Topic: M.M. Thomas' Approach Towards Theologies of Religion

Introduction

The Christian faith as a religion was born and took its baby steps in a world of extreme religious pluralism. The main focus of Christianity during the first few centuries was on defining the faith and distinguishing it from other religions. Christianity was not the only religion which existed in the first and second centuries. On one hand, the early Christians were very much confused about the doctrines and dogmas. On the other hand, they wanted Christianity should survive and establish itself amidst various prominent religions of the time. This same struggle was not only prevalent in the early times of Christianity but it is in the present too. In order to overcome this struggle many theologians have come up with many approaches and methodologies. This paper attempts to have a dialogue with one of the prominent theologians who came up with his own approach towards religious pluralism. This paper also aims to throwing light on what the theology of religion is and how M.M. Thomas approach the same.

Theologies of Religion

The term, 'Theology of religion' is a recent term, which dates back to the mid-20 th century. Before the 20 th century, many terminologies were used. In the middle ages, terms like, "comparative religion", "missionary theology", "apologetics" and "pluralistic inclusivism" were used to describe the Christian engagement with other religions. 1 Theology of religions is that discipline of theological studies which attempts to account theologically for the meaning and value of other religions. 2 Every religion has its own scriptural foundations, doctrines and dogmas. According to W.C. Smith, it is a mistake to identify one's own 'religion' or tradition with God, or with absolute truth, or from the divine. 3 He argues that there is no absolute in any religion. If any religion argues or affirms that what it follows is the absolute, it excludes other religious faiths and beliefs. One cannot judge one faith by the criteria of another. The aim and objective of the theology of religion is to close down the gap between the religions and try to create a bridge between religions so that all faith can come to one understanding and embrace other's beliefs. This 'Theology of religion' got a paradigm shift to "Christian Theology of Religions". Christian theology of religions tries to explore the relationship between Christianity and other religious faiths. This is a theological and missiological approach to spread the gospel through interfaith dialogue and to promote mutual respect and understanding. 4 However, the theology of religion is a fairly new discipline but the questions it asks are not new. The prominent argumentative theological questions are: i) how pluralism affects the theology of religion? ii) is salvation only for Christianity? iii) if salvation is not only for Christianity then who will be saved? 5

M.M. Thomas

M.M. Thomas was an Indian theologian, philosopher, and political activist. He was born in 1916 in Kerala, India, and was educated at the University of Madras and the University of Edinburgh. Thomas is a prolific writer and thinker, and is known for his contributions to the fields of Christian theology, and Marxist political theory. He spoke a lot about interfaith dialogue between his faith and other religious faiths in the context of pluralist society. Thomas is highly Christocentric in his approach but his standpoints are always about pluralistic inclusivism. There is a difference between the perspectives of Pluralistic Inclusivism, Exclusivism 6 , Inclusivism 7

and Pluralism 8 . Thomas' views are a bit different from the traditional ideologies of religion and its theologies.

M.M. Thomas' Dialogue about Pluralism

Pluralism is different from mere traditional plurality which was a coexistence of communities largely isolated from each other. 9 The world has always had a plurality of religious communities which have different traditions and diverse doctrines about the ultimate truth.

Pluralism rarely challenges established religions for it was already established and affirmed its place in the society. Whereas, the minority religious faiths are always get challenged by pluralism. Thomas has taken a different stance regarding pluralism. Thomas argues that he prefers to be called as Christocentric inclusivist rather than pluralist. 10 He further argues that in 6 Exclusivism can be explained as Ecclesiocentrism, which believes Salvation can be attained only through the Christian church. This approach is very exclusive in nature. They don't accept other religious belief. (Veli-Matti Karkkainen, An Introduction to the Theology of Religions, 25) 7 Inclusivism can be explained as Christocentrism, which states that Christ is the savior and anybody can be saved through Christ. The importance of church was debated here and argued that the work of Christ can also be done outside the church. (Veli-Matti Karkkainen, An Introduction to the Theology of Religions, 25) 8 Pluralism can be defined as Theocentrism, which states that Christ is one of the saviors. God is the one and only savior and stands at the center, whereas other religious faiths are a path to God. pluralism, God is being considered as an absolute, but he states that the philosophical ideology of absolute is relatively meaningless. He uses another term 'centrality', when he talks about Christ. 11 The idea of absolute will become a hindrance to the people of the other faith.

Moreover, it has an underlying sense of religious fundamentalism. Affirming one religion or one faith as absolute makes all the other faiths as subordinates to the absolute. Thomas is not arguing that Christ is the absolute in the pluralistic context, whereas he states that Christ is the centrality where people from other faiths also get saved through Christ. He is much conscious about the idea of pluralism which should not deteriorate the Church's sense of mission. Mission needs to be carried out with openness to the existence of people of other faiths and ideologies. 12 M. M.

Thomas' theology of pluralism has challenged the notion of exclusivism and pluralism itself. He insists that dialogical existence should be made between the religious faiths for the welfare of religious coexistence.

M.M. Thomas' approach towards Pluralism

As a response to religious pluralism, Thomas puts forth an approach called dialogical approach. For Thomas dialogue was an essential part of being a Christian. An important factor related to the inter-religious dialogue was "Christ-centered syncretism, and he considers it as the 'goal of interfaith dialogue'." 13 He further emphasizes that the other religious traditions of the world need not to be denied validity so long as they can be redefined or transformed in the light of the centrality of Christ. This argument may convey a sense of contradiction to his own standpoints. Thomas challenges the idea of absoluteness in the religion, but here he puts Christ as an 'absolute truth'. Though he uses the word 'centrality', he means what is meant by the word 'absolute. He talks about interfaith and inter-religious dialogues. In addition, he talks about dialogue between Christianity and politics, economics, culture, scientific and technical rationality. 14 One of the main functions of dialogue is to allow participants to describe and witness to their faith in their own terms. Thomas sees the dialogical approach as a way to build bridges between different communities and religious traditions and the same promotes greater understanding and cooperation across religious and cultural boundaries.

M.M. Thomas' Dialogue about Salvation

The question of whether salvation is only for Christianity is a contentious in theology of religion. This question has been raised by the Christian theologians as well as scholars of other religious traditions. There are many dialogues were made to derive a convincing answer to this question. One of the prominent persons who have involved himself in this dialogue is M.M.

Thomas.

Salvation as Humanization

Thomas' view of salvation is quite different from the traditional understandings. For Thomas, Salvation has the meaning of humanization, making the human beings genuinely human. 15 Salvation is about the humanization of all aspects of life, including politics, economics, culture and ecology. Thomas challenges the traditional interpretations of salvation in which salvation is interpreted as a gift of God's grace and deliverance from sin. This is where; Thomas might be different from the other theologians. While many debates and dialogues suggest that salvation is an experience of inner spirituality, Thomas gives a new dimension to ponder over salvation. As the paper has already pointed out, the approach of Thomas towards the theology of religion is Christocenticism. When he discusses salvation, he puts forth another approach which is "Christ-Centered Humanism". 16 Thomas suggests salvation in Christ as Christ the bearer of new community. The quest for salvation is the search for ultimate meaning of human existence.

He also interprets salvation as being unified in the glorified humanity of risen Christ and therefore salvation is closely related to the struggle of the oppressed for a richer and fuller human life or to the process of humanization. 17 Through the approach of Christ-centered humanism, Thomas states that anyone, regardless of religion and culture, can be saved through Christ. He also argues that many religious practices and cultural practices that dehumanize people.

Salvation is for all humankind and the objective of salvation is to make a human genuinely human.