Otherness and Ambiguity: The Gaze of the Other in Times of Religious Exclusivism
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Published:
Mar 5, 2026
Keywords:
Claim to truth, Exclusivism, Identity , Interreligious dialogue, Otherness, Religious pluralism, Tolerance of ambiguity
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Abstract
The following article considers the impact of non-Christian religions and secular worldviews on self-understanding and identity-building of Christianity. After presenting the classical theological models of the relationship of Christianity to non-Christian religions, a concept of “tolerance of ambiguity” is introduced. The concept is regarded as a means of substantiating the approach to religious plurality on a level of mutual interrelationship and daily practice between adherents of different religions. It acknowledges the “gaze of the other” as a valuable opportunity for learning from other religions and worldviews, thereby deepening one's own religious convictions and practices.
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Ansorge, D. M. (2026). Otherness and Ambiguity:: The Gaze of the Other in Times of Religious Exclusivism. Archivo Teológico Granadino, (89), 37–65. https://doi.org/10.47035/atg.2026.89.6035
Section
Studies
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References
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Stausberg, Michael. Contemporary Theories of religion. London: Routledge, 2009.
Tan, Loe-Joo. “The Catholic Theology of Religions: A Survey of Pre-Vatican II and Conciliar Attitudes Towards Other Religions.” In Scottish Journal of Theology 67 (2014): no. 3, 285-303.
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Taylor, Diana (ed.). Michel Foucault: Key Concepts. Chesham: Acumen Publishing, 2011.
Ullrich, Wolfgang. “Grundrisse einer philosophischen Begriffsgeschichte von Ambiguität“. Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte 32 (1989): 121-169.
Weithmann, Paul J. Religion and the Obligations of Citizenship. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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Yuval, Israel. Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Oakland: University of California Press, 2008.
Angenendt, Arnold. “Christians between Tolerance and Violence in Europe”. In Religion and Conflict: Essays on the Origins of Religious Conflicts and on Resolution Approaches, edit. by Erik Eynikel and Eberhard Bons. London: Harptree Publ., 2011, 49-62.
Anselm of Canterbury, Proslogion, edit. by F. S. Schmitt (Opera omnia, vol. 1). Stuttgart: Fromann, 1938 (reprint 1984), 89-139.
Appleby, Robert Scott. The Ambivalence of the Sacred. Religion, Violence, and Reconciliation. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000.
Assmann, Jan. The Invention of Religion: Faith and Covenant in the Book of Exodus. Princeton University Press, 2018.
Assmann, Jan. The Mosaic Distinction or The Price of Monotheism. Translated by Robert Savage. Stanford University Press, 2009.
Bauer, Thomas. A Culture of Ambiguity: An Alternative History of Islam. Translated by Heinrich Biesterfeldt and Tricia Tunstall. New York: Columbia University Press, 2021.
Bauer, Thomas. Die Vereindeutigung der Welt. Über den Verlust an Mehrdeutigkeit und Vielfalt. Ditzingen: Reclam, 2018.
Boyarin, Daniel. Border Lines: The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.
Bozkurt, Nahide. “The Caliph Maʿmūn and the Doctrine of the Createdness of the Qurʿān”. In Christliche Gotteslehre im Orient seit dem Aufkommen des Islams bis zur Gegenwart, edit. by Martin Tamcke. Würzburg: Ergon-Verlag, 2008, 101-112.
Buber, Martin. I and Thou. Translated by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1970.
Danz, Christian, Werner Schüssler und Erdmann Sturm (eds.). Religionstheologie und interreligiöser Dialog (Internationales Jahrbuch für die Tillich-Forschung, vol. 5), Vienna – Berlin: de Gruyter, 2010.
Danz, Christian. “Erkundung des Eigenen im Licht des Fremden“. In Religionstheologie und interreligiöser Dialog, edit. by Christian Danz, Werner Schüssler und Erdmann Sturm (Internationales Jahrbuch für die Tillich-Forschung, vol. 5), Vienna – Berlin: de Gruyter, 2010, 75-91.
Dreyfus, Herbert L. and Paul Rabinow. Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2nd ed. 1983.
Duffy, Stephen J. “Experience of Grace”. In The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner, edit. by Declan Marmion and Mary E. Hines. Cambridge University Press, 2005, 43-62.
Dupuis, Jacques. Toward a Christian Theology of Religious Pluralism. Maryknoll [NY]: Orbis Books, 1997.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb. Foundations of Natural Right, according to the Principles of the Wissenschaftslehre. Edit. by Frederick Neuhouser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
Gäde, Gerhard. “Interiorismus. Ein Vorschlag für einen Ausweg aus der religionstheologischen Sackgasse“. In Theologie der Gegenwart 46 (2003): 14-27.
Gutas, Dimitri. Greek Thought, Arabic Culture: The Graeco-Arabic Translation Movement in Baghdad and Early Abbasid Society (2nd-4th/8th-10th centuries). London: Routledge, 1998.
Habermas, Jürgen. “Glauben und Wissen”. In Zeitdiagnosen. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2003, 249-263.
Hindrichs, Gunnar. “Eindeutigkeit“. In Merkur, vol. 75 (2021): no. 866, 49-59.
Hünermann, Peter and Helmut Hoping, ed. Compendium of Creeds, Definitions, and Declarations on Matters of Faith and Morals. Enchiridion symbolorum definitionum et declarationum de rebus fidei et morum. San Francisco [CA]: Ignatius Press, 2012.
Kärkkäinen, Veli-Matti. An Introduction to the Theology of Religions. Biblical, Historical & Contemporary Perspectives. Downers Grove [IL]: InterVarsity Press, 2003.
Klug, Florian. Beyond the Visible Church: The Motif of the ecclesia ab Abel from Augustine to James Alison. Collegeville [MN]: Liturgical Press Academic, 2024.
Knauer, Peter. “Christus in den Religionen: Interiorism“. In Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie 51 (2004): 237-252.
Knitter, Paul F. Introducing Theologies of Religions. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002.
Lamb, Matthew and Matthew Levering. The Reception of Vatican II. Oxford University Press, 2017.
Levy, Gabriel. Beyond Heaven and Earth: A Cognitive Theory of Religion. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press, 2022.
Marbaniang, Domenic. Theology of Religion: Pluralism, Inclusivism, and Exclusivism. Bangalore: ACTS Academy Papers, 2007.
Mawhinney, John J. “The Concept of Mystery in Karl Rahner's Philosophical Theology”. In Union Seminary Quarterly Review 24 (1968): 17–30.
Pals, Danel L. Eight Theories of Religion. Oxford University Press, 2006.
Pröpper, Thomas. “Freiheit als philosophisches Prinzip theologischer Hermeneutik“. In Evangelium und freie Vernunft. Konturen einer theologischen Hermeneutik, 5–22. Freiburg - Basel - Wien: Herder, 2001.
Race, Alan. Christians and Religious Pluralism: Patterns in the Christian Theology of Religions. Maryknoll [NY]: Orbis Books, 1982.
Rahner, Karl. “Anonymous Christians”. Theological Investigations, vol. 6 (Baltimore, MD: Helicon Press, 1969): 390-398.
Rahner, Karl. “Christianity and the non-Christian Religions” [1961]. In Theological Investigations, vol. 5. (Baltimore, MD: Helicon Press, 1966): 115-134.
Rahner, Karl. “Observations on the Problem of the 'Anonymous Christian'”. In Theological Investigations, vol. 14 (New York: Seabury, 1976): 280-294.
Reis, Jack. Ambiguitätstoleranz. Beiträge zur Entwicklung eines Persönlichkeitskonstrukts. Heidelberg: Asanger, 1997.
Ricœur, Paul. Oneself as Another [Soi-même comme un autre; 1990]. Translated by Kathleen Blamey. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Salenson, Christian. Christian De Cherge: A Theology of Hope. Kentucky: Cistercian Publications, 2012.
Schmidt-Leukel, Perry. “Exclusivism, Inclusivism, Pluralism: The Tripolar Typology Clarified and Reaffirmed”. In The Myth of Religious Superiority: A Multifaith Exploration, edit. by Paul F. Knitter, 13–27. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 2005.
Schönborn, Christoph. God's Human Face: The Christ Icon. San Francisco (CA): Ignatius Press, 2011.
Schwerhoff, Gerd. Die Inquisition: Ketzerverfolgung in Mittelalter und Neuzeit. Munich: Beck, 2004.
Seewald, Michael. Theories of Doctrinal Development in the Catholic Church. Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Segal, Robert A. “Theories of Religion”. In The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion, edit. by John R. Hinnells. London: Routledge, 2005, 49-60.
Stausberg, Michael. Contemporary Theories of religion. London: Routledge, 2009.
Tan, Loe-Joo. “The Catholic Theology of Religions: A Survey of Pre-Vatican II and Conciliar Attitudes Towards Other Religions.” In Scottish Journal of Theology 67 (2014): no. 3, 285-303.
Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Harward: Harward University Press, 2007.
Taylor, Diana (ed.). Michel Foucault: Key Concepts. Chesham: Acumen Publishing, 2011.
Ullrich, Wolfgang. “Grundrisse einer philosophischen Begriffsgeschichte von Ambiguität“. Archiv für Begriffsgeschichte 32 (1989): 121-169.
Weithmann, Paul J. Religion and the Obligations of Citizenship. Cambridge University Press, 2002.
Welsch, Wolfgang. “Transculturality – the Puzzling Form of Cultures Today”. In Spaces of Culture: City, Nation, World, edit. by Mike Featherstone and Scott M. Lash. London: Sage, 1999, 194-213.
Yuval, Israel. Two Nations in Your Womb: Perceptions of Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Oakland: University of California Press, 2008.