The First and the Last

Lamin Sanneh — Yale Divinity School "In the closing decades of the twentieth century Christian theologians in the West became increasingly concerned with religious pluralism and the viability of truth claims. George Sumner's work tracks the debate and shows how the pace is unlikely to slacken in the course of the twenty-first century. He links the grammar of faith to the truth claims of religion and with communities of practice and mission. In the absence of a knockout argument to settle the issue, Sumner returns to the sources of the tension with a fresh examination of truth claims as the basis of final primacy with a built-in openness to encounter. His book makes a cogent case against the view that truth claims are discontinuous with the demands of interfaith conversation." R. R. Reno — Creighton University "Provides indispensable orientation to the crucial question of religious pluralism. Sumner shows how Western Christianity has often used religious pluralism to disguise or excuse its captivity to modern secularism, and he guides us forward with an irenic postliberal proposal that establishes a clear, Christ-centered bottom line: We are to engage the world with a faithful charity shaped by the biblical grammar of Christ's final primacy, his lordship over creation and history. The First and the Last is a must-read for anyone seeking to discern the mission of the church in an age of global consciousness." Michael Barnes, S. J. — Heythrop College "This is not a book for the theologically fainthearted. Clear in its argument, robust in its critique, wide-ranging in its command of sources, The First and the Last offers a thoroughly incisive analysis of the key issues at stake in the theology of religions. One does not have to agree with everything George Sumner says to appreciate the force and cogency of his argument." J. A. DiNoia — Vatican City "Exposing the distinctively Western historical roots of pluralist theologies of religion, Sumner offers a refreshingly 'postpluralist' account of the relationship between Christianity and other religious traditions. His important book shows that one can take the claims of other religious interlocutors seriously without displacing the grammar of the final primacy of Jesus Christ fundamental to all appropriately Christian theologies of religions." CrossCurrents "Sumner's sophisticated, rigorous, and theologically challenging work comprises a strenuous effort to move Christian discourse in interreligious dialogue past what he calls 'the quagmire of pluralism'. . . A courageous effort, one worthy of attention."