ABSTRACT
Raimundo Panikkar underwent a major shift over time in his thinking with regard to other religions. In 1946, Panikkar was ordained a Roman Catholic priest and from 1955 spent a number of years working in India to search out his cultural roots and study Indian philosophy and religion. This chapter begins with Panikkar's thought of The Unknown Christ of Hinduism, his first edition and his other earlier works. Paul Knitter says of Panikkar that among the mutualist or pluralistic theologians he stands out as the most resolutely pluralist. Yet the earlier Panikkar of 1964 represents the face of tolerant and magnanimous inclusivism. In any case, other religions cannot be called non-Christian, Panikkar says, because Christ is already present in them. Christ is the one and only link, or mediator, between God and humanity. Of all the theologians, Panikkar offers for a contemporary and creative encounter of world religions, not least because of his own personal journey.
