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Gavin D'Costa's Theory of the Unevangelized: A Continuing Assessment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Kyle Faircloth
Kyle Faircloth*
Affiliation:
Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary, Penang
*
info.mbts@gmail.com
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Abstract

Gavin D'Costa has distinguished himself as a leading voice in the field of theology of religions, and not just among Roman Catholics. His Trinitarian approach to the subject has also garnered respect among Protestants, such as Reformed theologian Tan Loe-Joo. Yet Tan is concerned that D'Costa compromises the Trinitarian framework of his approach by conflating universal salvific will and salvific grace, and that his use of limbo falls short of satisfying the scriptural principle that faith comes by hearing (Rom 10:17). This article is an evaluation of D'Costa's theory as it relates to the former issue concerning salvific will and grace. I seek to show that Tan's worry stems more from an incomplete theological delineation of grace than from an actual shift in D'Costa's theological position. I then suggest a solution that provides some common ground from which both Catholic and Protestant theologians can seek a resolution to the latter issue concerning the principle of faith by hearing.

Keywords

Gavin D'CostaTan Loe-JooTheology of ReligionsQuestion of the UnevangelizedTheology of Grace
Type
Original Article
Information
New Blackfriars , Volume 100 , Issue 1089 , September 2019 , pp. 577 - 596
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Provincial Council of the English Province of the Order of Preachers

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References

1 Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti, Trinity and Religious Pluralism: The Doctrine of the Trinity in Christian Theology of Religions (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004), 76Google Scholar.

2 Ibid., 77.

3 Tan, Loe-Joo, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian Theology of Religions: An Assessment,” New Blackfriars (April 2, 2013): 100Google Scholar.

4 Ibid., 101; emphasis original.

5 Ibid., 102; emphasis original.

6 Ibid., 99-104.

7 Kärkkäinen, Trinity and Religious Pluralism, 77.

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11 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 163.

12 Ibid., 24.

13 Ibid., 25. The fides ex auditu refers to the scriptural principle that saving faith comes by hearing the preaching of the gospel; Rom 10:17.

14 Ibid., 162. Two of D'Costa's primary resources for developing this aspect of his argument are, DiNoia, J. A., The Diversity of Religions: A Christian Perspective (Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press, 1992)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and, Ratzinger, Joseph, Eschatology, Death, and Eternal Life, trans. Waldstein, Michael, 2nd ed., Dogmatic theology 9 (Washington, D.C: Catholic University of America Press, 2007)Google Scholar.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid., 163.

17 In 2013, DiNoia was appointed to serve on the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, which was particularly concerned with the turn Catholic theology had taken in the theology of religions.

18 DiNoia, The Diversity of Religions, 67-68. See also, Lindbeck, George, The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age, 25th Anniversary Edition. (Louisville: WJK Press, 2009), 40-41Google Scholar.

19 Ibid., 75.

20 Ibid., 67. A description that DiNoia sees as being consistent with Vatican II, see note 3 on same page.

21 Ibid., 90.

22 Ibid., 104.

23 Ibid., 105.

24 Ibid., 106.

25 See, Ibid., 103-108.

26 Ibid., 190.

27 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 189.

28 For example, see, DS 693.

29 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 167.

30 Ibid., 189. D'Costa reaffirms and further develops this position in, Vatican II: Catholic Doctrines on Jews and Muslims (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).

31 Ibid., 162.

32 Ibid., 165.

33 Ibid., 165-166.

34 Ibid., 201-210. D'Costa references, von Balthasar, Hans Urs, Heart of the World (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1979)Google Scholar; von Balthasar, Hans Urs, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2000)Google Scholar; and von Balthasar, Hans Urs, Theo-Drama: Theological Dramatic Theory, vol. 4 (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1988)Google Scholar.

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36 Ibid.

37 Ibid., 206. Also see, Oakes, Edward T., “The Internal Logic of Holy Saturday in the Theology of Hans Urs von Balthasar,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 9, no. 2 (April 2007): 198–199CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Ibid., 204.

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40 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 206.

41 Pitstick, “Development of Doctrine, or Denial?” 132.

42 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 209-210.

43 Ibid., 209.

44 Ibid., 166.

45 Ibid., 168.

46 Ibid.

47 Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (6.6), trans. William Wilson, New Advent, accessed August 1, 2014, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/02101.htm.

48 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 170.

49 Ibid. Also see, Roberts, Alexander, Donaldson, James, and Coxe, A. Cleveland, eds., The Shepherd of Hermas (9.16:5-7), trans. Crombie, F., vol. 2 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885)Google Scholar, accessed April 21, 2016, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/02013.htm; Book III, Ch. 16.

50 Origen, , Ante-Nicene Fathers: De Principiis (2.5), ed. Roberts, Alexander, Donaldson, James, and Coxe, A. Cleveland, trans. Crombie, Frederick, vol. 4 (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1885), accessed April 21, 2016Google Scholar, http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04122.htm.

51 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 172.

52 Ibid.

53 Ibid., 172-173.

54 Ibid., 174.

55 Ibid.

56 Ibid., 176.

57 Ibid., 177.

58 Ibid.

59 Ibid., 174.

60 Ibid., 174-175.

61 See, D'Costa, Gavin, Theology and Religious Pluralism: The Challenge of Other Religions, (Oxford: Blackwell, 1986)Google Scholar.

62 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 19.

63 Ibid, 19-25, 37.

64 Biesbrouck, Wouter, “Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus, Sed Extra Mundum Nulla Damnatio: Reappropriating Christ's Descent into Hell for Theology of Religions,” Louvain Studies 37 (2013): 126Google Scholar.

65 The former refers to God's desire that all be saved even though not all will be saved, the latter refers to the notion that the possibility of salvation is available to all even though not all will be saved. Tan argues that only the former has biblical support. See, Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 101-102.

66 D'Costa, Theology and Religious Pluralism, 18.

67 Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 14; quote from, D'Costa, , “Towards a Trinitarian Theology of Religions,” in A Universal Faith?, eds. Cornille, C. and Necke-Brouck, V. (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 140Google Scholar.

68 D'Costa, Gavin, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity (Maryknoll, N.Y: Orbis Books, 2000)Google Scholar.

69 Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 15.

70 D'Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity, 105.

71 Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 104.

72 Ibid., 102-103.

73 Ibid., 103; emphasis original.

74 Ibid.

75 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 175.

76 Ibid., 189.

77 D'Costa, Gavin, “Traditions and Reception: Interpreting Vatican II's ‘Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions’,” New Blackfriars 92, no. 1040 (July 2011): 500CrossRefGoogle Scholar; emphasis added.

78 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 186-187; 190-191.

79 Ibid., 23; emphasis original.

80 Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 15.

81 Ott, Ludwig, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, ed. Bastible, James Canon, trans. Lynch, Patrick (Charlotte, NC: TAN Books, 1974), 220Google Scholar.

82 Ibid., 234-235.

83 Ibid., 237.

84 Ibid., 238.

85 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 210.

86 See especially, D'Costa, Vatican II, 99-105.

87 For example, see, D'Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity, 101-109.

88 Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 15; emphasis original.

89 Ibid., 15; quoting, D'Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity, 108-109.

90 Paul, John II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (London: Jonathan Cape, 1994)Google Scholar; John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio, Vatican, 1990, accessed October 25, 2016, http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_07121990_redemptoris-missio.html.

91 John Paul II, “Redemptoris Missio,” 29.

92 D'Costa, The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity, 108-109; quoting, John Paul II, “Redemptoris Missio,” 29.

93 D'Costa, Christianity and World Religions, 211.

94 Ibid., 162.

95 Bavinck, Herman, “Common Grace,” trans. Van Leeuwen, Raymond, Calvin Theological Journal 24, no. 1 (April 1989): 50Google Scholar.

96 Ibid., 51.

97 See, Muller, >Richard A., Dictionary of Latin and Greek Theological Terms: Drawn Principally from Protestant Scholastic Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006), 130, 131Google Scholar.

98 Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, 222.

99 Ibid.

100 See, Tan, “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian,” 101-102.

101 Ibid.

102 D'Costa, Vatican II, 99.

103 “Westminster Confession of Faith,” Center for Reformed Theology and Apologetics, A.10.3, accessed August 28, 2014, http://www.reformed.org/documents/wcf_with_proofs/index.html.

104 This statement reflects Romans 10:17 and the five solae of Protestantism – sola Scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, and soli Deo gloria.

105 See, Oakes, Edward T., “Descensus and Development: A Response to Recent Rejoinders,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 13, no. 1 (January 2011): 19-23CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Biesbrouck, “Extra Ecclesiam,” 132.