Jesus and the Other Names: Christian Mission and Global Responsibility

by Paul F. Knitter

"What are Christians to make of their mission in an pluralistic world?" asks Paul F. Knitter, author of the landmark work in interfaith dialogue No Other Name? As a recognized scholar and participant in interfaith dialogue, Knitter is in a unique position to explore the key concept of what Christian mission must entail in a world that will remain a world of many religious faiths for the foreseeable future.
From the first chapter of Jesus and the Other Names, which recounts his own theological and dialogical odyssey, Knitter constructs what he calls a "correlational, globally-responsible theology of religions" as a necessary correction to traditional pluralist and exclusivist approaches. By anticipating and addressing his critics - both conservative and liberal - Knitter makes a powerful argument for a reconstruction of mission faithful to the Christian imperative and dynamically attuned to the plurality of the world.
Jesus and the Other Names will give pause to those who believe Christian mission can be carried on as it was in the modern era. Sure to inspire debate as well as dialogue it offers a more humble, but perhaps more "Christic," postmodern approach to mission in the new millennium that has little to do with earthly glory and nothing to do with the sense of cultural superiority that has so often - and often so tragicallyaccompanied modern missionary movements. Theologians, missiologists, Christian historians, can all benefit from its thoughtful and timely message.

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Paul F. Knitter is the Paul Tillich Professor Emeritus of Theology, World Religions and Culture at the Union Theological Seminary in New York and a leading theologian of religious pluralism. He is professor emeritus of Theology at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, where he taught for 28 years before moving to Union. His research and publications primarily address religious pluralism and interreligious dialogue, including No Other Name? A Critical Survey of Christian Attitudes toward World Religions (1985), One Earth Many Religions: Multifaith Dialogue and Global Responsibility (1995), Jesus and the Other Names: Christian Mission and Global Responsibility (1996), Introducing Theologies of Religions (2002), and Without Buddha I Could Not Be A Christian (2009). He serves on the board of the International, Interreligious Peace Council. Knitter holds a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate from the University of Marburg, Germany.

Reviews

[Andrew]

And still the remedial education continues.
For some time I elected not to read this companion to One Earth, Many Religions. I think it might actually be the stronger of the two books, though. (Most of the students in my course seem to think so.)
There is a fairly uncriticized assumption pervading the book that there is a thing or things called religion(s) that is fairly readily demarcated and differentiated. However, while some "critical theorists" with whom I am acquainted would, with ample warrant, deconstruct Knitter's conceptualization, it seems to me that Knitter's own proposal - thoroughgoing dialogue with religious others - would accomplish as much or more.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a needful book, but I'm not the primary audience.

If any Catholics are looking to expand their minds and really wrestle with dogma in a world-building way, I could not recommend this book more. This really is the book for people looking to live beyond the mass while still loving their own traditions.

[Craig Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good attempt at a Christology that allows Christians to be more open to the validity, healing, and revelation present (or apparently present) in other religions.

[Anel · Rating 5 out of 5]

great