The Anonymous Christian - A Relativised Christianity?: An Evaluation of Hans Urs Von Balthasar's Criticism of Karl Rahner's Theory of the Anonymous Christian
It is difficult today to reconcile the possibility of salvation for all while at the same time recognising the necessity of the Church for salvation. Karl Rahner's theory of the anonymous Christian provides a way of dealing with this dilemma. Hans Urs von Balthasar was not convinced and severely critiqued Rahner's position for over twenty years. In this work Conway examines their arguments and shows that they were not as far apart as they themselves may have thought. He concludes that a relativisation of the Church and ...
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It is difficult today to reconcile the possibility of salvation for all while at the same time recognising the necessity of the Church for salvation. Karl Rahner's theory of the anonymous Christian provides a way of dealing with this dilemma. Hans Urs von Balthasar was not convinced and severely critiqued Rahner's position for over twenty years. In this work Conway examines their arguments and shows that they were not as far apart as they themselves may have thought. He concludes that a relativisation of the Church and Christ is not an inevitable consequence of providing a credible account of the possibility of salvation of the non-baptised.
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