Rethinking the Trinity, Religious Pluralism, and Augustine—Restart!

So back, oh four months ago, the good folks at IVP sent me a copy of Keith Johnsons magnificent book  Rethinking the Trinity and Religious Pluralism: An Augustinian Assessment. When I first started reviewing the book a few months later I said it was “one of the most significant books on Christian theology I’ve seen in a long time.” I still think so, because this issue of religious pluralism is a significant issue in the Church right now thanks to books like Desmund Tutu’s and Mirslov Volf’s latestest books.

Johnsons articulately, methodically works through some of the four of the major proponents of the idea that the doctrine of the trinity is the key to understanding religious diversity. Here’s what he writes in the intro: “Although substantial differences exist among these proposals, they share an important feature in common—namely, a conviction that the doctrine of the Trinity provides the basis for a positive appraisal of non-Christian religions.” (17)

I know it’s been nearly three months since I’ve posted, but I’d like to pick up this book again and finish my original several-post review. I’ll pick up with chapter 4 on Friday. In the meantime, perhaps you might be interested in re-reading my original chapters (and what’s to come):

0—Preface
1—Introduction
2—Augustine’s Trinitarianism
3—Mark Heim’s Trinitarian Theology of Religious Ends
4—Amos Yong’s Pneumatological Theology of Religions
5—Jaquees Dupuis’s Christian Theology of Religious Ends
6—Raimundo Panikkar’s Theandric Spirituality
7—Conclusions and Reflections