Reviewed Book: Braaten, Carl E. No other gospel: Christianity among the world\u27s religions. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1992

Lisinski, Peter

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No other gospel: Christianity among the world\u27s religions

Wilfrid Laurier University

ConsensusVolume 19Issue 2 Liberation Theology Article 1811-1-1993No other gospel: Christianity among the world'sreligionsPeter LisinskiFollow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensusThis Book Reviews is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by anauthorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact scholarscommons@wlu.ca.Recommended CitationLisinski, Peter (1993) "No other gospel: Christianity among the world's religions," Consensus: Vol. 19 : Iss. 2 , Article 18.Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol19/iss2/18Book Reviews 151INo Other Gospel! Christianity Among the World’sRelirionsCarl E. BraatenI Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1992i 146 pagesjReading Carl Braaten’s No Other Gospel! gave me writer’s cramp! Of;its 134 pages of text only 36 are free of any trace of my yellow highlighter.;Intellectually, this is a very stimulating book, and I also found it inspiring.I As its sub-title suggests, the book addresses the place of ChristianityIamong the world’s religions. My own need to reflect on this issue arisesnot only from my context as a parish pastor, but also as a father whosejjeldest son’s girlfriend is a member of the Baha’i faith. I am encouraging[our son to read No Other Gospel!—and I recommend it to any person seri-ously concerned about the claims Christianity might legitimately continueto make in this multi-cultural land within the global village.Written, at least partially, in response to Paul F. Knitter’s No OtherName ?—which I have not read—Braaten affirms biblical passages such asActs 4:12 and Galatians 1:6-9 as foundational for the Christian claim that“Jesus Christ is unique, normative, decisive, and final as the self- revelationof God and the salvation of the world” (1).Braaten includes Knitter, along with John Hick, James Gustafson andothers, in the category of theologians he calls “theocentric pluralists” whoargue that “Christ must decrease so that God might increase!” (21). ThisIstatement captures the essential thesis common to those who championthe “Copernican Revolution” (38-40) in theology. Braaten identifies thisschool with ancient Arianism, thereby elaborating on the claim made inhis introduction: “We are facing a conflict in Christology as great as theancient controversies over the three persons of the Godhead (Nicaea) andthe two natures of Christ (Chalcedon)” (8). Clearly, Braaten’s perspectiveis orthodox, and he establishes a four-fold context from which his argumentproceeds:1) Jesus Christ is the personal event in whom God’s final reve-lation has already occured2) ... faith in Jesus Christ means personal participation in God’seschatological salvation.3) . . . the church. . . must proclaim Jesus of Nazareth as the soleSaviour of humankind until God’s kingdom arrives in its final glory.4) God’s will is that all shall be saved and that the wholecreation. . . will. . . reach its fulfilling future in the reign of Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord. (3)In addition to the Introduction, No Other Gospel! contains sevenchapters, only one of which—chapter 3, “Christ Alone is the Heart of theChurch’s Message”—is original to this volume. Throughout, Braaten em-ploys biblical references effectively, in conjunction with the Lutheran Con-fessions, to defend traditional doctrines like the Trinity (ch. 6) and the152 ConsensusTwo Kingdoms (ch. 7); to decry our cultural values of relativism, plural-ism and openness (ch. 1); and to deny that Christianity’s absoluteness—its“scandal of particularity” (52)—has made “the sins of... sexism, racism,...anti- Semitism... intolerance [and] imperialism” inevitable (52).Braaten insightfully engages in dialogue with prominent theologians,including Karl Rahner, Wolfhart Pannenberg and, particularly, Karl Barth.The major disappointment I have about this book is its fifth chapter,“Christianity Needs a Theology of Religions”. Of its twenty pages, onlythe last five specifically address points of either divergence or congruencebetween the Christian and other religions. While the book is helpful inacknowledging other religions as arenas in which God is revealed (ch. 4),this chapter left me wanting a more in-depth discussion of how sharply atheology of the cross distinguishes Christianity from the four other religionsdiscussed—Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Earlier in the samechapter Braaten claims, “The essential task of preaching today is to an-swer the question: Who is this Jesus of Nazareth” (85-86)? It would havebeen helpful to have a more thorough development of a cross-centred the-ology, including the doctrines of incarnation and resurrection, within theparameters of this chapter.Typical of the book’s fine writing and provocative style is the challengepresented in its final chapter:The church and its members have a special and exclusive calling tobe witnesses of God’s promise of eternal salvation through faith inJesus Christ Such Christian exclusiveness is under heavy attackthese days. . . from within the church itself, its various councils, bu-reaucracies and theologies. It is a. ..Quisling conspiracy against thegospel itself, a subversion of Christianity within broad segments ofchurch leadership (133).For those who are concerned that Braaten’s analysis is correct, andshare his conviction that Christian identity needs to be reformed and thechurch’s mission renewed, this book will prove to be most valuable.Peter LisinskiFaith Evangelical Lutheran ChurchFergus, Ontario

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No other gospel: Christianity among the world\u27s religions

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