The Second Vatican Council on Other Religions by Gerald O'Collins (review)

O'Collins's concern is to explain and defend Vatican II's teaching on the uniqueness of Christ and the possibility of salvation outside the Church, in order to convince those who endorse religious exclusivism. In this view, none of the formal outsiders can be saved: "Clearly many Roman Catholics and other Christians find it unsettling or even disturbing to acknowledge that God's revelation and salvation are available for 'the others'" (p. 159; cf. p. 202).

One of O'Collins's presuppositions is that the meaning of biblical and conciliar texts can take on a meaning of their own after they have been originally written down. Although Vatican II did not explicitly state that the other religions are "ways of salvation" (p. viii), the texts allow for such an interpretation. He says that Vatican II "developed some teaching on other religions" (p. 1, cf. p. 149) and "offered something startlingly new" (p. 143). Instead of labeling the outsiders as "pagans," "heathens," and "infidels," the Council Fathers would rather use positive language about those outside the Catholic communion.

Beginning with an exposition of the scriptures, O'Collins contends that the scripture writers give positive evaluations regarding the possible fate of the formal outsiders. By analyzing the documents of Vatican II, he also believes that the reality of divine revelation can be found outside the boundaries of Judaism and Christianity. A favorable response to revelation allows outsiders to be saved. Unless God reveals Godself outside the church, formal outsiders could never be saved. O'Collins's endorsement of Karl Rahner's theology enables him to speak freely of people's being saved through the other world religions.

O'Collins's careful treatment of the biblical and conciliar texts is continuously accurate and informative. He rightly says, "Neither the thesis of total discontinuity (or substitution of something completely new) nor the thesis of total continuity (or no change whatsoever) can possibly be sustained. The crucial question concerns the degree of change or discontinuity" (p. 202). By the end of the book he speaks about "considerable discontinuity" in the "official doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church" (p. 204). Such a claim cannot be denied. In terms of the way that the Church expressed doctrine, there was indeed remarkable change, but in terms of the content of teaching, the doctrine of salvation outside the Church remains unchanged.

Like so many other reputable publications in the theology of religions, the reader must pay careful attention to the way in which O'Collins defines and utilizes his terms in order to exegete his text appropriately. His book will be an excellent text for graduate-level courses on interfaith relations. No matter where the reader falls on the spectrum of Catholic belief on this particular issue, this book is a serious work of theology that deserves a wide readership.