In this closely argued analysis of Nostra aetate in the context of other documents from Vatican II, the author investigates the extent to which that document represented a significant change in Catholic doctrine. The central question he pursues is this: "In what way are non-Christian religions salvific in and through themselves?" He concludes that the "doctrine of the Second Vatican Council on non-Christian religions is rather conservative and faithful to the accepted Catholic dogma. The Council permitted no reinterpretation of its standard doctrine in christology and soteriology."