A Christian approach to World religions: Aleksandr Men’s perspective in comparison to Catholic magisterial teaching

ENFather Aleksandr Men was one of the most productive writers in the Russian Orthodox Church in the second part of the 20th century. Despite the fact that almost all of his life he worked under the militant atheism of the Soviet Union, he managed to develop an impressive scholarly and pastoral activity. This study concentrates on his view of the world’s religions examined in light of the Catholic Conciliar and Post-Conciliar magisterial teaching, with special focus on declaration Dominus Iesus. Lukaševičius divides his theological analysis of Men’s position into three areas: the human search for God in the world religions; the relationship between faith in Christianity and belief in other religions; the doctrinal, the moral, and the ritual contents of world religions. It is argued here that Aleksandr Men developed an explicitly Christian approach to other religions, generally consistent with the teaching of the Catholic magisterium. Lukaševičius offers a thorough analysis of Men’s works, contributing to Christian theology’s further understanding of the complexities of inter-religious dialogue.