The purpose of this essay is to analyze views on the relationship between other religions and the Christian notion of salvation as they are presented in works by theologians Gavin D ́Costa, Kajsa Ahlstrand and Karl Rahner. To interpret their views, I use the fourfold model for theology of religions as it its presented by theologian Jakob Wirén. Because the purpose of this essay is to analyze the relation between soteriology and other religions I use the fourfold model solely to analyze the soteriological implications of their respective theology. I have restricted my analysis to the three works Vägar – En öppen religionsdialog by Ahlstrand, The Meeting of the Religions and the Trinity by D ́Costa and Religiös Inklusivism by Rahner. These works represent different ways of framing theological content where Ahlstrands work tends to be descriptive while Rahners and D ́Costas tends to be normative in their approach to the subject. The results of my analysis follow along the line as I conclude that Ahlstrands position within the fourfold model cannot quite be determined. However, I conclude that her views are not to be placed within the exclusivism spectrum even though her position cannot be specified further with regards to her text. My analysis places both Rahner and D ́Costa within inclusivism but also shows that they represent to very different forms of inclusivism. Rahner sees other religions as righteous traditions where the one God may lead people to salvation earning these people the title anonymous christians. He however stretches that this implies that this people need to be made fully aware that they are in fact christians. D ́Costa on the other hand points out that the spirit acts freely outside the church where it may lead non-christians to salvation. He however stretches that the church must not try to domesticate the work of the spirit outside the church as it has no knowledge a priori on the full implications on where the activity of the spirit within other religions may lead to. Therefore D ́Costa and Rahner are inclusivists in different ways where Rahner presents a traditional form of christian inclusivism while D ́Costa presents a modern form of inclusivism. Keywords: Gavin D ́Costa, Kajsa Ahlstrand, Karl Rahner, theology of religions, soteriology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-447393 |
| Date | January 2021 |
| Creators | Jeppsson, Felix |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
Page generated in 0.0026 seconds