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July 06 Layout How to Speak of the Spirit Among Religions: Trinitarian “Rules” for a Pneumatological Theology of Religions Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen hile the theme of the theology of religions—as to how wonder its canons are still in the making.2 What has been charac- Wto relate our faith to other faiths—has always ap- teristic of the recent developments is the emergence of yet peared on the radar of Christian theology, as a theological disci- another “turn.” At the cost of oversimplifying my case, let me pline the theology of religions is a fairly new enterprise.1 No simply call these turns a movement from Christocentric to theocentric and then pneumatocentric approaches. As long as Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen is Professor of Systematic Theology at Fuller Theological Christian theology was based on a more or less exclusivist Seminary, Pasadena, California, and Privatdozent of Ecumenics at the Univer- standpoint, the point of departure for the theology of religions sity of Helsinki. A native of Finland, he has lived and taught in Thailand and discourse was the finality of Christ. A turn to theocentrism participates actively in ecumenical work. seemed to give more space for opening up to other religions: July 2006 121 while Christ is one way to the Father, he is not the only one. God a Trinitarian substructure but there is also a Trinitarian structure is bigger than any single religion. Soon, among theologians from to reality. He speaks of a “cosmotheandric” principle—the com- across the ecumenical spectrum, a turn to the “Spirit” was ing together of cosmic, divine, and human, the supreme example enthusiastically initiated.3 The turn to pneumatology seemed to of which is the incarnation. The main problem with Panikkar’s promise a lot.4 After all, doesn’t the Spirit speak for universality, argument is that he ends up constructing a highly idiosyncratic while Christ speaks for particularity? Pneumatology also seemed view of the Trinity that is hardly sustainable biblically. Also to connect with the strongly pneumatological and spiritualistic problematic in Panikkar’s proposal is the divorce between Christ orientations of other religions, especially in the East. It is here that and history and, consequently, also between the Spirit and I want to pick up the discussion and offer both critical and Christ.8 constructive thoughts on the question of how to speak of the Another Catholic theologian—the late, veteran theologian Spirit among religions. of religions Jacques Dupuis, in his magnum opus Toward a Does a focus on the Spirit truly help us avoid, on the one Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism (1997)—made a lasting hand, the trap of blind exclusivism, which completely ignores contribution to the topic of the Trinity and religions. I am some- the contributions of other religions, and, on the other, the flirta- what critical of Dupuis’s approach, however, for its tendency to tion of pluralism, which seems to downplay all real differences downplay the integral relation of the Spirit to the church and, among religions? To address this question, I argue in this presen- consequently, the relation of the kingdom to the church.9 tation that every one of these turns, including the last one, the Recently, the most significant Trinitarian theology of reli- turn to the Spirit, in itself is inadequate and leads to insurmount- gions outside Catholic theology has come from the hand of S. able problems. A more coherent framework must therefore be Mark Heim. His book The Depths of the Riches: A Trinitarian Theology of Religious Ends (2001) claims to be the “most pluralis- tic” theology of religions yet to appear.10 On the basis of the “Trinity” is not an appendix diversity in the triune God, Heim advances the thesis that, not only are religions different, but they also have different God- to the notion of the one willed “ends” in terms of salvation goals. While I applaud God; rather, the “name” of Heim’s sincere effort to construct a new way of looking at other religions through the lens of the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, the biblical God is Father, I find both his methodology and the main results of his proposal Son, and Spirit. wanting. The whole logic of jumping from the fact of “diversity” in the Godhead to the idea of “diversity” of religious ends is unwarranted and resists the basic goal of the concept “Trinity,” found, which for me means yet another turn—to the Trinity itself. namely, to maintain the unity of God’s salvific work and per- My basic thesis, thus, is simply that the proper framework for son.11 speaking of the Spirit among religions is a healthy Trinitarian theology. A very promising contribution titled The Meeting of Religions I am not saying that the turn to the Spirit was a mistaken and the Trinity (2000) comes from the Catholic Gavin D’Costa of move in the Christian theology of religions; indeed, it is a badly England.12 I see three major contributions that D’Costa makes. needed corrective to one-sided theocentric or Christocentric First, he shows the fallacy of pluralistic approaches, both Chris- approaches. Yet the turn to the Spirit—apart from its Trinitarian tian and those of other religions. Second, D’Costa argues that ramifications—creates as many problems as it solves, the most because of the presence in the world of the Spirit of God, “there typical ones being the disconnection between the Spirit and too is the ambiguous presence of the triune God, the church, and Christ or the Spirit and God. These disconnections, in turn, lead the kingdom.”13 In other words, the Spirit’s presence in the world to the separation between the Spirit and the church and between is not only integrally Trinitarian but also ecclesiological, which in the Spirit and the kingdom. What usually happens is that the turn is related to the coming of the kingdom. D’Costa, unlike Spirit turns out to be a sort of “itinerant preacher” who only most contemporary theologians who avoid an exclusivistic ap- occasionally visits the Father’s House; most of the time the Spirit proach to religions, thus keeps together Spirit, Trinity, church, is doing his own business in the Far Country, as it were. and kingdom. Third, D’Costa argues that while religions as such A healthy Trinitarian theology is the best safeguard against are not salvific, we Christians can—and should—learn much lacunae such as these. Here I can only touch on some elementary through “the Holy Spirit’s invitation to relational engagement.”14 issues; for those interested in a fuller discussion, I refer to my Other proposals have been made, but I find the work of these 2004 monograph Trinity and Religious Pluralism.5 four the most valuable.15 Here I first give a brief review of existing Trinitarian ap- proaches to religions and highlight their problems and their Five Trinitarian Rules promises.6 Second, I suggest five foundational “rules,” or guide- lines, for speaking of the Spirit among religions in a Trinitarian In this section we consider five “rules” for speaking of the Spirit framework. Third, I conclude with a few comments regarding in the world and among religions. how to begin to apply these rules to an actual interfaith dialogue. Rule 1: The Trinity is the way to distinguish the Christian God from Trinity and Religions: Crucial Explorations all other gods. No less a theological giant than Karl Barth made the following programmatic statement: “The doctrine of the The pioneer in the field of relating the Trinity to religions was the Trinity is what basically distinguishes the Christian doctrine of Catholic Raimundo Panikkar. In his small yet highly significant God as Christian, and therefore what already distinguishes the book The Trinity and the Religious Experience of Man (1973),7 Christian concept of revelation as Christian, in contrast to all Panikkar argued for the viability of a Trinitarian approach based other possible doctrines of God or concepts of revelation.”16 In on the groundbreaking idea that not only do all religions reflect other words, “Trinity” is not an appendix to the notion of the 122 INTERNATIONAL BULLETIN OF MISSIONARY RESEARCH, Vol. 30, No. 3 one God; rather, the “name” of the biblical God is Father, Son, Rule 3: Pneumatology and Christology make one divine economy. In and Spirit. It is not possible to speak of the Father as “God,” as the New Testament, Son and Spirit presuppose each other.22 if Son and Spirit were not needed to consider God. The Father’s The Spirit that the New Testament speaks of is the Spirit of Christ. relation to the Son and the Spirit is foundational for the identity The Gospels clearly show the influence of the Holy Spirit through- of the Father. The very understanding of God thus becomes out the earthly life of Jesus, from his conception by the Spirit to relational, as contemporary Trinitarian theology rightly insists. his ministry through the power of the Spirit to his resurrection at The biblical idea of God as love means specifically that the the hands of God by the power of the same Spirit.23 Theologi- triune God exists as a communion of eternal love between cally expressed, Jesus is both the giver and the receiver of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Spirit. The Spirit’s task is to help us turn to Christ and, by doing Furthermore, “Trinity” introduces not only relationality so, to the Father. (communion) into the life of God, but also history and time. Wherever the Spirit inspires the knowledge of God, whether God’s relation—his reaching out—to the world in incarnation, within the sphere of the church or outside it, salvation brought salvation, and consummation is not something external to the about by the Spirit is referred to as the saving work of Christ, divine life.
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