Does the Doctrine of the Trinity Hold the Key to a Christian Theology of Religions? An Evaluation of Three Recent Proposals Keith E. Johnson Keith E. Johnson is a Ph.D. can- Introduction Similarly, didate in Christian theology at Duke A remarkable revival of Trinitarian the- University. Keith also serves as the I believe that the Trinitarian doc- ology emerged in the twentieth century. trine of God facilitates an authen- Director of Theological Education for Karl Rahner, on the Catholic side, and Karl tically Christian response to the world religions because it takes the the U.S. Campus Ministry of Campus Barth, on the Protestant side, played key particularities of history seriously Crusade for Christ where he oversees roles in the “ecumenical rediscovery” of as well as the universality of God’s 1 the theological training of two thousand the Trinity. In addition to rethinking ele- action. This is so because the doc- full-time campus ministers. His disserta- trine seeks to affirm that God has ments of this central doctrine (e.g., nature disclosed himself unreservedly and tion research draws together two of his of divine personhood, Filioque, etc.), this irreversibly in the contingencies and central interests (the doctrine of the resurgence of interest in the Trinity has particularity of the person Jesus. But Trinity and the contemporary challenge within Trinitarian thinking, we are provided the impetus for a fresh examina- also able to affirm, in the action of of religious pluralism) by examining the tion of other aspects of Christian theology the third person, that God is con- constitutive role of Trinitarian theology in and practice from a Trinitarian standpoint stantly revealing himself through the Christian theology of religions. history by means of the Holy Spirit. including divine revelation, human . Such a Trinitarian orientation personhood, worship, ecclesiology, mis- thereby facilitates an openness to the world religions, for the activity sions, marriage, ethics, societal relations, of the Spirit cannot be confined to 2 6 and even political theory. Theologians Christianity. of every stripe are attempting to relate Finally, Trinitarian doctrine to a wide variety of 3 contemporary issues. It is impossible to believe in the Trin- In this context, several Christian theo- ity instead of the distinctive claims of all other religions. If Trinity is real, logians have suggested that the doctrine then many of these specific religious of the Trinity holds the key to a Christian claims and ends must be real also. 4 theology of religions. According to one . The Trinity is a map that finds room for, indeed requires, concrete 7 theologian, truth in other religions. God has something to do with the fact that a diversity of independent The purpose of this essay is to evaluate ways of salvation appears in the the claim that the doctrine of the Trinity history of the world. This diversity offers the basis for a positive appraisal reflects the diversity or plurality 8 within the divine life itself, of which of non-Christian religions. To this end, the Christian doctrine of the Trinity I will critically examine the Trinitarian provides an account. The mystery of doctrine in three recent proposals in the the Trinity is for Christians the ulti- 5 9 mate foundation for pluralism. Christian theology of religions: Amos 24 18 Yong’s pneumatological theology of reli- tants and Catholics). I will attempt to 10 gions, Mark Heim’s Trinitarian theology demonstrate that these three proposals 11 of religious ends and Jacques Dupuis’s ultimately fail to satisfy the “classical con- Christian theology of religious plural- cerns” of the Augustinian tradition and 12 ism. Several factors shaped my selec- that this reality undermines the claim that tion of these theologians. First, I wanted the Trinity represents the key to a new to limit my investigation to proposals understanding of religious diversity. First, in which Trinitarian doctrine plays an I will outline the proposals of Yong, Heim, 13 explicit role. Second, I wanted to focus and Dupuis paying special attention to upon proposals that intend to affirm the role of Trinitarian doctrine. Next, I historic Trinitarian orthodoxy. Finally, will evaluate the Trinitarian “grammar” I wanted to select proposals that would they each employ from an Augustinian provide a representative cross-section of perspective. I will close by reflecting on the kind of appeal to Trinitarian doctrine the implications of my investigation for one encounters in the Christian theology contemporary Trinitarian theology. 14 of religions. Amos Yong has suggested that the Three Recent Proposals adequacy of his proposal should be evalu- The Christian theology of religions ated with respect to three criteria: “The (which should be distinguished from trinitarianism to be developed should the “history of religions” and the “phi- relate the missions of the Word and Spirit losophy of religion”) emerged as a distinct without identifying them. It should also theological discipline following Vatican 19 be sensitive to the classical Christian con- II. Much of the discussion regarding cerns regarding the doctrine of the Trinity the relationship of Christianity to other as well as the contemporary methodologi- religions has taken place under the rubric cal issues that confront transcendental of the exclusivist-inclusivist-pluralist typol- 15 20 theology.” I will argue that the proposals ogy. Although Yong’s proposal might of Yong, Heim, and Dupuis ultimately fail safely be characterized as “inclusivist,” to satisfy Yong’s second criterion (“clas- the proposals of Dupuis and Heim defy sical Christian concerns regarding the easy categorization falling somewhere doctrine of the Trinity”). These “classical between “inclusivism” and “pluralism.” concerns” are most clearly expressed in the Augustinian Trinitarian tradition. Amos Yong’s Pneumatological Augustine’s doctrine of the Trinity is by Theology of Religions far the most influential in the history of In a monograph entitled Discerning the 16 the West. Moreover, despite popular por- Spirit(s): A Pentecostal-Charismatic Contri- trayals to the contrary, Augustine’s Trini- bution to a Christian Theology of Religions, tarian doctrine shares much in common Amos Yong, a young Pentecostal theolo- with the Greek-speaking theologians of gian, attempts to develop a “Pentecostal- 17 21 the East (e.g., the Cappadocians). Thus, charismatic” theology of religions. While my evaluation will draw upon what is affirming that christological questions arguably the most representative version will always play an important role in any of Trinitarian doctrine in the history of attempt to formulate a viable theology of the church (particularly among Protes- religions, Yong suggests that pneumatology 25 may provide the key to moving beyond Yong turns to the problem of criteria for what he calls the “christological impasse,” discerning this presence of the Spirit. that is, “the almost irreconcilable axioms He argues that previous pneumatologi- of God’s universal salvific will and the cal approaches floundered because they historical particularity of Jesus of Naza- were unable to identify non-christological 22 reth as Savior of all persons.” The meta- criteria for discerning the presence of the physical basis for Yong’s proposal is the Spirit. Although christological criteria are universal presence and work of the Holy clearly useful in certain contexts, Yong 23 Spirit. Yong argues that the Holy Spirit is contends that they are not particularly present and active among non-Christian helpful outside the church. Other criteria religions and that Christians must learn are needed. Because the Spirit acts in an to discern the Spirit’s presence. economy distinct from that of the Son, one The “foundational pneumatology” should be able to identify aspects of the Yong develops in Discerning the Spirit(s) is Spirit’s work that are not “constrained” 27 predicated upon a Trinitarian distinction by the Son. To this end Yong proposes a between the “economy” of the Word and “three-tiered process” for discerning the the “economy” of the Spirit: “The entire “religious” activity of the Spirit among objective of shifting to a pneumatological adherents of other religions. At the first framework in order to understand non- level (“phenomenological-experiential”) Christian faiths is premised upon the one compares the religious experiences recognition that there is a distinction of adherents of other religions with Pen- between the economy of the Son and tecostals looking for phenomenological that of the Spirit relative to the redemp- similarities. On the second level (“moral- 24 tion of the world.” It would not be an ethical”) one looks for “concrete signs that overstatement to say that this distinction follow claims of experiencing the tran- constitutes the Trinitarian key to his scendent. The primary norms on this level 28 proposal. On the basis of this distinction, are moral and ethical in nature.” On the Yong affirms the presence and activity third level (“theological-soteriological”) of the Holy Spirit among non-Christian one must consider the difficult question religions and justifies the use of non- of the “reference” of the religious symbols christological criteria for discerning the in non-Christian religions: “[T]o what Spirit’s presence. According to Yong, the transcendental reality, if any, do religious 29 economies of the Son and Spirit are, on the symbols refer?” In addition to the Holy one hand, “mutually related, and should Spirit