ABSTRACT
The more sophisticated theologies seek to ground difference and plurality in a triadic or 'Trinitarian' ontological framework which is itself considered not uniquely Christian; so historical particularity is once again trivialized, and conflicting truth-claims relativized, in favour of a common praxis of liberation. Religious language is assumed to be wholly symbolic or mythological, articulating different human experiences of transcendence, and claims to universal truth on the part of any particular tradition are deemed 'imperialistic'. All the major world faiths make universal truth-claims that cannot be confined to a private 'religious' realm without serious distortion. Historical truths, poetic truths, fictional truths, theological truths or scientific truths are validated according to different criteria and procedures. The uniqueness of Christian truth-claims is twofold: they focus on the events surrounding a historical person, Jesus Christ, and they assert an eschatological verification. The Christian movement, from its inception, has always faced a plural public world.
