Wednesday, March 6, 2013

For the Record

Recently I posted something about a book entitled No Other Name? by Dr. Paul Knitter, a Catholic theologian of religious pluralism.  Speaking of other names, my other name (pre-Orthodox, pre-marriage to Demetrios) is in his book.  Professor Knitter, in his Preface, has acknowledged the assistance I provided.  (He told me back in 1981 he was going to, but life moved on and I never got around to buying the book or looking to see whether he had, until six weeks ago, when curiosity struck.)

Well, I used to agree with him pretty much, back in the days when I was an Episco-Buddha-Hindu-palian, but it's uncomfortable for me now, as obviously I disagree with most of what he has written.  My first thought was that it was incumbent upon me to write detailed responses to the book in order dissociate myself from it. 

But now that I've read it all, I have no heart for discussing very much about it.
 
Interestingly enough, it appears he hasn't, either.  I've written him a Facebook message and have sent the same cordial message by e-mail as well and have had no response during these six weeks.  Seems surprising from a man who has dedicated himself and his career to interreligious dialogue, so much so that for the sake of that dialogue has even been willing to "reinterpret" both the Incarnation and the Resurrection.  (His point is, Jesus must not be considered the definitive or normative savior, the last word, the ultimate, because that would mean His followers could not enter into dialogue as equal partners with followers of other religions.  Where does one even start?)

Professor Knitter wants Christian thinking to move from church-centered to Christ-centered and from there to God-centered.  So he attempts to knock out the theological underpinnings that support the claim that  Jesus is the one-and-only incarnation of God or Savior of human beings.  He is only able to accept the Christian teachings thus radically reinterpreted.  In other words, these are the terms upon which he is able to remain within the Catholic fold.  Which ironically makes the whole enterprise sound to me ecclesiocentric, church-centered! 

And I think that's enough said on this book.  I will have a small something to say about his next-to-newest book, though, Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian

4 comments:

Anam Cara said...

Wow. Can't wait to hear what you say about that. Thank you for reading these books and reporting back. Though the titles sound interesting, I doubt that I could ever wade through them.

Anastasia Theodoridis said...

Tests the patience, for sure!

James the Thickheaded said...

Love the term: "A Catholic theologian of religious pluralism". What a self-contradiction... especially to an Orthodox mind.

James the Thickheaded said...

Love the term: "A Catholic theologian of religious pluralism". What a self-contradiction... especially to an Orthodox mind.