“The document Dominus Iesus and the other religions”

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VATICAN - “The document Dominus Iesus and the other religions” of Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (third part)

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - “L’Osservatore Romano” has made it possible for Agenzia Fides to publish the entire text of the speech given by Archbishop Angelo Amato, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the opening of the Academic Year 2007-2008 in the Theological Institute of Assisi. Its theme was: “The document Dominus Iesus and the other religions.” The translations into other languages was made by Agenzia Fides and have not been revised by the author.

Christological Doctrine: Jesus Christ, the only and universal saviour

Very briefly we will now analyse the contents of the Declaration's six short chapters. In the first three, of Christological content, substantially three are the doctrinal affirmations which the Dominus Jesus intends to underline, to counter false or ambiguous interpretations of the central event of Christian revelation, namely the significance and universal validity of the mystery of the incarnation of the Word.
Fullness and definitiveness of Jesus' revelation
First there is the reaffirmation of the fullness and definitiveness of Christian revelation to contest a hypothesis with regard to a limited, incomplete and imperfect revelation of Jesus Christ, considered complementary to that present in other religions, since the full and complete truth about God could never be the monopoly of any one historic religion.

This position is considered contrary to the faith of the Church. Jesus, as the Word of the Father, is «the way, the truth and the life» (John 14, 6). And he alone reveals God's mystery in its fullness: «No one has ever seen God Dio: proprio il Figlio unigenito, che è nel seno del Padre, lui lo ha rivelato» (Jn, 1, 18).

Rightly it underlines that the source of the fullness, completeness and universal nature of Christian revelation, is the divine Person of the incarnate Word: «The truth about God is not abolished or reduced because it is spoken in human language; rather, it is unique, full, and complete, because he who speaks and acts is the Incarnate Son of God.» (n. 6). Consequently, Christian revelation completes every other salvific manifestation of God to humanity.

In this context, the document explains the value of the sacred texts of other religions, which cannot be considered «inspired» in the proper sense of the word, because the Church reserves the designation of inspired texts to the canonical books of the Old and New Testaments, since these are inspired by the Holy Spirit (n. 8). The Church, however, recognises and appreciates the spiritual riches of the different peoples, even when they contain gaps, insufficiencies and errors.«

Therefore, the sacred books of other religions, which in actual fact direct and nourish the existence of their followers, receive from the mystery of Christ the elements of goodness and grace which they contain» (n. 8).

In this regard we observe that the classical works of Christian theology and spirituality, while containing outstanding rays of truth and human and divine wisdom, are not referred to as inspired. The Declaration implicitly invites all Christians, challenged by the knowledge of sacred books of other religions, to rediscover the incomparable riches of eastern and western Christian literature and its numerous beautiful liturgical and spiritual implementations.

Unity of the economy of salvation of the incarnate Word and the Holy Spirit

In second place, the Declaration intends to contrast certain texts which, in order to give theological basis to religious pluralism, attempt to relativise and thus detract from the originality of the mystery of Christ.
To those who, for example, consider Jesus of Nazareth, one of many historic-slavific incarnations of the eternal Word, it underlines the personal unity which exists between the eternal Word and Jesus of Nazareth. It is contrary to Christian faith to introduce a separation between the Word and Jesus Christ: Jesus is the incarnate Word, a single and indivisible person, who became man for the salvation of all (n. 10).

There are also those who hypothesise a second economy of salvation, that of the eternal Word distinct from that of the incarnate Word: «The first would have a greater universal value than the second, which is limited to Christians, though God's presence would be more full in the second.» (n. 9). The Declaration refuses this distinction and reaffirms the Church's faith in the unicity of the salvific economy willed by the One and Triune God, «at the source and centre of which is the mystery of the incarnation of the Word, mediator of divine grace on the level of creation and redemption» (n. 11). Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, is the only mediator and redeemer of all humanity: if there exist elements of salvation and grace outside Christianity, these have their source and centre in the mystery of the incarnation of the Word.

Contrary to the Catholic faith is also the hypothesis of an economy of the Holy Spirit distinct and independent from that of the incarnate Word and of a more universal character. The incarnation of the Word is a Trinitarian salvific event: «the mystery of Jesus, the Incarnate Word, constitutes the place of the Holy Spirit's presence as well as the principle of the Spirit's effusion on humanity, not only in messianic times, but also prior to his coming in history » (n. 12). There is only one salvific economy of the One and Triune God which extends to all humanity «No one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit» (n. 12)

Unicity and universality of the salvific mystery of Jesus Christ

Lastly, bringing together numerous biblical and magisterial elements, the Declaration declares «the universal salvific will of the One and Triune God is offered and accomplished once for all in the mystery of the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God. » (n. 14). Hence we can and we must say that Jesus Christ has a significance and value for humanity and for human history, singular and unique, proper only to Him, exclusive, universal, absolute. The incarnate Word of God is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and of civilisation, the centre of the human race, the joy of every heart, the fullness of human aspiration: it is this unique singularity which confers on Christ an absolute and universal significance (DI n. 15). (3 - to be continued) (Agenzia Fides 22/2/2008; righe 86, parole 1054)