Jaarboek Thomas Instituut 1997 - Thomas Instituut te Utrecht

HOW TO TALK TO STRANGERS
Aquinas and Interreligious Dialogue
in the Middle Ages
Pim Valkenberg
Was Thomas Aquinas a predecessor of modem efforts towards
interreligious dialogue? This is a question that will not be answered in
this article, since it disregards the differences between the theological
propensity of Aquinas and the particularities of our modem, pluralistic
age. However, it is possible to answer this question indirectly, because
there is something in common between Aquinas' manner of speaking
to strangers and a modem understanding of religious plurality. It is the
necessity of explaining one's faith to others, which unites such diverse
procedures as polemics, apologetics, and interreligious dialogue.
1. Introduction
One of the most remarkable features of modern Roman Catholic
theology since the Second Vatican Council is its growing awareness of
religious plurality. In spite of its descent from the Jewish religion,
Christianity never seemed to bother about other religions during most
of its Western history, until the shock of the Holocaust recalled the
fate of the Jewish people to mind. At least for Roman Catholic
theology, the declaration of the Vatican Council Nostra Aetate on the
relation of the Church to non-Christian religions, marked the
beginning of a new awareness. This declaration, originally meant to
address the Jewish people, widened its horizon to include Islam,
Hinduism and Buddhism as well'.
On the history of Nostra Aetate, see M. Ruokanen, The Catholic
Doctrine of Non-Christian Religions according to the Second Vatican Council,
Leiden 1992.