice and peace, education and the care of the sick, and aid to the poor and to children… Finally, the Church serves the Kingdom by her intercession, since the Kingdom by its very nature is God’s gift and work, as we are reminded by the Gospel parables and by the prayer which Jesus taught us. We must ask for the Kingdom, welcome and make it grow within us; but we must also work together so that it will be welcomed and grow among all people, until the time when Christ “delivers the Kingdom to God the Father” and “God will be everything to every one” (cf 1 Cor 15:24,28)(30)
26. Ibid., 15.
27. Ibid., 12.
28. Ibid.,16.
29. Ibid., 18.
It seems to me that in these passages, while John Paul II is affirming an “indissoluble relationship” between the Church and the Kingdom, he also points to a distinction so that the Kingdom is also present, even if inchoatively, outside the visible Church’s confines and the Church’s missionary activity also includes the promotion of Gospel values among people outside its confines.
The Church and the Kingdom are not two separate realities. The Church, unlike other religions, is specially related to the Kingdom as its sacrament. We cannot oppose one to the other. We can distinguish them, but not separate them. They are intimately related.
It is possible that the believers of other religions can collaborate with the Christians in building the Kingdom of God. Addressing other religious leaders in Chennai John Paul II said:
By dialogue we let God be present in our midst; for as we open ourselves in dialogue to one another, we also open ourselves to God… As followers of different religions we should join together in promoting and defending common ideals in the spheres of religious liberty, human brotherhood, education, culture, social welfare and civic order.
Here he is obviously speaking about collaboration between religions in the presence of God. He refers to a similar project in Redemptoris Missio when he speaks about the Church serving “the Kingdom by spreading throughout the world the “Gospel values.” It is in the same perspective that he has called frequently the leaders of other religions to come together to pray for peace in the world, because he believes that “every authentic prayer is prompted by the holy Spirit, who is mysteriously present in every human heart.”
III. The Uniqueness and Universality of the Salvific Mystery of Jesus Christ
Every catholic theologian has to affirm with the Church that Jesus is the only saviour of all the humans. However, without denying this, we have to explain how this affirmation can be understood today in Asia in the light of a growing positive appreciation of other religions. We have to reject two quick answers as not really addressing the problem: the first is that there are many saviours and the second is that the one divine salvific mystery is known by many names, including Jesus. I have said earlier:
Most Indian theologians affirm that all salvation, however understood, is from God in and through Jesus Christ… (The) Christian faith supposes such an affirmation. If this is not affirmed then we can stop the discussion right here, because there is nothing to explain or understand… Attempts to explain do not amount to denial. However, in Asia this affirmation of faith has to be situated in a two-fold context.
30. Ibid., 20.
31. Origins 15 (1986) 598. For similar sentiments see John Paul II’s address to leaders of other religions in New Delhi after the publication of Ecclesia in Asia: “The Interreligious Meeting”, Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection 63 (1999) 884-886.
32. No. 20.
33. Ibid., No. 29.
34. See Japan Mission Journal, p.219 and Spiritus, p.148.
The first context is the following. The salvation in Christ reaches out to people in different ways. Christians appropriate it through a direct and conscious relationship of faith in Jesus Christ, moved as they are by the Spirit. The same Spirit enables also other people to accept or appropriate the “salvation-in-Christ”. But the Spirit works in them not through the kerygma and sacraments of the Church nor through an explicit confession of faith in Jesus Christ, but facilitated often by other symbolic figures and structures. These may be called ‘participated mediations’, following John Paul II. In no way can these symbolic figures be equated with Jesus Christ or be considered as parallel mediators. But we have to acknowledge a pluralism of (participated, but real) mediations in the lives and histories of peoples and groups. Acknowledging this pluralism does not in any way mean the denial of the uniqueness of the source or our faith affirmation relating the salvation of all to what God has done in Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, the talk about the ‘mysteric’ or ‘cosmic’ Christ by some Asian theologians is an attempt to affirm this link with Jesus Christ, even without a conscious relationship to him.
The second context is the historically dynamic nature in which the salvation of all peoples is being achieved. Jesus Christ’s salvific act is ‘once-for-all’. But this once-for-all character does not limit it to one particular moment in time but covers the whole eschatological time in a dynamic of ‘already-not yet’. (cf. Jn 13-17; 1 Cor 15:12-28; Eph 1:3-10) The Kingdom that Jesus proclaimed and inaugurated is slowly being established in the course of history so that we meaningfully pray: “Your Kingdom come!” (Mt 6:10) and “Come, Lord Jesus!” (Rev 22: 20) It is this ‘already – not yet’ historical dynamic that makes space for other religions and the dialogical-missionary interaction of the church with them. So the once-for-all, i.e. “already’, character of the paschal mystery is not an obstacle to a positive role for other religions in God’s plan for universal salvation because it always goes together with the ‘not yet’.
Therefore giving a certain positive role for other religions in God’s plan of salvation and articulating their relationship to the unique mystery of Christ in such a way that, though the Holy Spirit of Christ is active in them, they do not consciously and directly relate to Jesus Christ, does not in any way deny the uniqueness and universality of the salvific mystery of Jesus Christ.
God’s salvific plan is one. God saves everyone by enabling them to participate in the paschal mystery of Christ through the Spirit in a mysterious relationship with the Church. This Spirit enabling people to participate in the paschal mystery is indeed the Spirit of Jesus Christ, i.e., the Spirit as the risen Christ pours on the world (Acts 2:33), the Pentecostal Spirit of Christ. It is poured in ways known to God alone. (cf. GS, 22) Bishops and theologians suggest that these ‘ways known to God alone’ may be linked with the other religious traditions. We have then the following situation: in the visible Church: the Christians relate to this salvific mystery through a conscious relationship of faith in Jesus; in the other religions, people relate to the same mystery in other ways. John Paul II qualifies them as real, but participated mediations. Therefore the one salvific mystery of Jesus Christ is operative among people in different ways.
35. M. Amaladoss, “The Mystery of Christ and Other Religions”, Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection 65 (1999) 328.
Some of the terminology used in India today in this context can be confusing. Some use the term ‘Jesus’ to refer to the situation in which people are relating to him consciously in faith. The terms like mysteric Christ or Word are used to refer to situations in which people are relating to the same salvific mystery through other ways. This takes account of the fact that the same mystery is mediated to people in different ways. I think that we can say that Jesus Christ is active in different ways, whatever be the terms that we use to indicate this. The affirmation of this diversity of ways does not deny the unity and universality of the mystery. We are not talking of Jesus and other ways outside of Jesus. We are talking of different ways in which Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, is reaching out to people: some know and acknowledge Jesus as the saviour; others do not relate to him in the same conscious, explicit way. The affirmation of Jesus Christ as the only saviour in the way explained above takes into account and includes this diversity. This is what John Paul II does when he speaks about Christ’s mediation and other participated mediations. (RM, 5) But taking account of this diversity does not amount to denial of the mystery.
IV. JESUS CHRIST AND THE SPIRIT
In the divine economy of salvation the Spirit plays an important role. He is active in creation. (Gen 1:2; 2:7) When the prophets speak about a new creation they refer to the intervention of the Spirit. (Is 43:19; Ez 36:27; 37:1-14) They foretell the outpouring of the Spirit at the eschatological time. (Is 44:3; Zech 6:1-8; Joel 2:23-30) The Spirit will initiate a new covenant. (Is 59:21; Jer 31:31-34; 32:37-40). The Spirit will also inspire the Messiah. (Is 42:1-3; 61:1-4)
The Spirit presides over the incarnation. (Lk 1:35) He descends on Jesus at his Baptism. (Jn 1:32) The Spirit drives “him out into the wilderness.” (Mk 1:12) Jesus drives out demons by the Holy Spirit. (Mt 12:28) Jesus claims that the Spirit of the Lord is upon him to bring good news to the poor. (Lk 4:21) Jesus also promises the Holy Spirit: “The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” (Jn 14:25) “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth;.. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” (Jn 16:13-14) Paul says: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Rom 8:11) After the resurrection Jesus breathed on the disciples and told them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (Jn 20:22) Paul also speaks about the Spirit of Christ. “Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.” (Rom 8:9) He says further that it is the Spirit that makes us joint heirs with Christ. “When we cry ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, the heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” (Rom 8:15-17) We see here Christ and the Holy Spirit collaborating in the one economy of salvation. As Walter Kasper says:
36. Cf. Yves Congar, The Word and the Spirit. (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986)
The Spirit who is operative in Christ in his fullness, is at work in varying degrees everywhere in the history of mankind.
John Paul II affirms strongly that the Spirit was already present and operative before the glorification of Christ. (Dominum et Vivificantem, 53) In his Encyclical Redemptoris Missio he stresses both that the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of mission (21-27) and that he is present also in “society and history, peoples, cultures and religions.” (28) He continues:
The universal activity of the Spirit is not to be separated from the particular activity within the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Indeed, it is always the Spirit who is at work. Both when he gives life to the Church and impels her to proclaim Christ, and when he implants and develops his gifts in all individuals and peoples, guiding the Church to discover these gifts, to foster them and receive them through dialogue. (29)
What we have to note here is that it is the same Spirit with reference to the saving activity of Christ, but it is not the same type of activity. In the Christian community the Spirit is active explicitly in and through the community’s commitment to Christ. Outside the Christian community, the Spirit is active, but its action is not mediated through an explicit commitment to Christ, though it is ordained or related to Christ.
There are not two separate economies of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. There is no economy of the Spirit more universal than or separate from that of the salvific paschal mystery of Christ. The economy is one. But Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit have different roles and activities, but related to each other, within the same economy.
Conclusion
There is obviously a polarity between the one plan of God for salvation realized in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and the ways in which this actually happens in history. This tension appears in a number of statements of John Paul II in Redemptoris Missio. For example:
Although participated forms of mediation of different kinds and degrees are not excluded, they acquire meaning and value only from Christ’s own mediation, and they cannot be understood as parallel or complementary to his. (5)
In the process of discovering and appreciating the manifold gifts – especially the spiritual treasures – that God has bestowed on every people, we cannot separate those gifts from Jesus Christ, who is at the centre of God’s plan of salvation. (6)
Since salvation is offered to all, it must be made concretely available to all. But it is clear that today, as in the past, many people do not have an opportunity to come to know or accept the Gospel revelation or to enter the Church. The social and cultural conditions in which they live do not permit this, and frequently they have been brought up in other religious traditions. For such people salvation in Christ is accessible by virtue of a grace which, while having a mysterious relationship to the Church, does not make them formally part of the Church but enlightens them in a way which is accommodated to their spiritual and material situation. (10)
37. Walter Kasper, Jesus the Christ (London: Burns and Oates, 1976), p.268.
The universal activity of the Spirit is not to be separated from the particular activity with the Body of Christ, which is the Church. (29) (emphases in the above quotes are mine)
In all these texts we see the affirmation of unity in difference, though separation and complementarity are denied. The unity is affirmed. But the difference is also recognized. Different elements can be distinguished though they should not be separated. Attempts to distinguish the elements should not be quickly condemned as efforts to separate them. In making such distinctions, a precise terminology is still evolving among Asian theologians. Distinctions seem relevant and urgent to us only because we are actually living them in a multi-religious context. We should not seek to solve the tension by simply affirming the unity, without recognizing the difference.
Michael Amaladoss, S.J.