By Jean Daniélou 

The Advent of Salvation is a profound reflection on the precise relationship between Christianity and non-Christian religions. The claim of the Catholic faith, specifically, is that it is the one, true religion—and this raises distinct and palpable tensions between it and Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism (among others). These tensions provoke difficult questions about the nature of inter-religious relationship. Is that relationship inherently antagonistic, a “total opposition, as between error and truth”? Or can it possibly be said to be complementary, in one sense or another, with the provision that Christianity is the “fulfillment of what is in the other religions”? 

Identifying these positions as the two poles between which the evangelistic orientation of the Church is situated, Jean Daniélou argues that Christianity and it alone contains the fullness of truth; that Jesus Christ’s coming in history completes the arc of religiosity in human nature and action; and that the Gospel creates something completely and everlastingly new.

To be Christian is to live divinely, that is, to have grace within us and to have intimacy with God. And this was something utterly new. (Jean Daniélou, S.J.)

Jean Daniélou, S.J. (1905–1974) was one of the leading theologians of the twentieth century. Renowned for his scholarship in the field of Patristics, he was the author of numerous works, including The Lord of History, Prayer as a Political Problem, and The Infancy Narratives (all available from Cluny).

Paperback: 172pp.

 ISBN: 978-1949899337