An engaging and accessible introduction to Christianity's relationship with other world religions, addressing the questions of why the reality, and vitality, of other religions has become a challenge, and showing how Christianity is equipped to deal with religious plurality at both the doctrinal and social level.

Preface ix

Part I: Charting the Territory: Theology of Religions 1

1 Early Map Making 3

Introduction 3

Pluralism 9

Inclusivism 19

Exclusivism 25

2 Changing the Angle: Recent Maps 34

Some Criticisms of the Threefold Typology 34

Comparative Theology 37

Postmodern Postliberalism 45

Part II: The Making and Meaning of Religions 55

3 Modernity’s Story 57

Introduction 57

Modernity’s Story about Religions 58

4 An Alternative: The Secular Construction of the Sacred Modernity as the Establishment of a New Ruling 74

Religion 74

Conclusion 102

Part III: Religions in the Public Square 103

5 Whose Religion and Which Public Square? 105

The Public Square 105

A Taxonomy of Secular Modernity and Postmodernity 107

6 Christian and Muslim Public Squares 128

Roman Catholicism, Modernity and Religious Plurality 128

Islam, Reasoned Debate, and Religious Plurality 136

Part IV: Christ’s Descent into Hell 159

7 Old Doctrines for New Jobs 161

Introduction 161

“The Descent”: Introduction to the “Circles of Hell” 165

The Limbo of the Just and the Unevangelized 167

8 Further into the Inferno 188

Purgatory and the Non-Christian 188

The Children’s Limbo 194

The Descent into Hell 201

Bibliography 212

Subject Index 225

Index of Works 233

Why has the reality of other religions become a big problem for Christianity? In the past, Christianity has been able to largely ignore other religions but in recent decades, not just the reality, but the vitality of other religions has become a challenge. This accessible book tackles a number of questions arising from these changes: is belonging to one religion rather than another merely a matter of cultural preference?; is salvation the same among all religions?; and what can be learned from other religions? Considering wider issues of how modernity has defined “religion,” Gavin D’Costa provides a substantial critique of secular ways of controlling religions, and shows how Christianity is very well suited to deal with religious plurality at the doctrinal and social level.

The book makes a decisive contribution to debates about the clash between Islam and the West, arguing that the major threat to religious freedoms come from secularism, and that Islam and Christianity both have the resources to develop a vibrant and pluralist “public square” informed by intellectual debate. By engaging with the core questions and suggesting a pathway through the various answers that have been proposed in recent years, this is an ideal introduction to the field, and one which will help stimulate ideas and discussions.

"The deepest challenge to global Christianity is in its relation to world religions. Informative and thought-provoking, this book tackles one of the most heated issues of the time: the interactions within religious pluralism. Old-timers and newcomers to disputes over these 'disputed questions' will not walk away from this book casually or apathetically. It is provocative and, yes, challenging."
–Martin E. Marty, University of Chicago

“In this book, Gavin D'Costa continues to push and stretch established categories and traditional doctrines to provide highly original and deeply provocative thoughts on the relationship between Christianity and other religions and on the role of religion in the public square.  And his approach to the question of the salvation of non-Christians in terms of Christ's descent into hell will undoubtedly be the focus of heated discussion in the theology of religions for years to come.”
–Catherine Cornille, Associate Professor of Comparative Theology at Boston College, Author of The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue.