Commentary on the documents Nostra aetate and Lumen gentium

Abstract

In the second chapter, an overview of the development of the discipline of theology of religions within the Roman Catholic tradition is presented. This section consists of a translation of a section of the doctoral thesis of the late Prof. P.J. van der Merwe. In this particular section selected from his dissertation, Van der Merwe discusses how Vatican II contributed to the understanding of religion and human nature. It also paved the way for determining a particular theology of religions still evident in Roman Catholic circles today. In this chapter, the main documents contributing to the formulation of the theology of religions, Nostra aetate and Lumen gentium are discussed. Van der Merwe presents a thorough translation of these documents in his dissertation. Here only his discussion of these documents is presented. Through analysing these documents, it becomes apparent that the Roman Catholic theology of religions is grounded in an understanding of the unity of humankind. This unity is based on, (1) unity as an empirical fact, (2) unity as the result of God’s providence and (3) unity as a result of humankind’s search for the truth. This analysis provides guidelines on how to think about the existence of other religions and the relationship between these religions.