Mysticism and Ethics in the Theology of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue: Re-Reading Paul Tillich and Jacques-Albert Cuttat

In plural and global contexts, the Theology of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue foster mutual understanding and a culture of encounter. This article examines theological and spiritual foundations through Paul Tillich and Jacques-Albert Cuttat. It reconstructs Tillich's ontological and pneumatological framework, focusing on a mystical a priori as the structural condition of religious experience. It analyzes Cuttat's model of "assumptive convergence" between Eastern and Western religious hemispheres as an experiential unfolding of Tillich's intuition. The argument holds that Cuttat anticipates Tillich's theology of religions, showing Christian mystical experience can assume, discern, and transfigure other traditions without syncretism or relativism. Mysticism emerges as a principle for articulating truth, plurality, and ethical responsibility in interreligious dialogue.

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Abstract

In today’s plural and global context, the Theology of Religions and Interreligious Dialogue play a decisive role in fostering mutual understanding and a genuine culture of encounter. This article examines the theological and spiritual foundations of this task through a re-reading of Paul Tillich and Jacques-Albert Cuttat. Starting from Tillich’s unfinished reflection on the significance of the history of religions, this study reconstructs his ontological and pneumatological framework, with particular attention to the notion of a mystical a priori as the structural condition of all religious experience. On this basis, it analyses Cuttat’s model of “assumptive convergence” between the two “religious hemispheres”—East and West—as an experiential and spiritual unfolding of Tillich’s intuition. This article argues that Cuttat’s proposal anticipates, in practical and mystical terms, the theology of religions outlined by Tillich, showing how Christian mystical experience can assume, discern, and transfigure other religious traditions without syncretism or relativism. In this perspective, mysticism emerges as a fundamental theological principle for articulating truth, plurality, and ethical responsibility in interreligious dialogue.