Nostra Aetate and encountering Buddhism

Abstract

Peter Feldmeier poincs to Vatican II’s Nostra Aetate as a key turning point for Catholicism’s posture toward the religious other. Here we find that God works in and through these religions and is intimately involved in the souls of all peoples in the context of their religions. While retaining the traditional perspective of holding Christ as the absolute revelation of God, Nostra Aetate also provides the foundation for seeing religious others as bearers of insight unique to their own religion. Feldmeier then points to advancements beyond Nostra Aetate, particularly with the leadership of Pope John Paul II, to greater appreciation of postmodernity in the theological academy, and the development of the discipline of comparative theology.