In his chapter Gerald O’Collins first summarizes current debates concerning the essential resurrection claim, the nature of the Easter appearances, the historicity of the empty tomb, and the credibility of resurrection faith. He then proposes questions that invite fuller examination in the historical, systematic, ethical, spiritual, and liturgical areas. In his response to Gerald O’Collins’ paper, Peter Carnley focuses on his discussion of John Hick's suggestion that the Easter appearances may be explained as psychogenic projections, similar both to the experiences of those who have had near death ‘visions’ of light and of a person who is identified as ‘Jesus’ and the experiences of fleeting visions of a loved one by the recently bereaved. He concludes that at this distance and with the evidence at hand it is not possible with any confidence either to prove or disprove this hypothesis. Indeed, it is difficult even to establish criteria clearly to differentiate so‐called ‘objective’ visions from ‘subjective’ ones. The theology of the resurrection must concentrate less on a somewhat futile quest for the historical resurrected Jesus and more on an epistemology of faith capable of explaining how it is possible to identify the presence of the Spirit of Christ today as the presence of Jesus, the Crucified One.
, O'Collins is a prolifi c theologian whose works are widely used as textbooks, especially in Catholic seminaries and divinity schools. These works deal primarily with fundamental theology and Christology. Recently, perhaps inspired by Jacques Dupuis, for whom he acted as advisor during the investigation of Dupuis' works by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and to whose memory he dedicates this book, O'Collins began exploring the issue of interreligious dialogue. Salvation for All: God's Other Peoples does not deal with interreligious dialogue as such but rather provides, from the biblical standpoint, the theological foundations for its possibility and perhaps necessity. The basic question under consideration is: What does the Bible (both the Old and New Testaments) say about the religious situation of those whom O'Collins delicately refers to as "God's Other Peoples"-that is non-Jews and non-Christians? To answer this question, O'Collins carries out a straightforward examination of the biblical books in the order they are listed in the canon, rather than presenting the biblical teaching in its historical development, an inherently hazardous reconstruction. Though not so explicitly structured, the book can be divided into three parts: The fi rst (chapters 1-6) surveys the Old Testament, with chapter 6 listing provisional conclusions. The second part (chapters 7-12) presents the teaching of Jesus and the early church on the religious "others" as evidenced in the gospels, the Pauline writings, and Acts. The last part (chapters 13-16) expounds some implications of the biblical teaching on non-Christians for a Christian theology of religion. Of the Old Testament, the books considered include Genesis, Exodus,
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.