作者：何梅珍
1.前言
今天的社会，受多元文化的冲击影响，面对知识领域的扩阔，神学亦不能脱离此动荡的浪潮。诚如作者杜勒斯(A. Dulles)言：
梵二后的教会的确开放了，能接纳颇多神学意见，为神学营造了一种新气候，使神学的发展更绚灿。但一些前进的神学家，却在已制定的正统信理上作争论，造成现今天主教神学情况之混乱。1
他坦诚地评论现在罗马天主教之神学情况 ── 是神学家缺乏一种共同言语、共同目标及共同准则；再加欠缺文明的作风，争论与不信任情况随之出现。2 正在神学领域探索的我，必须要弄清神学家们的思维路向，才可以发展个人的神学路向。
在探索杜勒斯的神学方法，吾人采用了他的最新着作《神学的工艺：由象征到系统》(The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System 1992)。本文的探索方法是：先由书本的内容阐释他认为现在如何做神学方法，然后加以评论。透过此种阐释方法，希望藉杜勒斯神父之照明，有助我要走的神学路向。
为方便了解此书，我先阅览一些书评，3再细读书中的整体内容，4发觉每一章书都有极大的贡献。我最欣赏是在第一章，他提醒当代做神学的人，不可以忽视二十世纪九十年代的社会，是一个日新月异的新时代，这个社会的新气候，有特别名词称呼之，如后现代(Postmodern)、后自由(Postliberal)及后批判(Postcritical)。他劝人要以一种后批判的精神去做神学。在第十二章，他以首尾呼应的手法，强调后批判要有合一精神，在宗教上交谈、对话，才可以使教会更新，在合一运动基础上互相交换意见，更能刺激人在神学上作反省，把神学以更丰盛的姿态展示人前，使人人可以接受天主的救恩，皈依祂。
为此神学方法的主旨内容不可脱离圣经、圣传及教会训导等信仰要素，教会就是此信仰要素的保存者与传递者，作者认为做神学要清楚认识教会特质，为教会服务，神学才能健康地发展。他努力寻找与重建一个更广阔的讲道团体，最后认为神学方法可建基在合一神学(Ecumenical Theology)上。他引用教宗若望保禄二世的通谕《救主使命》(Redemptoris Missio)，要信徒重视交谈的重要性。
后批判神学鼓励神学家必须在教会信仰团体内做神学，因为教会是神学事业(theological enterprise)的泉源。
1. 当前神学的路向
杜勒斯在第一章先介绍早期的前批判神学(Precritical Theology)，是以权威的口吻讲出此是天主的圣言，使人不敢质疑神学上的疑问，为此它有其超越地位，不可被质疑与挑战。到中古时代，人开始对此种神学有所怀疑，另一种新神学 ── 批判神学(Critical Theology)出现，它成为中古世纪的神学宠儿，但太注重以批判的角度作研究，使神学窒息，令大多数的神学家拒抗防范。
到十八世纪副批判神学(Paracritical Theology)出现，主张神学与科学的讨论要分开。到二十世纪初期，反批判神学(Countercritical Theology)坚持以强而有力的或以奇迹作为证据，利用此种方法作护教之用，基督教与天主教双方都各自努力，把此种神学方法推至极点。5出现反批判神学皆因受第一次世界大战之影响。
杜勒斯接着在第一至四章讲述当代做神学的方法。他在第一章介绍现今社会是要走向后批判神学(Postcritical Theology)的领域去，皆因以往的方法过份集中在思想批判的范畴。第二章他着重象征性通传(Symbolic Communication)，第三章利用模式做神学，第四章指出现代的基本神学与动态的皈依(Fundamental Theology and Dynamics of Conversion)。
杜氏在第一章中，开宗明义的说明他个人的信仰是钟情于后批判神学，以此方法做神学，不要以猜疑态度去挑战神学，其基本态度是要信赖诠释学(Hermenentics)，目的为建设神学，丰富神学的内涵，不是去毁灭神学。6后批判神学给古典神学一种新生命力 ── 坚定信仰的意识(the sense of the faithful)，7为此它要注意其有的缄默幅度，避免作理性主义的批判与有护教色彩的反批判，不会在一些不可争辩的证据(indisputable evidence)上作信仰的争辩，它鼓励信友以其认知力(cognition)去寻找信仰，不可盲目或感情化地信赖。作者认为后批判神学家指导信徒要「自我开放」，坦诚的对天主作出个人的皈依，这样才可以坚定信仰，自愿向天主委身，奉行祂的旨意。8
作者认为后批判神学的优点是在当代神学的不稳定情况中找出一动态的平衡(dynamic equilibrium)，为神学的延续与改革的情况找一新路向。9他更指出后批判神学不可以脱离教会，因为教会为基督的奥体(LG7)，是信仰最早的目击者与传信者(LG19)；为此，后批判神学必须要有教会特质，才可以使神学健康地发展。10
作者评论以往的神学方法只集中在思想批判范畴，的确使神学窒息不前，欠缺活泼动力的皈依。后批判神学要重建一个更广阔的讲道团体，刺激神学家的反省，重视交谈对话，但切记要做神学必须为教会服务，神学才能发展得更健康、更丰盛，我个人非常欣赏作者以上的评论。但我认为后批判神学所面对的环境更复杂、涉猎的知识范围更广阔，教会与神学家之间要互相尊重，才可以真正的把天国的喜讯透过今天的时空领域，展示人前，使人能按清晰良心的指引行事。
天主「自我通传」(self-communication)给人类，藉耶稣基督亲临人间，彰显祂的奥秘，故启示被视作为神圣的教条。信徒要真正明白天主的启示，须参与教会生活，以礼仪崇拜表达出对天主的敬畏，因为礼仪是纪念、是祈祷，是信徒以生活表达出基督奥迹临现人间，是真正教会的纯正本质。(SC2)11
礼仪行动充满了象征性通传，使人藉此与天主圣三的契合，明白天主启示的奥秘。新约圣经以不同图像来描述耶稣基督 ── 如善牧、新郎、葡萄树、光明、判官等。这等象征性通传(Symbolic Communication)，是做神学的方法，教会为表达出耶稣基督真实临在教会内，会透过教条宣言(doctrinal statements)、礼仪(liturgy)及文化语言(cultural-linguistic) 的表达，阐释天主的启示，清晰指出天主藉圣子降临人间，把天主圣三自我通传给世人。
在象征性通传的过程中，利用模式的表达，能帮助信徒更明白神学真理。因为随着经院神学的没落，神学家出现门户派系的成见，神学之间交谈困难，作者利用模式方法论(models' methodology)，为方便进行真正的交谈、对话。
他提出模式在神学上的用处，方便神学家把领悟到的天主的超验奥秘，以「模式」向天主子民讲解传授，藉着对信仰的见证，神学家们可以进行交谈。例如在他的着作《教会的模式》(Models of the Church)中以不同的隐喻(different metaphors)来称呼教会，其目的为方便交谈与和好；在他另一着作《启示的模式》(Models of the Revelation)中，也以不同模式的表达来谈论启示。
在后批判神学时代，模式是有局限的，而其在当代神学领域使用里也有些不合时宜，12但作者深信模式与系统神学(Systematic Theology)的实践颇有相关。13
作者评论在后批判的转变中(postcritical turn)，教条语言、礼仪及文化语言等要配合现时代社会的需要，才能有效地把天主自我通传的奥秘彰显人前。作者认为在后批判神学领域里，信徒要明白象征对启示和教义的关系，14 才可以做好神学。他认为佐治．林白(George Lindbeck)之三类神学方式，15 其中第三类「文化语言神学」(cultural-linguistic theology)，作者称之为「教会转化性的」(ecclesial-transformative)，16 正是说明教会在这个新时代中，要阐释天主自我通传的奥秘，必须适合当代社会的需要。现代做神学的方法不可以只套用中古时代的经院主义(Scholastism)，而利用「模式」的确存有困难，因为神学再不能只满足在自身描述或现象论(phenomenology)上的研究，必须严谨地抓紧问题的恒久一致性与真实性才是。17
以上三种神学方法 ── 即前期所注重的批判思想所扮演的角色(the role of critical thinking)，其后着重象征性通传及利用模式，是深受经院神学的把持，不适合现时代的需要，当前的路向是要走向后批判神学。
既然模式就是象征，取自人性经验的理解，故在今天的社会中，经验神学(Empirical Theology)的确使人在宗教上有深彻的反省，基本神学(Fundamental Theology)需要人充满动力的皈依，信仰作为彻底的皈依，除了问我们如何走向天主外，信友也要清楚知道天主如何走近我们，为此基本神学必须放在人学的焦点上(anthropological focus)。
在第四章，他讲论现今的天主教神学家，其中一些：他们的言论已被肯定接纳，如卡．拉内神父(K. Rahner)及伯尔纳．朗列根神父(B. Lonergan)的先验方法(transcendental method)，都是建立在神学的人学上(theological anthropology)，由人内在经验，辩证神的存在。18
作者评论先验方法确能助人经验到神的存在，使人充满动力的皈依，它要信徒摒弃信仰上一些不合理性的跳跃。透过圣经的启示，它有照明、转化的力量，使信徒明白天主给人白白的恩赐，是藉耶稣基督一次而永久的赏赐给全人类，使人人可分沾天主的救恩。
但切记：此方法虽然由人性经验出发，若只着重用心辨明神的存在，漠视圣经事实资料，则流于空洞，欠实证的功夫；为此，跟随者必要重视圣经，特别在诠释学上研究。
1. DULLESs Avery, The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System (New York:
Crossroad 1992) vii: At Vatican II (1962-65) a certain number of theological opinions that had previously been suspect seemed to win official endorsement. This shift contributed to a new theological climate in which novelty was not only tolerated but glorified. Many took it for granted that the heterodoxy of today would become the orthodoxy of tomorrow. To be a leader, then, was to venture onto new and dangerous territory, and to say what no Catholic theologian had yet dared to say. Abetted by journalists craving for headlines and publishers eager to market their latest wares, certain "progressive" theologians have been outdoing one another in originality . Practically every doctrine that had been constitutive of Catholic orthodoxy has been contested by some prominent author. Papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Assumption of Mary, the virginal conception of Jesus, his bodily resurrection, the divinity of Christ, and the Trinity itself were either denied or radically reinterpreted to mean what they had never before been thought to mean.
2. 参阅同上 viii: Today, however, we are faced by the opposite problem. The different theological schools have drifted so far apart that what seems false and dangerous to one school seems almost self-evident to another. Theologians lack a common language, common goals, and common norms. Civil argument has ceased to function, and in its absence opposing parties seek to discredit one another by impugning the motives or competence of their adversaries.
3. 参阅O'DONOVAN L. J., Book Review of The Craft of Theology: From Symbol to System in Theologlcal Studies, Vol.54, No.4 (Dec. 1993) 759-761 . WOOD S., Book Review of The Craft of Theologly From Symbol to System in Review of Religions, Vol.52, No.4 (July-August 1993) 629-630.
4. DULLES: (l) Toward a Postcritical Theology
(2) Theology and Symbolic Communication
(3) The Problem of Method: From Scholasticism to Models
(4) Fundamental Theology and the Dynamics of Conversion
(5) The Uses of Scripture in Theology
(6) Tradition as a Theological Source
(7) The Magisterium and Theological Dissent
(8) Theology and Philosophy
(9) Theology and the Physical Sciences
(10) University Theology in Service to the Church
(11) The Teaching Mission other Church and Academic Freedom
(l2) Method in Ecumenical Theology
5. 参阅同上4-5: Paracritical theology claims, "Theology dictates of religious feelings. The dichotomy between scientific and religious discourse, having received its philosophical charter from Immanuel Kant" " Countercritical theology insisted strongly on miracles as evidential signs, reached its culmination in early twentieth-century apologetics, both Protestant and Catholic"
6. 参阅同上7: Postcritical theology, as I use the term, begins with a presupposition of prejudice in favor of faith. Its fundamental attitude is a hermeneutics of trust, not of suspicion. Its purpose is constructive, not destructive. This is not to deny that people are entitled to doubt what they have reason to regard as false or unfounded. The doubter can be a serious thinker, candidly examining the claims made for religion. But theology, as commonly understood, is the kind of inquiry that takes place from with a religious commitment. drawing on the convictions instilled by faith, the theologian uses them as resources for the proper task to theology, which is the understanding of faith.
7. 参阅同上9: Postcritical theology gives new vitality to classical thological loci such as the "sense of the faithful". Johann Adam Mohler maintained that the Holy Spirit had imprinted on the Church "a peculiarly Christian tact, a deep sure-guiding feeling" that leads it into all truth.
8. 参阅同上14: Not least among the merits of postritical theology, in my view, is its ability to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between continuity and innovation.
10. 参阅同上viii: For the better health of theology I believe that its ecclesial character needs to more clearly recognized. Theology must serve the Church and be accountable to it.
11. 参阅同上8-9: Liturgy has regularly been recognized as a prime theological source and it is securely established in this role by postcritical theology. The rule of prayer, as the axiom has it, establishes the rule of belief. The liturgy and the sense of the faithful are particular forms of tradition, which is likewise reckoned among the sources of theology.
12. 参阅同上50-52:
(l) Some contend that concept of models, taken from the physical and behavioral sciences, is inappropriate for theology.
(2) the method involves an unfair pigeon-holing of theologians.
(3) by paying respect to a plurality of mutually incompatible models one falls into relativism and agnosticism.
(4) method of models is booklish and increative.
(5) the method is impugned on the ground that it stops short of being truly
systematic .
13. 参阅同上 8: Theology is the methodical effort to articulate the truth implied in Christian faith, the faith of the Church... the method depends on a kind of
connoisseurship derived from personal appropriation of the living faith of the
Church. The meaning of the Christian Symbols is learned as an an acquired through familiarity in the community...
52: the method of models is helpful not only for mediating between different theological systems but for analyzing the inner tensions within a single approach through models and the practice of systematic theology.
14. 参阅同上21: symbol in relation to revelation and doctrine have considerable
importance for one's understanding of the relationship between communications and theology.
15. 参阅同上17-21: George Lindbeck discusses three styles of theology: the propositionaliste-cognitive' the experiential-expressive, the cultural-1inguistic.
16. 参阅同上 18: instead of cultural-linguistics I shall call it ecclesial-transformative.
17. 参阅同上vii-ix: While theology needs to have a measure of autonomv in order to perform its distinctive service, it loses its identity if it ceases to be a reflection on the faith of the Church.
18. 参阅 MUELLER, J. J. What are they saying about Theology Method? (Ramsey: Paulist 1984)
2. 神学方法的重要元素
在第五、六、七章中，作者强调神学方法的重要元素是利用圣经、重视圣传及教会训导。此三章集中说明《启示宪章》(Dei Verbum)之第二章 ── 论天主启示的传授，其中第十号「圣经、圣传和教会训导权是组成天主圣言的同一宝库，并给教会训导，全体圣民依附着它。」要求信徒明白此三种存在教会内资源是当今做神学的依据。
杜勒斯认为利用圣经做神学有十项探讨(ten approaches)，此等方法在当代神学显明是常用的，即(一)利用圣经作教条陈述的「古典教条探讨」(The classical doctrinal approach)。(二)圣经神学(Biblical theology)。(三)视圣经为属灵的释经(spiritual exegesis)。(四)圣言神学(Word theology)，透过圣经，与主相遇。(五)视圣经为存在诠释学(existential hermeneutics)，是向人宣告的神学(theology of proclamation)。(六)由圣经使人走向经验表白(experiential - expressive approach)。(七)由圣经文字意义(literal meaning)寻找原作者的意向(authorial intention)。(八)历史重整(historical reconstruction)的圣经历史批判研究。(九)叙述神学(narrative theology)，利用文化语言的探讨(the cultural - linguistic approach)。(十)利用圣经作解放神学(liberation theology)之研究。19
作者评论，以圣经作主题去研究神学，是一种好方法，因为「圣经是天主的话，受圣神的默感而写成。」(DV10)，它是神圣的启示媒介。作者重视圣经为做神学的元素，此信仰宝库是信友生活的圣言之依恃，是天主透过不同时空向人类宣讲的语言。作者更强调圣经神学(biblical theology)的重要性，因为它可照明叙述神学(narrative theology)及文化语言神学(cultural-linguistic theology)。
但我们要小心，不可曲解圣经含义，或只在字面上意义兜转，要信赖诠释学的研究，用综合性探讨(comprehensive approach)，汇合科学与属灵的释经，更要接受天主教传统指引与梵二的指导，为系统神学的需要，使神学发展更有体系。
在第六章论及圣传作为神学的泉源。在特伦多大公会议中讨论到圣经与圣传时，认为两者都来自天主，有其神圣的权威，同样受到相等的尊重。20梵二后，更指出圣传有其非常重要地位，在《启示宪章》第二章中，更把圣传向天主子民清楚的阐明，21 使神学家在神学工作方面跟随教会传统的教导。
作者评论，天主子民既相信「由宗徒传下来的教会」，那么便要深深承认圣传的效力，因为它是把主基督及圣神托付给宗徒的天主圣言，以特殊方式表达于宗徒宣讲的默感书上，以连续不断的继承而保存下来。教会重视圣传，因为它可以补足圣经上象征性意义，圣经藉圣传的传授，使人更彻底领悟天主的启示奥秘。梵二后，天主教神学家大多接受与尊重圣传，22因为圣传与圣经都是由天主神泉流出。(DV9)
在第七章论及教会训导与神学的异议(theological dissent)问题。既然圣经与圣传是组成天主圣言的信仰宝库，托给教会去好好保存，教会训导的责任除了是古远信仰(ancient faith)的保护守卫者外，还要准确地向信徒阐释信仰的内容。23但梵二后，教会的圣经权力与神学家之间产生张力，为此作者认为教会训导当局与神学家们要以坦诚的继续交谈为重，他推崇1990年5月14日教廷信理部颁布的训示《神学家在教会中的召叫》(Instruction on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian)对教会训导有极重要影响。24神学家要理性地接纳教会的训导，而训导当局也要尊重神学家的专业性，谘询他们的意见。
教会的训导当局是藉耶稣基督名义而行使权威，它的职权是解释和传授天主圣言，为天主圣言服务。我极之欣赏作者所说的：「那些代表普世教会说话者，一定要对世界之不同状况，不同文化有一种敏悦感。」25这样才能负起为教会保管与解释天主圣言的使命。
19. 参阅 DULLES, O. C. 71-85.
20. 参阅同上 89: Trent held that the authority of tradition was not less than that of Scripture. Both, coming from God, had divine authority Asserting that Scripture and tradition are to be received with equal reverence (DS l 501), the council took over an expression of Basil the Great.
21. 参阅同上 94-98:
(1) Tradition and traditions
(2) The means of transmission
(3) Development
(4) The relation between Scripture and tradition
(5) The problem of distorting tradition
(6) Tradition and magisterium
22. 参阅同上 103-104: Toward a Catholic Consensus:
1. Tradition aroused and continuously sustained in the Church by the Holy Spirit.
2. Tradition is grasped through familiarity or participation as a result of dwelling within the Church
3 . Monuments of tradition serve to sharpen the community's sense of the faith.
4. Tradition, as a sense of the faith, provides an element of continuity in the
development of Christian doctrine.
5. Tradition is 'divine', aroused and sustained by God; it is 'apostolic', it is living, it remains contemporary with every generation.
6. Tradition is of equal dignity with Scripture.
7. The Church drew on tradition as a resource for recognizing the canonical
Scriptures...
8. Divine tradition gives rise to a variety of human traditions that mediate it to particular groups at particular times and places.
9. Human traditions needed to make divine tradition concrete and tangible...
10. The ecclesiastical magisterium, making use of Scripture and tradition.
23. 参阅同上 91: The Jesuits of the Roman school, who were close collaborators with the Holy See, emphasized the role of the magisterium not only in safeguarding the ancient faith against corruptions but in developing the explicit content of faith. They promoted the definition of the Immaculate Conception (l854) and the ogmas of Vatican I concerning papal primacy and infallibility (1870) These theologians (notably J. B. Franzelin and L. Billot) distinguished between "active tradition" and "passive tradition". For them, the role of the magisterium, as the bearer of "active tradition", was not simply to authenticate what was believed by the faithful as a body, but to clarify and explicate the contents of faith. The "passive tradition" borne by the faithful as a body was simply a reflection of what had been taught by the magisterium.
24. 参阅同上 106-107: These various statements agree in recognizing the relative
autonomy of the hierarchical magisterium and the theologians in the performance of their specific tasks. The official teachers and the theologians use different metnods and have different goals. The magisterium, which is charged with authoritatively formulating and safeguarding the faith of the Church, does not have to establish its positions by strict theological reasoning. Theologians, whose essential task is to understand and explain, cannot be content to appeal to the authority of popes and bishops.
25. 参阅同上 107-108: Those who speak on behalf of the universal Church must be
sensitive to the variety of situations and cultures in different parts of the world. At times statements are read in a context other than that of the authors and are taken as referring to problems that were not envisaged. Sometimes, also, concise and objective doctrinal statements, especially as excerpted by the news media, give an impression of abruptness and pastoral insensitivity. Advance consultation with episcopal conferences can be, and has often proved to be, of assistance in finding palatable formulations or permitting the preparation of timely explanations.
3. 神学与学术文化
神学与学术文化是不能分割，因神学除了有信仰的幅度外，也有学术文化的幅度；这样，信徒才能真正明白「神人关系」之奥秘。作者在第八、九、十及十一等章中，就讨论到哲学、自然科学等可以促使神学更丰盛地发展。在今天知识领域不断扩张的环境下，互相交谈，尊重学术自由的发展，在神学领域内也是不可缺少的元素。
梵二后的二十多年，天主教神学之能复苏，皆因能开放自己，与现代哲学接触，26 为促使神学家不仅以信仰角度去寻找真理根源外，亦要重视理性的批判；神学之能健康发展，也需要一稳定的哲学传统。虽然不同的哲学系统依靠不同的隐喻根源，但若能扩阔交谈，使信徒在信德的光照下，以清晰的思维去研究救赎奥迹，哲学是有助神学的发展的。
既然信仰在于寻求真理，作者认为在自然科学(physical science)的指引下，能提高人类求真的态度，因为研究科学要以绝对忠实态度去对待研究的结果，神学也是以求真的态度去探讨信仰，为此两者是可以共存的。在今天的社会，真的科学是要证明真的信仰，互相交谈，对话是必要的。
在《天主教教育宣言》(GE10)，论及天主教大学要设立神学院，使平信徒也有机会攻读神学课程。的确，教会是生活在世界旅途中，因知识层面的扩阔，大学中的神学也是一门「人文学科」，神学普及化，使更多人以信仰、以学术研究去探讨天主启示的奥秘，对人类是何等的重要啊！但作者提醒我们，大学中的神学是为教会服务，目的使神学迈向一更完满的境界，使人可明白「神人关系」的亲密性。
为此他认为当代神学要让学术自由的发展，才可以使神学成为充满生命力去探讨神的奥秘。神学家可享有学术自由去发表他们的神学研究，但他们要尊重训导当局的传信权与传递权，因为她是信仰团体的根基。为使信仰与理性协调，开放坦诚的交谈是神学家之间与教会之间必要的元素。
作者评论，神学方法要配合一个社会的环境与文化的需要方可，否则便流于玄虚的境域中，使人摸不着头脑。故今天做神学，必须与其他学科 ── 如哲学、史学、数学、自然科学及艺术同时迈进，因这样才可以提高人类对真、善、美的理解力，明白天主启示的奥秘(GS57)。在哲学层面，多玛斯为天主教神学留下一个根基，我们要承认古代哲学对神学的重要性。27而信仰与科学的交谈对话使两者更互利互惠，28作者引用若望保禄二世在1988年6月1日的训言：宗教与科学并没存有冲突，两者的互相补足，可加强后批判神学的透视力。我认为杜勒斯的理论颇中肯。
在二十世纪的末叶，学术自由与尊重是很重要的，透过神学家与其他学者的交谈，其实更有助神学活泼的发展。教会既为服务人类(GS3)，那么就应该把基督福音与人类文化有所联系(GS58)及调和不同文化(GS59)，让人可以自由探索真理、自由研究与自由宣传己见。但神学家与信徒也要对教导当局有高度的尊重才是。
26. 参阅同上 127: The intent of Pope John XXIII and of the fathers at Vatican II that Catholic theology should be revitalized by contact with new and more modern philosophical sources has been successfully achieved in the past twenty-five years.
27. 参阅同上 127: The directives of Vatican II quoted above seem to make it clear that the council was recommending that theology be based on the perennially valid philosophical heritage that comes down through Thomas Aquinas.
28. 参阅同上 146: The dialogue between faith and science can produce palpable benefits to both.
4. 迈向合一神学的方法
作者在最后一章论及当代做神学，是要迈向合一神学(Ecumenical Theology)。合一神学要求天主子民在「信、望、爱」中团结，其实此三超德也在教会以外的人们身上看见，29教会以外的人类也可以分沾天主救恩计划，因为耶稣基督交出自己的性命，是为大众作赎价(谷10:45)。
合一神学的基础，是要宗教交谈，这样才可以令教会更新(UR6,9)。教会之外实存有救恩，与不同宗教交谈，更丰富神学，刺激教会内信徒的反省，使他们更明白天主的超验奥秘。
作者所赞同的合一神学，是梵二所认可的交谈方法，牧者与信徒要一致的，按天主的旨意行基督化生活(UR5)。大公主义的精神要基督徒联合祈祷，为教会合一作证(UR8)。在交谈中，天主教神学家要遵循教会的训示，与分离的弟兄们探讨天主的奥秘(UR11)，在爱德内，摒弃敌对成见(UR18)，使所有追随基督的信徒，能融入基督的教会内(UR24)。
作者评论，宗教交谈与互相尊重在后批判神学是极之重要，因为这样才能刺激神学的反省。作者极力的推崇合一神学的方法，是先由追随基督的信友做起，在爱德的共融下，把耶稣基督的福音展示在人类世界内，使人人有机会认识天国的喜讯，皈依天主。然后再与其他宗教交谈，因为他深信天主救恩普及全人类。为此他对甘卫(W. Cantwell Smith)的世界神学(World Theology)虽表示同意，认为信仰可以在非基督徒身上存在，但对世界神学的看法却有所保留。30他也欣赏汉斯龚( )的宗教交谈(inter-religious dialogue)，但却不拥护他的中性神学(Neutral Theology)。
现今神学有其合一性时刻 ── 就是透过交谈、对话，虽然其中有困难、有彰碍，但作者深信真诚的内心皈依(UR7)、联合祈祷(UR8)、彼此认识(UR23)，合一神学定可以在后批判神学大放异彩，迈向圆满的境界。
结论
在后批判领域中，多元文化影响着神学的发展，为此作者强调要重建一个更广阔的讲道团体，故此，公开讨论是重要的，因为透过交谈，帮助信徒去判断、去侦察，探求真理。教会既然为基督的身体，做神学的人，其首先责任要为教会服务，教会所保存的三种信仰宝库 ── 圣经、圣传和教会训导，是神学方法的重要元素，是神学家必须尊重的。神学家可以以不同方式去研究其神学工作的专长，订立不同的神学假设，但必须为教会服务，建立神学成为一共同事业。
我欣赏杜勒斯那种坚持神学要反省，以生活作见证的方法态度，他认为交谈对话是有效的通传媒介，因为它使信徒更易投入信仰的见证内。他以平和态度提供后批判神学的方向，除注意交谈对话外，一定要尊重教会所保存的传统，以古证今，才可以迎接未来。信友在爱德共融下，以圣经、圣传及教会训导作神学方法的元素，更配合开放坦诚的交谈，迈向教会的合一，神学才可有健康的发展。
缩略语
LG = Lumen Gentium 《教会宪章》
DV = Dei Verbum 《天主启示教义宪章》
GS = Gaudium et Spes 《论教会在现代世界牧职宪章》
UR = Unitatis Redintegrato 《大公主义法令》
GE = Gravissimum Educationis 《天主教教育宣言》
29. 参阅同上 179: As late as a few decades ago, Catholics frequently spoke as though faith did not exist beyond the confines of their own Church, but today they generally recognize that divine and salvific faith exists among members of other Christian communities, among adherents of non-Christian religions, and even among people who are not formally religious. The Second Vatican Council, in several important texts, encouraged this new tendency. In its Decree on Ecumenism it stated that faith, hopes and charity "can exist out-side the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church."1 In its Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity it declared that "God, in ways known to himself, can lead people who through no fault of their own are ignorant of the gospels to that faith without which it is impossible to please him."2 Since the council, Catholics such as Raimundo Panikkar have argued that faith is a "constitutive dimension of man,"3 while Protestants such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith contend that faith is "generically human" and "constitutive of man as human"4
30. 参阅同上 181-182: In recent years Wilfred Cantwell Smith, a scholar with
exceptional competence in Islam and other living faiths, has set forth a very ambitious proposal for what he calls a "world theology" Such a theology, he
maintains, "will not displace but subsume its erst-wllile sectional parts", that is, the particular theologies of the distinct religions.8 In this new theology, as he envisages it, there should no longer be any talk of "we" and "they"; no barrier should stand between insiders and outsiders. Adherents of different religions will strive to speak about their own faith only in ways that members of other religious communities "can rationally approve of (or, at the very least, rationally understand)".9
I can agree with Smith up to a point. With him I would hold that faith can exist among people who are not Christian, and indeed among those who have never had historical contact with biblical religions. The Christian theologian should listen empathetically to what such people say about their own religious life, and seek to discern how their statements are rooted in their own experience and history. Conversely, Christians should strive to set forth their own faith in such a way that well-disposed members of other communities might be able to make sense of it. But I would express reservations about the claims of any common "world theology" to subsume or supersede the specific content of each particular religions. Christians, since they believe in the three-personed God and in Jesus Christ as the incarnation of the second divine person, will not be content to do theology as thoug the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation were not true. I see no reason for forbidding Christians to mention aspects of their own faith that cannot be "rationally approved" apart from Christian revelation. Based on God's special revelation in Christ, Christian theology continues to differ from that of all other religions. No one could admit the truth of the Trinity or the Incarnation (with the meaning these doctrines have for Christian) without being convened to Christianity.
My difference with Smith is rooted in his concept of faith. For Christians of the classical tradition, faith and belief are correlatives, if not synonyms. To have faith is always to believe something as well as someone. Responding to Smith's interpretation of Thomas Aquinas, Frederick Crosson shows that for the Angelic Doctor faith necessarily involved a content, a material object which was communicables at least in some measure, by teaching or doctrine.12 For Catholics (ands I would think, for most Protestants) faith continues to have a definite content. In the Christian act of faith Jesus Christ plays an indispensable role. Jesus, moreover, is believed and confessed to be the Son of God, the risen Savior, according to the Scriptures and the creeds. This doctrinal content, inseparable from Christian faith, cannot be subsumed or left behind in some new "world theology".