INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION
extremely important: there is a "mystery of the
human self, (which is) the most immediate
challenge for all of us to come to grips with....
no answer to any ultimate questions can be
stated in verbal, mental terms, and yet they
cannot be avoided because the ultimate ques­
tions pursue and haunt us from within"
(p. 129).
φ Commitment and Openness — The inter-
religious dialogue and theology of religions
in the work of Stanley J. Samartha, by
Eeuwout Klootwijk. Zoetermeer, The
Netherlands: Boekencentrum, 1992, 381pp.
Doctoral dissertations are not always easy to
read. Eeuwout Klootwijk's academic disserta­
tion at the Rijksuniversiteit of Utrecht is not
only easy to read but also written in a way that
leads to many different directions in the con­
temporary discussion on interfaith dialogue
and theology of religions. One senses an au­
thor, who is himself engaged and committed to
the issue he is describing: How can we as
Christians live with our dilemma: the exclusive
claims of Christianity and the inescapable real­
ity of religious plurality? Or, to quote the
former moderator of the Dialogue Working
Group, Bishop Krister Stendahl: "How can I
sing my song of praise to Jesus without offend­
ing my neighbour of another faith?" Klootwijk
has taken the former director of the WCC
Dialogue sub-unit, Dr Stanley J. Samartha, as
his point of reference. And Klootwijk invites
the reader to follow the lifespan of Samartha,
son of a Basel Mission evangelist in South
India, in his wanderings throughout the world
and in a pilgrimage of theological discoveries.
Samartha is a pilgrim, who is always on the
way, a condition that makes it difficult for
anyone who would like to label him for good:
inclusivist, pluralist or Inter-religious
dialogue and a theology of religions are part of
the spirituality of Samartha and not the desk-
product of a church bureaucrat. Samartha may
have spent all his life in systematic theology
but he has no systematic theology of religions.
"He has been on the frontiers of theology,
exploring new ways of doing theology. His
314
approaches are characterized by a tentative
seeking" (p. 13). It is difficult to nail Samartha
to one position. This tentative thrust and force
is the sign of a prophet. The nature of dialogue
is "not so much a matter of definitions and
concepts but of understanding the mystery of
human relationships in community, of commit­
ment to one's faith and openness to that of
others" (p. 126).
If Klootwijk has written a very interesting
dissertation on Samartha, Samartha has to have
some of the credit: the language of Samartha is
descriptive and poignant. Wliat Samartha said
in his address to the executive committee of the
WCC in 1969 is still valid: "Petrified tradi­
tions, narrow conceptions of mission, lack of
understanding, unfounded fears of syncretism
and a hesitation to move into unfamiliar areas
of thought and life . . . inhibit many churches
and individuals from taking any step closer to
men of other faiths" (p. 39). These and many
other words are still valid in the life of the
churches today.
During his pilgrimage, Samartha has met
Hendrik Kraemer, P.D. Devanandan and
M.M. Thomas, who in various ways have
influenced his theological thinking. Kraemer
remained a puzzle: how could a scholar who
was so positive towards other religions as a
phenomenologist be so negative towards
them as a theologian? Devanandan opened
the door from inclusivism to a pluralist
stance. M.M. Thomas engaged in dialogue
with Samartha on the question of secular
ideologies and worldviews in relation to reli­
gions.
For Samartha dialogue is rooted in the Chris­
tian faith and takes its arguments from it: God
is in dialogue with humanity in the incarnation.
Faith in Christ cannot be loosened from com­
munity-building. Christ's promise of the guid­
ance into all truth through the Spirit cannot be
dissociated from the common search for truth.
Klootwijk underlines how much the thinking
and thrust of Samartha focuses on the search
for Truth and the realization of the Mystery as
our common origin and goal. Dialogue is exis­
tential, a pilgrimage and not a "tourist expedi­
tion."
VOL. LXXXIV No. 334
The theology of religions cannot be reduced to
a question of individual salvation. Wfaat God is
doing in the lives of millions of men and
women is more important and more relevant
than the question of whether there is salvation
in other religions.
Theologians like Samartha will be contested
and Klootwijk has in his evaluation provided
space for some critical comments: "no suffi-
cient distinctions," "too much relativism," "no
understanding of the urgency of the missionary
call," "undefined theocentricity," "no under-
standing of the luminosity of the Incarnation,"
etc. It is as one could have expected: Every-
thing that is easy to say and not very much to
build on if you want to continue being tentative
in your theologizing. In addition, Klootwijk
has in his concluding considerations of Samar-
tha's pluralist models six theses with some
carefully worded remarks, rather easy to for-
mulate, but certainly more difficicult for a life
in frontier theology: A revision of Christian
doctrine is not a priori necessary; exclusivism,
inclusivism and pluralism must be held to-
gether; theocentrism must be related to Christ-
ology and pneumatology; Jesus Christ is the
discernment of the spirits; a pneumatological
perspective recognizes the universal presence
of God; dialogue is rooted in the mission of the
Triune God. Klootwijk ends his work on
Samartha on a different note, that has room for
other dimensions than those of dogmatic re-
strictions: poetry, which in the end may be the
only way in which we can fathom the un-
fathomable.
9 An Apology for Apologetics. A study in the
logic of inter-religious dialogue in Faith
Meets Faith Series, by Paul J. Griffiths.
Maryknoll, New York: Orbis, 1991,113pp.
"In her face excuse Came prologue) and apolo-
gy too prompt," said John Milton. The words
came back throughout my reading of Griffiths'
book. Too prompt came apology. There is no
question about the clarity of this book. The
preface leads you straight in medias res: this
book is written against those who maintain that
BOOK REVIEWS
understanding is the only legitimate goal of
dialogue, that criticism and judgement of reli-
gious beliefs other than those of one's own
community are inappropriate and that defense
of the truth is to be shunned. This book is then
written to give the green light to criticism of
other religious traditions and to telling the
truth. W^hile one cannot but call for more truth
and more sincerity also in interfaith dialogue,
one wonders why it is necessary to advocate
these principles. Apology came too prompt.
We have lived for so long with a Christian
position of other religions that has been very
exclusive: nulla salus, etc., or in no other
name. . . . Why is it then in the beginning of
interfaith dialogue so necessary to "correct"
those who now in sensitivity to the other shun
criticism? W^hy is it necessary to militate for
the NOIA-principle as does Griffiths through-
out this book? NOIA stands for NECESSITY
OF INTER-RELIGIOUS APOLOGETICS. Is
advocating NOIA also a call to the self-critic-
ism of the churches, that they be prepared to
listen to the criticism that the other religious
traditions may address to the churches? Or is
the necessity of NOIA addressed only to those
who on the frontier are engaging in dialogue
with people of other faiths, telling them to be
more outspoken, more straightforward?
HANS UCKO
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Hans Ucko, from Sweden, is executive secreta-
ry in the Office of Inter-religious Relations of
the World Council of Churches.
# Discoveries, Missionary Expansion and
Asian Cultures, edited by Teotonio R. de
Souza. New Delhi: Concept Publishing,
1994, 215 pp., Rs. 300.
• The Economics of the Goa Jesuits, 1442-
1759: An Explanation of their Rise and
Fall, by Charles J. Borges. New Delhi:
Concept Publishing, 1994, 215 pp., Rs.
300.
These books, both written by Jesuits, give an
insight into the early progress of missionary
315
 ^ s
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