Trinity and Religious Pluralism

The Enlightenment left the world in an ideological and theological conundrum. With its resounding angst towards the past, and the antiquities it produced, modernity progressed by way of an optimistic anthropocentric worldview. The entire world was at the beck and call of the modernistic tendency of mastering every realm of existence. This western paradigm was supplanted as the global metanarrative, of which the world must adhere. As a result, twentieth century theology and ministry were comprised of two prevailing interrelated themes: the Trinity and religious pluralism. Trinitarian doctrine served as the distinguishing element of Christian theology within the global, and especially western, plurality of religions. Therefore, the particular identity of the Christian God is paramount for the identity of the Christian faith. Furthermore, due to the rampant proliferation of religious pluralism, its axioms must be analyzed. By doing so, the orthodox delineation of Christianity through Trinitarian doctrine supersedes any pluralistic attempt to amalgamate the religions of the world.
Trinitarian doctrine
The Trinity has come to be recognized as both the most essential element of Christianity, as well as its most perplexing. Far from being effortlessly understood, Trinitarian concepts were disregarded by the rationalism of the nineteenth century. Furthering the misplaced criticism of Trinitarian doctrine was prominent liberal theology. Yet, with the revitalization of evangelical theological thought in the twentieth century came the reemphasis of Trinitarian foundations.
Two such theologians were Karl Rahner and Robert Jenson. Taking their cues from their theological traditions and predecessors, these two evangelical thinkers cast new light onto theology concerning the Trinity. The main contribution to twentieth century theology by Rahner was his differentiation of the economic and immanent Trinity. His formulations were based on the process of salvation. Steeped in soteriology, Rahner posited the concept of our knowledge of the Trinity in our salvific history. Rather than experience a multitude of deities in our salvation, he declared that the three-fold process of salvation reflects the triune God. The economic Trinity is thus the systemization of our knowledge and experience of God through salvation. This does not precisely echo the actual personhood of God, the immanent Trinity, but rather gives sinful humanity a glimmer of reality. Therefore, God can be viewed as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because of the correspondence of our salvific history and the ontological reality of God.
Robert Jenson furthered Trinitarian theology through his assertion of the particular name of God. The qualifying name of “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” was the distinct peculiarity of the Christian God. Not only was this name attributed to God but it was bestowed upon God by God. Thus, the name by which we call out to God is not derived from human origins but rather from the revelation of God. Furthermore, the revelation of God was consummated in and through Jesus. The result is Christological in nature thus intimating the revelation of God with the incarnation. For Jenson, this ensured the identity of God to be found solely in Christ, which invalidated any attempt to remove or equalize Jesus with other religious leaders. As such, the Christian God was properly identified as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit revealed in and through Jesus Christ.
Religious Pluralism
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries found themselves within the cyclical reoccurrence of religious pluralism. The global economy, along with its colonization and improved travel conditions, brought about a shrinking of the world’s communities. The multiethnic western society, produced by the democracy and tolerance of the United States, ushered in prescriptive religious pluralism. Opposed to explaining what is believed by religions, prescriptive pluralism seeks to declare what may be believed. Any truth claims posited by any form of religion are thus seen as intolerant, arrogant, and oppressive. The manifestations of this ideology disqualify any attempts to distinguish religions apart from their common essence. Therefore, it is paramount for the Christian theologian to dismantle religious pluralism and reaffirm the transcendence of Christianity.
Religious pluralists have relegated the religions of the world into a conglomeration of equal faiths. The term religion has been devalued into a concept of common denominators, which do not exist. In contrast, the realm of religious faith is composed of a multitude of religious traditions. For any intellectual student of any theological system this is an egregious fallacy. It does not take much study of the religions of the world to realize their heterogeneousness.
However evident this truth may be, its penetration into the mainstream of popular theology has yet to be seen. This is largely due to the theological system of John Hick. Hick offered a generalized theocentric system in replacement of a particularized Christocentric theology. This allowed for a synergistic dialogue between religions based on the commonality of their deity. For Hick, the diverse religions of the world all represented the same God. They equally and simultaneously worshipped at the same feet of the same Reality. Thus, the only distinguishing factors for religions are the cultural derivations of their divine names.
Theology and Ministry in the 20th Century
Unfortunately, the results of religious pluralism have left much of western society bereft of any theological foundations. Rather than have any certainties concerning the God revealed through Jesus, we are left to the presuppositions of pluralist axioms. This must be overcome in order to maintain the significance and particularity of Christianity.
Christians should welcome interfaith theological dialogue. Differences should be validated and discussed in search of reasons for their existence. This does not presume agreement of faiths, but rather asserts the intellectual and faithful divergences of such faiths. Furthermore, the identity of Christianity should be characterized by the Trinity. As earlier noted, it is the theological assertion of God as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that delineates Christianity from the religions of the world. The points of contact between other religious traditions and Christianity are due to God’s general revelation. Knowledge of God, however, does not equate salvation. Salvation comes through Christ alone, who is found solely revealed through the Trinity. As such, the emphasis of Christianity is Christ, God incarnate. To remove him from any form of Christian theology is to repudiate any claim of knowledge of God and salvation. Therefore, as Christian theologians, we must proclaim the uniqueness of Christ, based on Trinitarian orthodoxy, in a world capitulated before religious pluralism.