A Barthian Theology of Interfaith Dialogue?

Abstract

Karl Barth is often blamed for holding up interfaith dialogue for more than twenty years (c. 1938-1962). Yet his scriptural approach to theology may in fact be a more acceptable and useful instrument for fruitful dialogue than the Christological reflections of Hick and Knitter. David Lochhead's The Dialogical Imperative is a useful pointer towards a dialogue-in-community in which the indigenous Christian partner's role is valued at least as highly as that of the Western theological observer. Such dialogue demands an “I-Thou” relationship between the partners, but does not pre-require a subjectivisation of the Christian faith in which the self rather than the self-revealing God is at the centre.