16
Christian doctrine in order to ensure a response to culture and other religions that is consistent
with Roman Catholic dogma. DI attacks numerous errors, all of which reflect religious
pluralism, which are surfacing in Catholic teaching especially in the Third World. Both the
content and tone of the document infers that this problem has become more serious in recent
years and was not thwarted by RM. Certain Catholic teachers still are proposing a theology in
which the absolute truth and salvific universality of Jesus Christ is lost. In light of these
concerns, DI attempts to make the RCC position on the relation of Catholic Christianity to other
religions as clear as possible.
Part one of the document suggests that the most important remedy to the problem is to
reassert the "definitive and complete character of the revelation of Jesus Christ," the one
mediator of salvation and ultimate revelation of God.
32
Any idea that the revelation of God in
Jesus Christ is incomplete, suggesting that other religions can be considered complementary
means to the knowledge of God, is contrary to the Churchs faith. While God reveals himself in
other religions and even uses them to nourish their adherents in their relationship with God, the
person of true faith "must believe in no one but God: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit."
33
Interestingly, and perhaps in clarification of previous documents that mention the faith of those
in other religions, DI differentiates between "faith" which is uniquely Christian, and "belief"
found in other religions, which is essentially a human aspiration for God and search for truth.
This belief should never be confused with true faith.
Section two, which addresses the relationship of the incarnate Logos to the Holy Spirit in
salvation, rejects any notion that there is an economy of salvation that is unrelated to the eternal
Word or the Church, or that there is an economy of salvation in the Holy Spirit that is more
32
Dominus Iesus 5.
33
Dominus Iesus 7.