At Parkminster, we have nearly got to the end of the course on Revelation and I am going through a section on the relation of the Church to non-Christian religions and to non-believers. This week, I thought it would be good to go carefully through the Declaration of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Dominus Iesus "On the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and the Church."This is a most helpful document and something of a model of what the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is there for. It gives a clear exposition of what must be "firmly believed", a phrase that is used several times to highlight key doctrines. It also highlights errors concerning the faith and points out various areas where further theological discussion would be helpful, for example, exploring the manner in which those elements of other faiths which are positive may fall within the divine plan of salvation by a participation in the unique and universal mediation of Christ.
One point to which I had not previously paid sufficient attention was the critique of "kingdom centred" theology as it is sometimes called. The declaration points out that such conceptions are "theocentrically based", leaving out Christ on the grounds that non-Christians may relate better to one divine reality called by various names. It also criticises the emphasis on creation to the exclusion of redemption and the reaction against a presumed "ecclesiocentrism". The section ends by saying:
These theses are contrary to Catholic faith because they deny the unicity of the relationship which Christ and the Church have with the kingdom of God.Looking at the document with the class of Carthusians made for a lively and positive discussion.
5 comments:
I'm not quite sue that I follow you here Father. You write (and I don't have your text any more in front of me) that one area to which you paid "sufficient" attention relates to the declaration pointing out that such conceptions (based on Creation)are "theocentrically based", leaving out Christ on the grounds that non-Christians may relate better to one divine reality called by various names. It also criticises the emphasis on creation to the exclusion of redemption and the reaction against a presumed "ecclesiocentrism". The section ends by saying:
These theses are contrary to Catholic faith because they deny the unicity of the relationship which Christ and the Church have with the kingdom of God.the centering on Creation rather than on the Redemption.
Are you saying that by bending over backwards to include people like the Muslims who only admit of the oneness of Allah, we are missing out on both the Trinity and the Redemption?
If so, it makes sense to me.
One of the most difficult concepts to get over is the fact that Jesus actually had to suffer and to die in order to bring about our Redemption. As I recall, Christ had to die to offer an infinite expiation for sin since sin is an infinite offence against Almighty God. Only Jesus, the Logos made man, could actually offer this to the Father.
Or, am I confused in what you are saying?
JARay
And why do I now have to go through the process of sending my comment to you twice because my first attempt "cannot be processed"?
JARay
John - I missed out a "not" there. Sorry for the confusion.
The problem with sending the comment will have been a temporary glitch at blogger.com. It has these quite a lot.
Is there a uniquely Carthusian "take" on this sort of thing? Do they view the rest of Creation from their extreme of self-sacrifice, wondering at the lengths to which people will let their imagination and false belief go? Or do they think "there but for the Grace of God go I"?
And would you betray a confidence if you told us?
Parkminster must be a draught of clean air for the soul.
Parkminster is indeed a breath of fresh air for the soul but the men there come from different backgrounds and rachet up a great deal of life experience. The discussion is all the richer for this. There is a certain "uniquely Carthusian" character in that they have a particular interest in understanding true and false paths to union with God.
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