Page - 60 - in Limina - Grazer theologische Perspektiven, Volume 2:1

60 | www.limina-graz.eu robert J. schreiter | Globalization and Plural theologies ed that one can discern two discourses of catholicity present in the world today (Schreiter 2015). The first discourse focuses upon the Church’s ex- tension throughout the whole world, and tries to embrace its diversity and particularity within a certain wholeness and unity. It starts from the par- ticular, and journeys toward a vision of the whole. The points of emphasis and the practices that direct this journey are: inculturation, dialogue, and solidarity. These three elements are more than descriptions of practices. They point to the deeper theological commitments that, in turn, provide the basis for a vision of a shared humanity. Inculturation is based on the mystery of the Incarnation, namely, how the divine Logos comes to dwell in all human particularity, yet is fully present in divinity in all of those indwellings. Such a bringing together of the uni- versal and the particular gives prominence to the semina Verbi, the presence of the Incarnated Logos already at work in the world before evangelization takes place. As a result of this, inculturation is not merely a decorative nod to the diversity of human cultures. Rather, it suggests that the fullness of Christ’s incarnation will only become clear to us when these semina are al- lowed to mature and blossom in each setting of the human. Inculturation, then, is not an optional exercise. It is essential in grasping both the par- ticularity and the universality of the Christ event for the world. Dialogue is based in the mystery of the Trinity. The dialogue between the three Persons found in the immanent Trinity is given to us in the dialogue of the economic Trinity. In that dialogue we come to see God’s intention for the world. That intention is revealed as the missio Dei, the sending of the Son and the Holy Spirit into the world for its redemption and sanctification. That such sending is necessary gives the first insight into the dimensions of a universal, shared vision of humanity: that it is held dear to God, that it is in need of repair, and that it is not yet complete but is moving toward that eschatological point where “God will be all in all” (1 Cor 15:28). Dialogue, then, is not simply an intellectual exchange; it is essential as a practice that shows one’s respect for the other, that realizes that the fullness of God’s intentions has not yet been revealed to us, and that through dialogue we participate in the Trinity’s own being and its manner of engaging the cre- ated world. Solidarity arises out of reflecting on the consequences of the mysteries of the Incarnation and of the Trinity for the practice of catholicity. Solidar- Inculturation, dialogue, and solidarity.