Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1997 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

AQUINAS AND INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE 23
a dialogical accent as well". If fundamental theology aims at achieving
communication with others about God's initiative of salvation for
humankind, then its mode of proceeding is either apologetic (if
communication is hindered by antagonism), or hermeneutical (if it is
hampered by lack of understanding), or dialogical (if it is blocked by
inaccessibility)". Historically speaking, fundamental theology has
mostly been written in situations of antagonism, and therefore the
apologetic or polemical mode of proceeding has been the predominant
one. So, the history of theologians communicating with others has
largely been a history of apologetics", while the history of theological
dialogue remains to be written".
But if apologetics and dialogue are two different manners of
performing the same theological task, then a future dialogically
oriented theology may learn from the history of apologetics.
Moreover, many of the texts presented as dialogues will on closer
investigation tum out to be apologetic or even polemical texts, while
some forms of apologetics contain elements that would fit in well with
a dialogical attitude.
".
The history of Christian apologetics. has already been sketched
elsewhere". Within the framework of this article, it will be sufficient
to say that the justification of Christian faith has been a necessity from
its very beginning, both in front of the authorities of the Jewish
religion, from which this distinctive kind of halacha originated", and
40 "In diesem Sinne finden sich ein apologetisches und ein dialogisches
Bemühen zusamrnen", H. Waldenfels, Kontextuelle Fundamentaltheologie,
Paderborn 1985, p.5.
41 Waldenfels, o.C., pp. 71-80.
42 Cp. A. Dulles, A History of Apologetics, London 1971.
43 Dupuis, Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism, p. 26;
Waldenfels, Kontextuelle Fundamentaltheologie, p. 77.
44 See the book by Avery Dulles, A History of Apologetics, mentioned
above.
45 Cp. P. Valkenberg, "Christ and the Other Ways", Die
widerspenstige Religion: Orientierung fûr eine Kultur der Autonomie? (FS H.
Häring), Hrsg. T. van den Hoogen, H. Küng, I-P. Wils, Kampen 1997, pp.
377-396, here p. 384.