It is clear that Catholicism (based on
@Vouthon ’s posts) is able to accept the validity of other religious faiths, particularly Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.
It should be noted - as regards
Nostra Aetate's theological articulation of the
semina verbi doctrine of the Patristics (the seminal seeds of the Word of God in other religions and natural philosophies) - that the aforementioned faith traditions (
Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism) were highlighted because they represent, on the Jewish front, the foundation of the Church's own belief system and in the other three cases the most influential, widespread and (by adherence) numerous manifestations of the sacred in the world today.
In one of my previous posts, I cited St. Clement of Alexandria's (c. 150 - c. 220)
Stromata in which he explained how the divinely bequeathed gift of 'wisdom' - participation in the eternal Wisdom of God incarnate in Christ but universally active - through philosophy, had diffused itself among "
the prophets of the Egyptians; and the Chaldeans among the Assyrians; and the Druids among the Gauls; and the Sramanas among the Bactrians; and the philosophers of the Celts; and the Magi of the Persians, who foretold the Saviour's birth, and came into the land of Judaea guided by a star. The Indian gymnosophists are also in the number, and the other barbarian philosophers. And of these there are two classes, some of them called Sramanas, and others Brahmins".
Pagan traditions (Egyptian hermeticism, the Celtic Druids), Zoroastrianism (Magi), the Sramana movement which gave rise to both Buddhism and Jainism and many more besides are described therein by this ancient, pluralistic church father.
Another fourth century patristic text - from circa A.D. 350 - called the
Recognitions refers to Indian priests (
Brahmins) in a positive light:
CHURCH FATHERS: Recognitions, Book IX (Clement of Rome)
Chapter 20. Brahmans.
There are likewise among the Bactrians, in the Indian countries, immense multitudes of Brahmans, who also themselves, from the tradition of their ancestors, and peaceful customs and laws, neither commit murder nor adultery, nor worship idols, nor have the practice of eating animal food, are never drunk, never do anything maliciously, but always fear God. And these things indeed they do...nor have malign stars compelled the Brahmans to do any evil.
As you can see, the author praises the Hindu Brahmins and the "
tradition of their ancestors" for its pacifism, high moral standards, vegetarianism and reverence for the divine.
The 1960s
Declaration was clear in not limiting its scope to these 'mega-creeds' alone:
"likewise, other religions found everywhere try to counter the restlessness of the human heart, each in its own manner, by proposing ways, comprising teachings, rules of life, and sacred rites.” The document clearly states that the “
The Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true and holy in these religions. She regards with sincere reverence those ways of conduct and of life, those precepts and teachings which, though differing in many aspects from the ones she holds and sets forth, nonetheless often reflect a ray of that Truth which enlightens all men.”
This is as open-ended and inclusive as can be.
Subsequent magisterial texts, from papacies following in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, explicitly referenced these 'other religions' and speak with sincere respect of the ethical-mystical-social principles they have to offer, for example Pope St. John Paul II's 1998 encyclical
Fides et Ratio which extends the discussion to Zoroastrianism (by mentioning the
Avesta), Taoism (courtesy of its founder Lao-Tze), Confucianism and Jainism (by means of its founder the Tirthankara Mahavira):
Fides et Ratio (14 September 1998) | John Paul II
"In both East and West, we may trace a journey which has led humanity down the centuries to meet and engage truth more and more deeply. It is a journey which has unfolded—as it must—within the horizon of personal self-consciousness: the more human beings know reality and the world, the more they know themselves in their uniqueness, with the question of the meaning of things and of their very existence becoming ever more pressing. This is why all that is the object of our knowledge becomes a part of our life. The admonition Know yourself was carved on the temple portal at Delphi, as testimony to a basic truth to be adopted as a minimal norm by those who seek to set themselves apart from the rest of creation as “human beings”, that is as those who “know themselves”.
Moreover, a cursory glance at ancient history shows clearly how in different parts of the world, with their different cultures, there arise at the same time the fundamental questions which pervade life: Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life? These are the questions which we find in the sacred writings of Israel, as also in the Veda and the Avesta; we find them in the writings of Confucius and Lao-Tze, and in the preaching of Tirthankara and Buddha; they appear in the poetry of Homer and in the tragedies of Euripides and Sophocles, as they do in the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle...
They are questions which have their common source in the quest for meaning which has always compelled the human heart. In fact, the answer given to these questions decides the direction which people seek to give to their lives...In preaching the gospel, Christianity first encountered Greek philosophy; but this does not mean at all that other approaches are precluded...
My thoughts turn immediately to the lands of the East, so rich in religious and philosophical traditions of great antiquity. Among these lands, India has a special place. A great spiritual impulse leads Indian thought to seek an experience which would liberate the spirit from the shackles of time and space and would therefore acquire absolute value. The dynamic of this quest for liberation provides the context for great metaphysical systems. In India particularly, it is the duty of Christians now to draw from this rich heritage the elements compatible with their faith, in order to enrich Christian thought"
9 September 1998 | John Paul II
"Every quest of the human spirit for truth and goodness, and in the last analysis for God, is inspired by the Holy Spirit. The various religions arose precisely from this primordial human openness to God. At their origins we often find founders who, with the help of God's Spirit, achieved a deeper religious experience. Handed on to others, this experience took form in the doctrines, rites and precepts of the various religions."
But given regardless of the response to Jesus
