An apology for dialogue: Claude Geffré reading Paul Tillich

Abstract

The subject of this article is Claude Geffré’s reading on Paul Tillich’s thought in De Babel a Pentecostes: ensaios de teologia inter-religiosa. The author relies on Tillich’s theology to develop an “inter-religious dialogue hermeneutics” in order to answer to the challenge that religious pluralism poses to Christian theology today. The argument that Geffré finds is that just based on the Christological paradox, in light of the concept of “final revelation” and “ultimate concern”, Christian theology can respond to the religious pluralism without losing itself. The article presents two parts: firstly, an overview of Geffré’s book, focusing on the first session entitled Não há outro nome, where our object of study is found. Secondly, we analyse Tillich’s concepts developed by Geffré in this chapter, aiming to identify and characterize the main results of this reading and analyse them in light of Tillich’s referential work. In conclusion, we highlight the relevance of Paul Tillich’s theology to deal with the problem of religious pluralism, what is also demonstrated by Geffré. Besides, we consider a criticism of Gefreé’s proposal regarding an inter-religious theology based on the concept of ultimate concern, whose implication questions the use of this concept for an inter-religious theology, as its paradoxical nature is relativized.