God as Reason: Essays in Philosophical Theology

Chapter 10: Interreligious Dialogues during the Middle Ages and Early Modernity

223 CHaPteR 10 8 Interreligious฀Dialogues฀during฀the฀฀ Middle฀Ages฀and฀Early฀Modernity Ut฀credat฀quod฀tu,฀nullum฀ui฀cogere฀tempta;฀ sola฀quippe฀potest฀huc฀racione฀trahi.฀ extorquere potes fidei mendacia frustra: ipsa fides non ui, set racione venit. —Petrus฀Abaelardus,฀Carmen฀ad฀Astralabium,฀783–86 One฀of the defining features of฀religiosity฀in฀the฀contemporar y฀world฀is฀ the฀fact฀that฀almost฀ev ery฀religious฀person฀is฀confronted,฀already฀in฀ his฀ immediate฀life-world,฀with฀a฀plurality฀of ฀religious฀offers.฀This฀is฀one฀ of฀the฀necessar y฀consequences฀of ฀globalization—the฀expansion฀of ฀our฀ historical฀and฀g eographical฀horizon,฀the฀mixing฀of ฀people฀through฀mi grations ฀and฀journeys,฀the฀presence฀of฀all฀possible฀ideas฀in฀a฀global฀marketplace ,฀as฀realized฀in฀its฀most฀diffuse฀form฀by฀the฀Internet,฀renders฀the฀ access฀to฀alternative฀religious฀traditions฀something฀natural฀and฀ev en฀obvious .฀ In฀ modern฀ European฀ history,฀ however,฀ this฀ is฀ something฀ quite฀ 224฀ A฀Rationalist’s฀Tradition new.฀Even฀after฀the฀collapse฀of ฀the฀religious฀unity฀in฀the฀R eformation,฀ most฀European฀countries฀remained฀for฀political฀reasons฀denomination ally ฀homog eneous,฀and฀also฀in฀a฀denominationally฀mix ed฀countr y฀like฀ Germany,฀the฀principle฀of ฀cuius฀regio,฀eius฀r eligio฀guaranteed฀that฀in฀most฀ states฀within฀the฀Holy฀R oman฀Empire฀the฀larg e฀majority฀of ฀the฀people฀ belonged฀to฀one฀denomination.฀Of ฀course,฀in฀most฀European฀countries฀ there฀was฀a฀Jewish฀minority,฀but฀it฀w as฀often฀releg ated฀to฀a฀ghetto฀and฀ almost฀always฀excluded฀from฀full฀citizen฀rights .฀Furthermore,฀the฀J ews฀ did฀not฀represent฀for฀Christians฀radical฀religious฀alterity฀since฀their฀cen tral ฀sacred฀book,฀the฀Old฀T estament,฀was฀part฀of ฀the฀Christian฀canon.฀ This฀state฀of ฀affairs฀lasted฀until฀long฀into฀the฀tw entieth฀century—in฀his฀ recent฀autobiography,1 ฀Johannes฀Hösle฀described฀the฀closed฀cosmos฀of฀a฀ Southern฀German฀Catholic฀village฀of฀the฀1930s฀and฀the฀1940s,฀in฀which฀ even฀Protestantism฀was฀something฀only฀r umored฀about฀and฀an฀alter native ฀to฀the฀Catholic฀worldview฀was฀radically฀inconceivable. The฀social฀conditions฀of฀such฀a฀form฀of฀religiosity฀disappeared฀in฀the฀ second฀half ฀of ฀the฀tw entieth฀century,฀and฀the฀Second฀V atican฀Council฀ was฀the฀ remarkable฀theological฀attempt฀to฀deal฀with฀the฀new฀situation,฀ which฀rendered฀the฀extra฀ecclesiam฀nulla฀salus฀more฀and฀more฀obsolete฀and฀ even฀insulting.฀A฀complex฀theolog y฀of ฀non-Christian฀religions฀dev eloped ,฀which฀tried฀to฀mediate฀between฀the฀claim฀to฀absoluteness฀intrinsic฀ to฀most฀religions฀(certainly฀to฀Christianity)฀and฀the฀plurality฀of ฀religious฀ traditions.฀Besides฀the฀more฀traditional฀exclusivist฀approach,฀both฀inclusivist ฀and฀pluralist฀theologies฀of฀religion฀were฀elaborated.2 ฀The฀results฀of฀ these฀new฀theological฀approaches฀have฀been฀both฀a฀g reater฀openness฀to฀ non-Christian฀religions฀and฀a฀foundering฀of฀the฀religious฀certainties฀that฀ characterized฀Christianity฀for฀almost฀tw o฀millennia.฀T he฀latter฀process฀ was฀met฀with฀disapproval฀by฀many฀traditional฀Christians,฀and฀sometimes฀ one฀cannot฀avoid฀the฀impression฀that฀the฀differences฀betw een฀the฀more฀ traditionally฀oriented฀defenders฀of฀a฀religion฀and฀the฀more฀“liberal”฀inter preters ฀of฀the฀same฀religion฀are฀ev en฀sharper฀and฀more฀embittered฀than฀ those฀between฀people฀belonging฀to฀different฀religions ,฀as฀long฀as฀they฀ are฀interpreted,฀on฀the฀meta-level,฀in฀a฀somehow฀analogous฀way.฀In฀any฀ case,฀one฀thing฀is฀hardly฀dubious:฀a฀responsible฀religious฀education฀in฀the฀ twenty-first century฀must฀address฀the฀issue฀of ฀the฀existence฀of ฀different฀ religions฀in฀a฀ far฀more฀intensive฀way฀than฀it฀did฀ before.฀The฀capacity฀of฀ Interreligious฀Dialogues฀ 225 interacting฀with฀other฀religions฀in฀a฀w ay฀that฀tries฀to฀lear n฀from฀them฀ without฀betra ying฀the฀commitment฀to฀cer tain฀absolute฀principles—a฀ commitment฀that฀constitutes฀the฀essence฀of฀religion—will฀probably฀be฀a฀ crucial฀competence฀in฀a฀globalized,฀but฀for฀the฀distant฀future฀religiously฀ heterogeneous฀world. Fortunately,฀such฀a฀capacity฀need฀not฀be฀dev eloped฀from฀scratc h.฀ The฀medieval฀world฀was฀in฀some฀aspects฀religiously฀more฀di verse฀than฀ the฀world฀of฀early฀modernity—the฀fact฀that฀the฀Greek฀tradition฀ was฀recovered ฀by฀the฀Occident฀par tly฀through฀the฀Arab฀mediation฀rendered฀ Islam฀in฀the฀Middle฀Ag es฀a฀far฀g reater฀intellectual฀c hallenge฀for฀Chris tians ฀than฀it฀w as฀from฀the฀sixteenth฀centur y฀onward.฀(The฀military฀successes ฀of฀the฀Ottoman฀Empire฀w ere฀not฀matched฀by฀comparable฀intellectual ฀innovations, and the scientific revolution฀certainly฀loosened฀the฀ relation฀of฀Europe฀to฀the฀non-Christian฀w orld.)฀Not฀only฀did...