“Nostra Aetate”: At the Beginning of a Theology of Religions Cover Image

„Nostra Aetate“ als Ausgangspunkt einer Theologie der Religionen
“Nostra Aetate”: At the Beginning of a Theology of Religions

Author(s): Wolfgang Klausnitzer
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II - Wydział Teologii
Keywords: Declaration Nostra Aetate of Vatican II; Theology of Religions

Summary/Abstract: The Declaration “Nostra Aetate” of Vatican II is a new landmark in the relation of the Church with the followers of other religions. With it a new theological discipline begins, the theology of religions. The article discusses different Christian attitudes towards the other (nonChristian) religions (idolatry, expression of the religious longing of mankind, “praeparatio Evangelii”, a step in the intellectual and mental development of men, expression of the divine acting in a specific culture) before that Declaration. It analyzes its text, describes the debates in the Germanspeaking Catholic theology and argues (in the sense of Nostra Aetate) for a practical contest of the different religions in which the followers of a specific religion try to translate its noble ideals into a practical life.

  • Issue Year: 2013
  • Issue No: 5 (60)
  • Page Range: 97-115
  • Page Count: 19