A COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN ASIAN CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE

Authors

  • Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.

Keywords:

The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), Rita Gross, Religious Diversity, John Henry Newman, Comparative Theology

Abstract

Even as comparative theology and the theology of religions have offered numerous and compelling approaches to religious diversity, the problem of how to balance the particularities of Catholic Christian revelation with openness to other religious traditions and persons continues to be controversial. Regardless, theological issues and practical questions surrounding religious diversity are not going away. Despite the ongoing controversies, theologians can and must engage these issues in their work. This article opens a new line of inquiry in the theology of religious diversity by drawing out some broader lessons from Asian Catholic theology and then engaging in a comparative experiment that puts John Henry Newman (1801-1890) and Rita Gross (1943-2015) into conversation. It speculates on several ideas emerging from the comparison: namely, conscience, the sanctification of non-Christian practices, and the sensus fidelium (sense of the faithful). Ultimately, the article argues that future theologies of religious diversity must be multiple, developing in particular ways through concrete, distinct, and local dialogues.

Author Biography

Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA.

Tracy Sayuki Tiemeier is Associate Professor of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, CA. She received her PhD from Boston College in Systematic Theology, with a minor Comparative Theology. She is the author of numerous articles and essays in Hindu-Christian studies, Asian and Asian American theology, comparative theology, feminist theology, and interreligious dialogue. She is co-editor of Interreligious Friendship After Nostra Aetate (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015). She is also the Catholic co-chair of the Los Angeles Hindu-Catholic Dialogue, a cooperative initiative formed in 1990 by the Los Angeles
Archdiocese’s Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, the Hindu Temple Society of Southern California, and the Vedanta Society of Southern California to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate). Email: Tracy.Tiemeier@lmu.edu

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Published

2016-06-30

How to Cite

Tiemeier, T. S. (2016). A COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY OF RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN ASIAN CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE. Asian Horizons, 10(02), 286–299. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/ah/article/view/2073

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 02 (2016): ASIAN HORIZONS

Section

Articles