Stephen Jay Gould's NOMA (nonoverlapping magisteria) theory was meant to be an alternative to the traditional “conflict model” regarding the relationship between science and religion. But NOMA has been plagued with problems from the beginning. The problem most acutely felt was that of demarcating the disciplines of science and theology. This paper is an attempt to retain the insights of NOMA and the conflict model, while eliminating their shortcomings. It acknowledges with the conflict model that the conflict is real, but not necessarily a fight unto death. It agrees with the NOMA that the two are different kinds of disciplines, and it goes on to spell out the difference in some detail. They turn out to be so radically different that the two cannot be reconciled by keeping one away from the other's turf, as NOMA suggests, but may be reconciled through a fusion of horizons in the Gadamerian sense.
The article questions the basic assumption underlying the so-called "Copernican revolution" in theology. The assumption is that the so-called "Ptolemaic theology" (which places one's own religion at the center) is a mistake to be corrected. Examining the relevant data shows that this assumption is unwarranted. Undermining that assumption results in a fresh perspective that would enable us to leave behind the polemics of the pluralistic discussions and advance the conversation in more fruitful directions.J OHN HICK ONCE OBSERVED that the controversy regarding religious pluralism is not well conducted. 1 The reason seems to be, partly at least, the rhetoric that has not only blurred the focus but also edged out the real issues from the discussion. Of the different issues involved in the discussion, I am concerned here with just one: the importance or otherwise of the particular and often unique features of a religious tradition in giving a theological account of religious diversity. From this viewpoint the contending sides are the original "pluralists" like Hick on the one side and the "particularists" like Mark Heim on the other. 2 The former seek to treat all the major religions of the world equally, downplaying the particularities and uniqueness of different religions, and one's own religion then becomes "one among many." 3 GEORGE KARUVELIL, S.J., received his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Delhi and is now associate professor in the Faculty of Philosophy, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, the Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Religion, Pune, India. Specializing in the epistemology of religious experience, religions, and mysticism, he has recently published:
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