Description:
If Schillebeeckx had been Asian, how would he have responded to the phenomenon of religious pluralism? This book attempts to answer that question, beginning with a dialogue with the Vatican Declaration Dominus Iesus and discerning how Schillebeeckx's methodology has been applied in Asian theology. Employing the hermeneutical-critical method, Schillebeeckx asserts that the Word of God did not come "down to us, as it were, vertically in a purely divine statement"--it must be interpreted! In today's context of so many religions, so many cultures, and so many poor, God's Word invites the church to be a "sacrament of dialogue." Through dialogue the church will be "challenged by other religions and challenge them in return." Christianity will then be "put in its place, as well as given the place which is its due."
Endorsements:
"A frank and articulate commentary on Dominus Iesus, this volume offers reflections on the respectful and authentic relationship between the Catholic Church and other religious traditions. . . . What is intriguing is not only that it deals with the greatest theological conundrum of our time, but also explores how Western and Asian theologies can be bridged, mindful of the aspirations of the wronged of this world."
--Bahar Davary
Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of San Diego
Author of Women and the Qur'an
"Combining the theology of Schillebeeckx and the experience of religious diversity of the Asian churches, Chia takes on the '600-pound gorilla' that stalks all Catholic conversations about interreligious dialogue: the tensions between official Vatican pronouncements such as Dominus Iesus and the views of communities and theologians. Chia's final proposal for an 'Asian theology of dialogue' opens a way forward."
--Paul F. Knitter
Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions, and Culture, Union Theological Seminary
Author of Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian
"Edmund Chia puts us all, especially Asian theologians, in his debt with this scholarly analysis of the thought of one of the most influential Catholic theologians of the twentieth century. Chia brilliantly succeeds in extending Schillebeeckx's insights into the challenging field of cultural and interreligious dialogue. In this way he builds a bridge between Western and Asian theologies, long kept apart, or worse, with the former dominating the latter. Chia's work is proof that Asian theology has come of age."
--Peter C. Phan
Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University
Author of Being Religious Interreligiously
About the Contributor(s):
Edmund Chia is a Malaysian who served from 1996 to 2004 as Executive Secretary of Interreligious Dialogue for the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences. He then joined Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he last served as Associate Professor and Chair of the Doctrinal Studies Department. Since 2011 he has been on the faculty of the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. He holds an MA in human development, an MA in religion from the United States, and a PhD in intercultural theology from the Netherlands. Fr. Schillebeeckx witnessed his doctoral defense.
