¹ For a brief autobiographical profile, see D'Costa, G., Knitter, P., and Strange, D., Only One Way? Three Christian Responses to the Uniqueness of Christ in a Pluralistic World (London: SCM Press, 2011), pp. 6–7Google Scholar. Also, D'Costa, G., Christianity and World Religions: Disputed Questions in the Theology of Religions (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009), p. 6–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Subsequently CWR. His Bristol University faculty webpage, http://www.bristol.ac.uk/thrs/staff/gdc.html (accessed 1 Jan 2012), contains a comprehensive list of his significant published works, only omitting some recent articles. See Ibid., “The Trinity and Other Religions: Genesis 18, Judaism and Hinduism in Two Works of Art,” Gregorianum 80 (1999)Google Scholar; Ibid., “Hermeneutics and the Second Vatican Council's Teachings,” Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations 20 (2009)Google Scholar; Ibid., “The Holy Spirit and the World Religions,” Louvain Studies 34 (2009–2010)Google Scholar. I am particularly grateful to Prof. D'Costa for drawing my attention to the last paper.

² Besides CWR, his main theological works are, D'Costa, G., Theology and Religious Pluralism: The Challenge of Other Religions (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986)Google Scholar; Ibid., The Meeting of Religions and the Trinity (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 2000)Google Scholar; Ibid., John Hick's Theology of Religions: A Critical Evaluation (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987)Google Scholar. First and second books subsequently TRP and Meeting respectively. Other edited books are Ibid., ed. Christian Uniqueness Reconsidered: The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: 1990)Google Scholar; Ibid., ed. Resurrection Reconsidered (Oxford: Oneworld, 1996)Google Scholar. First book subsequently CURec. Since 2010, three additional books have been published, Ibid., ed. The Catholic Church and the World Religions: A Theological and Phenomenological Account (London: T.&T. Clark, 2011)Google Scholar; D'Costa, Knitter, and Strange, Only One Way; Becker, K. J., Morali, I., Borrmans, M., D'Costa, and G., eds., Catholic Engagement with World Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2010)Google Scholar. These do not, however, represent a major modification of the Trinitarian proposal contained in his earlier writings.

³ P. Plata, “The Appeal to the Trinity in Contemporary Theology of Interreligious Dialogue” (Ph. D thesis, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, 2007); Ibid., “Gavin D'Costa's Trinitarian Theology of Religions,” Louvain Studies 30 (2005).

⁴ Hodgson describes D'Costa's theology as an inclusive “christocentric trinitarianism” that allows for pneumatic activity in the religions but circumscribed by Christ. P. C. Hodgson, “The Spirit and Religious Pluralism,” Horizons 31 (2004), p. 26. Also, Valkenberg, P., Sharing Lights on the Way to God: Muslim-Christian Dialogue and Theology in the Context of Abrahamic Partnership (Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2006), p. 179CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵ Two significant earlier papers are, D'Costa, G., “Christ, the Trinity and Religious Plurality,” in CURec, ed. D'Costa, G. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1990)Google Scholar; Ibid., “Towards a Trinitarian Theology of Religions,” in A Universal Faith?, eds. Cornille, C. and Neckebrouck, V. (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1991)Google Scholar. In this first mention of the doctrine as a potential resource, D'Costa writes that, “(a)t the heart of a Trinitarian doctrine of God, the multiplicity of religions takes on a special theological significance that cannot be ignored by Christians who worship a Trinitarian God”. D'Costa, “Christ, the Trinity,” p. 16. The developed formulation is then expounded in his books, Meeting and CWR.

⁶ D'Costa, “Towards,” pp. 147–53. Ipgrave has noted the influence of D'Costa's theology on the 1995 Church of England's Doctrine Commission document entitled, “The Mystery of Salvation”. Ipgrave, M., Trinity and Inter Faith Dialogue: Plenitude and Plurality., Religions and Discourse. Vol. 14 (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2003), pp. 18 n. 3, 53–4Google Scholar.

⁷ D'Costa, “Towards,” p. 148.

⁸ Lindbeck, G. A., The Nature of Doctrine (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1984), p. 94.Google Scholar

⁹ D'Costa, “Towards,” p. 148.

¹⁰ Ibid., “Christ, the Trinity,” p. 18. Knitter notes Hick makes the same assertion, but further suggests other religious figures could also be totus Deus. Knitter, P. F., Introducing Theologies of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002), pp. 122–3Google Scholar. Thoppil also observes D'Costa's use of this expression was distinguished from pluralist proponents. J. Thoppil, “Christology, Liberation and Religious Pluralism. A Critical Study of M.M. Thomas, P.F. Knitter and G. D'Costa” (Excerpt of Ph. D Thesis, Pontificia Università Gregoriana, Rome, 1998), p. 42.

¹¹ The universal applicability of the term “uniqueness” bankrupts its very meaning, i.e. every event and person is unique. D'Costa, “Towards,” p. 149.

¹² Ibid., Meeting, p. 36. In contrast, Knitter regards Christ as “norma Normans et normata”, the norm that norms all others and is itself normed. P. F. Knitter, Jesus and the Other Names (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1996), p. 169 n. 9.

¹³ D'Costa, G., “A Christian Reflection on Some Problems with Discerning ‘God’ in the World Religions,” Dialogue and Alliance 5 (1991), p. 13Google Scholar. Finger cites D'Costa's work as support for his view that Jesus is not the sole content of revelation but its norm. Finger, T., “A Mennonite Theology for Interfaith Relations,” in Grounds for Understanding, ed. Heim, S. M. (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1998), p. 91 n. 83Google Scholar.

¹⁴ D'Costa, “Towards,” p. 152. For this reason, D'Costa contends against Ward's suggestion that “revelation” could be found within other religions. D'Costa, G., “Christ, Revelation and the World Religions: A Critical Appreciation of Keith Ward's Comparative Global Theology,” in Comparative Theology, ed. Bartel, T. W. (London: SPCK, 2003),p. 37Google Scholar.

¹⁵ D'Costa, “Christ, the Trinity,” p. 17. Hick's mythological interpretation of the Incarnation was cited as a prime example of this failure. D'Costa, G., “Christian Theology and Other Religions: An Evaluation of John Hick and Paul Knitter,” Studia Missionalia 42 (1993), p. 163Google Scholar.

¹⁶ NA was seen as a prime example of Christianity recognizing the need to relate to the religions differently, with Judaism first, then Islam, followed by Hinduism, Buddhism and other traditional religions. D'Costa, Meeting, pp. 102–3. In contrast, Kaufman pushes historicity to its limit by arguing that Christianity should recognize itself as the product of human responses to particular historical situations, but Newbigin has questioned his assumption of the superiority of historical consciousness to other culturally conditioned epistemic avenues. Kaufman, G. D., “Religious Diversity, Historical Consciousness, and Christian Theology,” in The Myth of Christian Uniqueness, eds. Hick, J. and Knitter, P. F. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1987), p. 12Google Scholar; Newbigin, L., “Religious Pluralism and the Uniqueness of Jesus Christ,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 13 (1989), p. 50CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁷ In doing so, he observes that comparativists have been able to be more sensitive to historical intra-religious diversities. D'Costa, CWR, p. 40.

¹⁸ D'Costa, G., “The Christian Trinity: Paradigm for Pluralism?,” in Pluralism and the Religions, ed. May, J. D. A. (London: Cassell, 1998), p. 33Google Scholar.

¹⁹ Ibid., “Whose Objectivity? Whose Neutrality? The Doomed Quest for a Neutral Vantage Point from Which to Judge Religions,” Religious Studies 29 (1993), p. 79.

²⁰ D'Costa, “Whose Objectivity?,” p. 80. This is in contrast to Panikkar's contention that “the incommensurability of ultimate systems is unbridgeable” because “(n)othing can encompass reality”. Panikkar, R., “The Jordon, the Tiber, and the Ganges,” in The Myth of Christian Uniqueness, eds. Hick, J. and Knitter, P. F. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1987), p. 110Google Scholar.

²¹ D'Costa, “Whose Objectivity?,” p. 90.

²² As he puts it, his is an attempt “to establish a Roman Catholic trinitarian orientation in relation to other religions” and he welcomes even non-Christians to engage critically with his proposal. Ibid., Meeting, pp. 99, 138.

²³ D'Costa, G., “Nostra Aetate – Telling God's Story in Asia: Promises and Pitfalls,” in Vatican II and Its Legacy, eds. Lamberigts, M. and Kenis, L. (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2002), p. 336Google Scholar.

²⁴ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 108.

²⁵ Ibid., “NA,” p. 336.

²⁶ Ibid., Meeting, p. 105.

²⁷ Ibid., Meeting, p. 102. He notes that the debate between Balthasar and Rahner on the “anonymous Christian” could be seen as resolved by the Conciliar documents that suggest, “the Balthasar side of the debate should be favoured”. Ibid., “NA,” pp. 349–50.

²⁸ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 109.

²⁹ G. D'Costa, “Revelation and Revelations: Discerning God in Other Religions. Beyond a Static Valuation,” Modern Theology 10 (1994), p. 177. In contrast, Dupuis was less hesitant that religions have a definite role. He writes, “(E)ven after the Lord's historical coming: their [religions] providential role endured until such time as individual persons would be directly challenged by the Christian message”. Dupuis, J., Christianity and the Religions, trans., Berryman, P. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2002), p. 155Google Scholar.

³⁰ D'Costa's considers DI as putting forth a “very nuanced position that refuses to either condemn religions as such, or accept them, as such”. D'Costa, G., “Christian Orthodoxy and Religious Pluralism: A Response to Terrence Tilley,” Modern Theology 23 (2007), p. 441Google Scholar. In fact, D'Costa's work, Meeting, has been regarded as espousing a position so allied to DI that D'Arcy suggests it was its apologia. May, J. D. A., “Catholic Fundamentalism? Some Implications of Dominus Iesus for Dialogue and Peacemaking,” Horizons 28 (2001), pp. 280–1CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Kärkkäinen describes Meeting as the “theological ratification of the mainline Catholic standpoint”. Kärkkäinen, V.-M., An Introduction to the Theology of Religions: Biblical, Historical, and Contemporary Perspectives (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2003), p. 216.Google Scholar

³¹ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 114.

³² Ibid., Meeting, p. 112.

³³ Ibid., “Revelation and Relevations,” pp. 173–4. Here, D'Costa seems to employ the phrase “fruits of the Spirit” in a slightly indiscriminate manner compared to the biblical usage in Gal 5:22–23 which refers to the singular term “fruit” with nine attributes (including love) but without privileging any single one. It is in 1 Cor 13:13 that love was termed the “greatest of these” in comparison to faith and hope, and by calling love the greatest of all “fruits”, he effectively collapses these two ideas. This confusion is again apparent in the same paper when he then referred to love as “greatest gift of the Spirit” (emphasis added), since it was clear in its context he was referring not to the types of charismatic gifts granted by the Spirit as described in 1 Cor 12:8–13 but good works based on a human response to divine grace.

³⁴ Ibid., Meeting, p. 116.

³⁵ Ibid., Meeting, p. 108. Various terms have been employed by D'Costa to describe this inter-religious encounter. In his first book, he argues, “the inclusivist position does justice to the different aspects involved in dialogue” (emphasis added). Ibid., TRP, p. 94. Later, he leaned towards the phrase “negotiation with the ‘Other’” as he agreed with Ward's observation that the term “dialogue” neglects “the problematic socio-political contexts of ‘exchange’”. Ibid., “The Christian Trinity,” pp. 34, n. 3. However, he did not provide specific reasons for later adopting the phrase “relational engagement”, though it could be suggestive of a move away from a hermeneutics of suspicion of intentionality (both one's own and the other) that negotiation entailed. Ibid., “Trinity and Other Religions,” p. 5.

³⁶ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 9. D'Costa has termed his proposal in The Trinity and the Meeting of Religions (sic) a broadening of MacIntyre's project to engage with not just modernity and postmodernity but also the world religions, i.e. a “neo-MacIntyre postmodern model” for the religions. D'Costa, G., “Postmodernity and Religious Plurality: Is a Common Global Ethic Possible or Desirable?,” in The Blackwell Companion to Postmodern Theology, ed. Ward, G. (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), pp. 140–1Google Scholar; Ibid., “Response to Ian Markham,” Conversations in Religion and Theology 4 (2006), p. 161Google Scholar.

³⁷ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 100. Ipgrave employs a similar distinction in a proposal for Christian-Muslim dialogue. Ipgrave, M., “Anglican Approaches to Christian-Muslim Dialogue,” Journal of Anglican Studies 3 (2005), p. 233CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

³⁸ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 115.

³⁹ Ibid., “Christ, the Trinity,” p. 22.

⁴⁰ In this context, D'Costa specifically cautions against any non-ecclesial application towards this dual operation by “particular theologians” or “talented individuals”. Ibid., Meeting, p. 115.

⁴¹ Ibid., Meeting, p. 116.

⁴² Ibid., Meeting, p. 131.

⁴³ Ibid., Meeting, p. 130.

⁴⁴ D'Costa, G., “The Communion of Saints and Other Religions: On Saintly Wives in Hinduism and Catholicism,” in Holiness Past and Present, ed. Barton, S. C. (Edinburgh: T.&T. Clark, 2003), pp. 421–2Google Scholar.

⁴⁵ D'Costa, “Communion,” p. 423.

⁴⁶ Ibid., “Communion,” pp. 430–1.

⁴⁷ Ibid., “Communion,” p. 426.

⁴⁸ Ibid., “Communion,” p. 440.

⁴⁹ Ibid., Meeting, p. 129.

⁵⁰ Ibid., Meeting, p. 115.

⁵¹ Ibid., Meeting, pp. 129–30.

⁵² His earlier position was that it was another “implausible ‘epicycle’”. Ibid., TRP, p. 68. Thus, Lindbeck's proposal was critiqued for diminishing the historical-social nature of persons. D'Costa, G., “The Absolute and Relative Nature of the Gospel: Christianity and Other Religions,” in Pluralism, Tolerance and Dialogue, ed. Bryant, M. D. (University of Waterloo Press, 1989), pp. 142–3Google Scholar; Lindbeck, Nature, p. 59. Contrast this with his later view that he found Lindbeck's suggestion of a post-mortem encounter with Christ “deeply attractive” and implied in his own tradition. D'Costa, CWR, pp. 30–1, 162.

⁵³ There are four possible post-mortem aspects in Catholic tradition other than the beatific vision: (1) hell, as a place of damnation, (2) limbus puerorum (limbo of unbaptized infants/children's limbo), (3) the limbo of the just/Fathers, and (4) purgatorium (purgatory). D'Costa, G., “The Descent into Hell as a Solution for the Problem of the Fate of Unevangelized Non-Christians: Balthasar's Hell, the Limbo of the Fathers and Purgatory,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 11 (2009), p. 148CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁴ D'Costa, “Descent,” p. 156.

⁵⁵ D'Costa, G., “Review: The Diversity of Religions. By J. A. Dinoia,” The Thomist 57 (1993), p. 528Google Scholar. Purgatory, by Trent's understanding, is “a state, where souls are purified between death and resurrection” and applicable only to those died in a state of grace but with imperfectly expiated mortal sin or unconfessed venial sins. Casey, J., After Lives: A Guide to Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory (Oxford: OUP, 2009), p.226CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵⁶ Oakes, E. T., “The Internal Logic of Holy Saturday in the Theology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 9 (2007), p. 188CrossRefGoogle Scholar. He also argues that Balthasar's theology could be seen as fulfilling Newman's criteria for authentic doctrinal development within the Catholic Church. Oakes, “Internal Logic,” pp. 195–9. This was disputed by Pitstick who applied Newman's seven “notes” described in his 1878 “An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine” (accessible on http://www.newmanreader.org/works/development/index.html, 7 Jan 2011), and contended it represented a corruption instead. A. Pitstick, “Development of Doctrine, or Denial? Balthasar's Holy Saturday and Newman's Essay,” International Journal of Systematic Theology 11 (2009).

⁵⁷ D'Costa, “Descent,” p. 151.

⁵⁸ Ibid., “Descent,” pp. 153–4.

⁵⁹ Ibid., “Descent,” p. 166.

⁶⁰ Ibid., “Descent,” p. 163.

⁶¹ Ibid., “Descent,” pp. 163–4; Ibid., CWR, p. 180.

⁶² D'Costa, Meeting, p. 110.

⁶³ See for example Yong who argues a failure to differentiate between the two economies “risks the subordination of the mission of the Spirit to that of the Son and ultimately to an ecclesiological definition of soteriology”. A. Yong, Discerning the Spirits: A Pentecostal-Charismatic Contribution to Christian Theology of Religions (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000), p. 64. Later, these views are moderated as he realizes a well-constructed Pneumatological theology of religions is ultimately a Trinitarian theology of religions since the Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus. Ibid., “As the Spirit Gives Utterance: Pentecost, Intra-Christian Ecumenism and the Wider Oikoumene,” International Review of Mission 92 (2003), p. 308Google Scholar.

⁶⁴ Kärkkäinen, V.-M., “How to Speak of the Spirit among Religions: Trinitarian ‘Rules’ for a Pneumatological Theology of Religions,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 30 (2006), p. 123CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁶⁵ The complete text of Dialogue and Proclamation is accessible from the Vatican website, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/interelg/documents/rc_pc_interelg_doc_19051991_dialogue-and-proclamatio_en.html (accessed May 19, 2011)

⁶⁶ Plaiss, M., “‘Dialogue and Proclamation’ a Decade Later: A Retreat?,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 38 (2001), p. 190Google Scholar; Knitter, Introducing, p. 82; Dupuis, J., Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1997), pp. 178–9Google Scholar.

⁶⁷ D'Costa, G., “Review: Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. By Jacques Dupuis,” Journal of Theological Studies 49 (1998), p. 910CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Prof. D'Costa has recently clarified he is no longer in agreement with Dupuis’ positive assessment of this article. Email communication, dated 13 Nov 2011.

⁶⁸ Schmidt-Leukel, P., “On Claimed ‘Orthodoxy’, Quibbling with Words, and Some Serious Implications: A Comment on the Tilley-D'Costa Debate About Religious Pluralism,” Modern Theology 24 (2008), p. 284CrossRefGoogle Scholar n. 18; D'Costa, G., “Orthodoxy and Religious Pluralism: A Response to Perry Schmidt-Leukel,” Modern Theology 24 (2008).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶⁹ D'Costa, G., “Traditions and Reception: Interpreting Vatican II's ‘Declaration on the Church's Relation to Non-Christian Religions’,” New Blackfriars 92 (2011), p. 499CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷⁰ Also, see his initial description of this axiom as, “God desires the salvation of all humankind” (emphasis added). D'Costa, John Hick's Theology, p. 3.

⁷¹ Ibid., “Towards,” p. 140.

⁷² E.g. 1 Tim 2:3–4: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (ESV)

⁷³ Muller, R. A., Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, Ca. 1520 to Ca. 1725, 2nd ed., 4 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2003), pp. III.450–2Google Scholar. It should be noted an unconstrained view of universal salvific grace might border on apokatastasis or at least pluralism as a theoretic consequence, though D'Costa himself did not draw such a conclusion. This was Knitter's perceptive analysis of Ruokanen's tentative suggestion of the simultaneous presence of both supernatural and natural grace in the Trinitarian opera ad extra, that it ultimately leads to pluralism. Knitter, P. F., “Author's Reply,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 14 (1990), p. 178CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Ruokanen, M., “Author's Reply,” International Bulletin of Missionary Research 14 (1990), p. 123CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷⁴ D'Costa was following John Paul II's thinking in his book, Paul, John II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope, trans., Messori, V. (London: Cape, 1994), p. 81Google Scholar.

⁷⁵ D'Costa, CWR, pp. 174–5.

⁷⁶ D'Costa, G., “Revelation and World Religions,” in Divine Revelation, ed. Avis, P. (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1997), p. 133.Google Scholar

⁷⁷ D'Costa, Meeting, p. 103.

⁷⁸ Ibid., CWR, p. 29.

⁷⁹ As Carson puts it, the OT believers were “responding in faith to special revelation, and were not simply exercising some sort of general ‘faith’ in an undefined ‘God’”. Carson, D. A., The Gagging of God (Leicester: Apollos, 1996), p. 298Google Scholar.

⁸⁰ D'Costa, CWR, p. 172.

⁸¹ Rahner describes conversion as involving a fundamental decision to commit the entirety of life to God as a response to God's call, and signifies a discontinuity in life. Rahner, K., “Conversion,” in Sacramentum Mundi. Vol. 4, ed. Rahner, K. (London: Burns & Oates, 1968), p. 4Google Scholar.