To: Bill Fischofer who wrote (15944 ) 9/23/2003 11:12:59 PM From: briskit Read Replies (2) | Respond to Rahner is said to be the theologian in the Catholic church who made the initial case for the validity of the world's non-Christian religions, both historical and non-historical. He developed his line of thinking along "believing seriously in the universal salvific purpose of God toward all people." As a Christian, he says "purpose of God in Christ toward all people." I take this to refer to the Christ events which, for him, in history concretely demonstrated the seriousness of God to intervene, if you will, in a decisive way on behalf of humanity to the end that an effective remedy (again, if you will) be instituted on behalf of humanity whether or not they recognize their inability to effect "salvation" on their own. Some of this is his language, and some my own trying to convey something in a short space. Please excuse Rahner my idiocies. (I thought seriously about omitting any reference to Christ, etc. for a number of reasons. I understand for many on this thread the historicity of "Christ events" will be a major problem, or perhaps merely an item of derision, as the case may be. "Historicity" is a bone of contention within Christianity itself on various grounds, from Tillich to Bultmann to Pannenberg.) I like his starting point for the discussion: universal salvific purpose. Of course that raises many discussion questions. What are we to understand by "salvific" in our time? How would it be experienced? If it is universal, what do we make of the obvious inequities, injustices, and discrepancies around the globe, both socio-economic and religious, among others?
