Editorial essay - A theology of the religions and/or a comparative theology

An important, but little-noticed debate is quietly going on between some th eologians of the religions and some comparative theologians. The former, wi thout negating the need for comparative theology, insist on the need for a theology of the religions; the latter call for a moratorium on construction of theologies of religion and a focus instead on comparative work. This es say sides with the theologians of religion and argues that contrary to the one-sided position of the comparativists and the premature judgements of so me theologians of the religions, there is a need for both a theology of the religions and comparative analysis and synthesis because the two are the d istinct but inseparable and integral a priori and a posteriori moments of a single theological project which aims at bringing Christianity into fruitf ul engagement with non-Christian traditions. Because this engagement is ess ential to Christianity, the present debate is an important one even though it goes on in a field little tended, unfortunately, but many theologians.