Toward a P(new)matological Paradigm in Christian Theology of Religions
Amos Yong
Associate Professor of Theology, Bethel College, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, 55112
Introduction
Christian reflection on the fact of religious pluralism seems to be intensifying even as we set sail
into the third millennium of Christian existence. In this paper, I wish to come at this topic by focusing
specifically on the truth question. I will proceed first by identifying why the question regarding truth lies
at the heart of the interreligious encounter on the one hand and yet remains one of the most problematic
issues in that encounter on the other. Second, I will suggest the potential of a pneumatological approach
for pushing the discussion forward, and do so by mining the Pentecost narrative in Acts chapter two for
insights into the nature of encountering truth in an interreligious context. I conclude by outlining a
research program for exploring the fruitfulness of this pneumatological proposal regarding both the
question of truth and the interfaith encounter. The basic thesis I am proposing is that a pneumatological
approach to the diversity of religions provides hitherto untapped resources for the theological
understanding of both religious truth and religious otherness.
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I. The Question of Truth and the Religions
To ask the question of truth in the face of cultural and religious plurality is, arguably, to confront
one of the central and defining theological issues in our time. At one level, this is connected to the
perennial human question, ,,What must I do to be saved? At another level, this concerns the multitude of
apparently contradictory claims made by the various religions beside the soteriological question. In short,
there are both deeply existential and challenging intellectual matters at stake. In what follows, I wish to
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I have elaborated on other aspects of this thesis in two previous books: Discerning the Spirit(s): A
Pentecostal-Charismatic Contribution to Christian Theology of Religions, Journal of Pentecostal Theology
Supplement Series 20 (Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), and Beyond the Impasse: Toward a
Pneumatological Theology of Religions (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2003).