Eugene F. Gorski, Theology of Religions: A Sourcebook for Interreligious Study.
Zikmund, Barbara Brown
Eugene F. Gorski, Theology of Religions: A Sourcebook for
Interreligious Study. New York and Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2008. Pp.
324. $24.95, paper.
This sourcebook for interreligious study has two major strengths:
(1) It approaches the question of religious pluralism from within the
Roman Catholic Church--helping Catholic Christians understand how it is
possible for them to affirm that the one true God is present and
operative in other religious traditions and that they need to give
non-Christians "respect, admiration and love" (p. 315); and
(2) it spends about 200 pages outlining in brief factual chapters the
origins and attributes of the major religions of the
world--Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism,
Daoism, Shinto, Mahayana Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and
Sikhism.
The author begins by summarizing the growing scholarly consensus
that there was an "Axial Age" in human history, between 800
and 200 B.C.E., when human religiosity, as we know it, came into being.
The sages of the axial era began to question the mundane views of
reality found in ancient civilizations and expanded their thinking to
embrace the Sacred, the Absolute, or the Transcendent--leading to new
and radical questions about self, world, and culture. Although the axial
age did not make a clean break with the past, "[T]he quest for
salvation became the comprehensive, multidimensional structure of
humankind's search for liberating union with, and self-discovery
in, the Sacred" (p. 43). The bulk of the book traces the
development of contemporary religions from pre-axial roots to
contemporary beliefs and practices. It argues that only by cultivating
balanced understandings of the historical and phenomenological roots
that undergird all religions will contemporary Christians, Roman
Catholics, and others be able to make a balanced and fait theological
appraisal of non-Christian religions.
Quoting from John Hick, the concluding sections of the book suggest
that the Sacred in all religions makes possible a transformation of our
present existence. it draws us into fellowship with the transcendent
Thou and helps us realize our deeper self as one with the Real. It prods
us to unlearn our habitual ego-centeredness and become a conscious and
accepting part of the endlessly interacting flow of life.
When Christians recognize their common human existence, Gorski, a
professor at the University of Notre Dame, says that they will see the
Sacred in other religions and even name it as christocentric. Building
on the writings of Catholic theologian Karl Rahner and Joseph Ratzinger
(the present pope), the book insists on the uniqueness of Christianity,
while at the same time calling contemporary Catholics to dialogue with
persons of other faiths--because Christians can learn from other
religious traditions. Non-Christian religions are neither deficient
expressions of Christianity nor secondary instruments of salvation; they
have value in themselves and contain a "sacred mysterious
reality" (p. 316).
This is an attractive text for religion courses in Catholic
institutions. it explores difficult theological issues and provides
basic information about world religions in one book. The organization of
the book, with many sub-headings and summary paragraphs, make it very
accessible to people with little or no theological training.
Barbara Brown Zikmund, Wesley Theological Seminary and The Catholic
University of America, Washington, DC
