23
assenting to and believing in the truth."
43
How, then, is this Holy Spirit unable to overcome
psychological and cultural barriers which keep the believer of another religion from accepting
Christ?
2) The value of other religions: The documents surveyed share a positive evaluation of the
revelatory value of non-Christian religions unprecedented in the history of Christianity. Beyond
that, the extent to which Catholic theology allows other religions to serve as a means of salvation
is stunning. The idea that persons of faith and good will in other religions actually have an
implicit faith in Christ without knowing it is striking enough. But most recent Catholic theology
takes this trajectory even farther. I wonder if a person sincerely believes in Allah, responding to
the grace of God found in Islam and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and when confronted
with the gospel, rejects Christ and condemns Christian faith as a damnable perversion of the truth
about God, can this person be on the road to redemption? In a discussion with a Catholic
theologian, I suggested the following reply: Perhaps the issue is essentially a psychological
one--that this person has all the information needed, but because of his cultural and religious
background is not able to believe the truth and is therefore not held responsible for his denial of
the faith, being judged instead for his faith in what he can believe. His response was that, yes,
that is exactly how he would understand it.
44
One looks in vain for any consciousness of a
satanic origin of the "other gospels" (2 Cor 11) found in religions that reject Christ. In fact, one
looks in vain for any truly negative evaluation of other religions. While it is admitted that they
can be obstacles to salvation, it is clear that they are understood as being on a continuum of truth
and salvation, and not as false human conceptions of God. Yet, when one looks at the Bibles
own evaluation of other religions, it is overwhelmingly negative. Avery Dulles has recognized
43
Redemptoris Missio 7.
44
Cameron interview. Sullivan and Dupuis suggest similar conclusions.