Religious Diversity and Social Politics. On the Performativity of the Theology of Religions

Abstract

The necessity to translate Christian soteriology into the respective present is confronted with a special task when dealing with any theology of religions: on one hand, Christianity’s claim to truth and salvation must be represented, and on the other hand, a genuine recognition of the other must be achieved. This article argues that any reflection on other religions must be understood to necessarily be situated in a socio-political framework and to influence it. In this respect, negotiating a hermeneutical position on other religions can in itself be seen as a soteriological question. On this premise, this paper analyses especially the classic inclusivism, which shows its flaw precisely in the lack of recognition of other religion’s self-understanding. The solution proposed to this problem is not to measure other religions from a material reading of Christianity, but rather to translate Christian claims to truth and salvation into a practice of recognition of the other.