Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry

Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry PDF Author: Hugh Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019984237X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In theological discourse, argues Hugh Nicholson, the political goes "all the way down." One never reaches a bedrock level of politically neutral religious facts, because all theological discourse - even the most sublime, edifying, and "spiritual"--is shot through with polemical elements. Liberal theologies, from the Christian fulfillment theology of the nineteenth century to the pluralist theology of the twentieth, have assumed that religious writings attain spiritual truth and sublimity despite any polemical elements they might contain. Through his analysis and comparison of the Christian mystical theologian Meister Eckhart and his Hindu counterpart ÍaSkara, Nicholson arrives at a very different conclusion. Polemical elements may in fact constitute the creative source of the expressive power of religious discourses. Wayne Proudfoot has argued that mystical discourses embody a set of rules that repel any determinate understanding of the ineffable object or experience they purport to describe. In Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry, Nicholson suggests that this principle of negation is connected, perhaps through a process of abstraction and sublimation, with the need to distinguish oneself from one's intra- and/or inter-religious adversaries. Nicholson proposes a new model of comparative theology that recognizes and confronts one of the most urgent cultural and political issues of our time: namely, the "return of the political" in the form of anti-secular and fundamentalist movements around the world. This model acknowledges the ineradicable nature of an oppositional dimension of religious discourse, while honoring and even advancing the liberal project of curtailing intolerance and prejudice in the sphere of religion.

Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry

Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry PDF Author: Hugh Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019984237X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345

Get Book Here

Book Description
In theological discourse, argues Hugh Nicholson, the political goes "all the way down." One never reaches a bedrock level of politically neutral religious facts, because all theological discourse - even the most sublime, edifying, and "spiritual"--is shot through with polemical elements. Liberal theologies, from the Christian fulfillment theology of the nineteenth century to the pluralist theology of the twentieth, have assumed that religious writings attain spiritual truth and sublimity despite any polemical elements they might contain. Through his analysis and comparison of the Christian mystical theologian Meister Eckhart and his Hindu counterpart ÍaSkara, Nicholson arrives at a very different conclusion. Polemical elements may in fact constitute the creative source of the expressive power of religious discourses. Wayne Proudfoot has argued that mystical discourses embody a set of rules that repel any determinate understanding of the ineffable object or experience they purport to describe. In Comparative Theology and the Problem of Religious Rivalry, Nicholson suggests that this principle of negation is connected, perhaps through a process of abstraction and sublimation, with the need to distinguish oneself from one's intra- and/or inter-religious adversaries. Nicholson proposes a new model of comparative theology that recognizes and confronts one of the most urgent cultural and political issues of our time: namely, the "return of the political" in the form of anti-secular and fundamentalist movements around the world. This model acknowledges the ineradicable nature of an oppositional dimension of religious discourse, while honoring and even advancing the liberal project of curtailing intolerance and prejudice in the sphere of religion.

Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology

Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology PDF Author: Catherine Cornille
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119535158
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
The first systematic overview of the field of comparative theology Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology offers a synthesis of and a blueprint for the emerging field of comparative theology. It discusses various approaches to the field, the impact of religious views of other religions on the way in which comparative theology is conducted, and the particularities of comparative theological hermeneutics. It also provides an overview of the types of learning and of the importance of comparative theology for traditional confessional theology. Though drawing mainly from examples of Christian comparative theology, the book presents a methodological framework that may be applied to any religious tradition. Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology begins with an elaboration on the basic distinction between confessional and meta-confessional approaches to comparative theology. The book also identifies and examines six possible types of comparative theological learning and addresses various questions regarding the relationship between comparative and confessional theology. Provides a unique and objective look at the field of comparative theology for scholars of religion and theologians who want to understand or situate their work within the broader field Contains methodological questions and approaches that apply to comparative theologians from any religious tradition Recognizes and affirms the diversity within the field, while advancing unique perspectives that might be the object of continued discussions among theologians Meaning and Method in Comparative Theology offers an important basis for scholars to position their own work within the broader field of comparative theology and is an essential resource for anyone interested in theology conducted in dialogue with other religious traditions. 2021 PROSE Finalist in the Theology & Religious Studies category.

A Companion to Comparative Theology

A Companion to Comparative Theology PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004388397
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 655

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Book Description
This Companion to Comparative Theology offers a survey of historical developments, contemporary approaches and future directions in a field of theology that has experienced rapid growth and expansion in the past decades.

The New Comparative Theology

The New Comparative Theology PDF Author: Francis X. Clooney, S.J.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0567443485
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 229

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Book Description
This book is an extended, critical reflection on the state of interrelgious dialogue in its modern version. While there has been some important writing in the field of comparative theology, there has been no extended, critical reflection on the state of the discipline in its modern version, its strengths and problematic areas as it grows as a serious theological and scholarly discipline. This work of young scholars in conversation with one another, remedies this lack by, as it were, taking the discipline apart and putting it back together again. The volume seeks to understand how to learn from multiple religions in a way that is truly open to those religions on their own terms, while yet being rooted in the tradition/s that we bring to our interreligious study.

The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism

The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism PDF Author: Hugh R. Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190455349
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
In this book, Hugh Nicholson argues that seemingly counterintuitive and abstract religious concepts, such as the Christian Trinity and the Buddhist concept of No-self, have developed out of social identity processes - more specifically, as a result of hegemonic struggles and intra- and inter-religious rivalry.

Comparative Theology

Comparative Theology PDF Author: Paul Hedges
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004358463
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
In this first volume of Brill Research Perspectives in Theology, the field of comparative theology is mapped with particular attention to the tradition associated with Francis Clooney but noting the global and wider context of theology in a comparative mode. There are four parts. In the first section the current field is mapped and its methodological and theological aspects are explored. The second part considers what the deconstruction of religion means for comparative theology. It also takes into consideration turns to lived and material religion. In the third part, issues of power, representation, and the subaltern are considered, including the place of feminist and queer theory in comparative theology. Finally, the contribution of philosophical hermeneutics is considered. The text notes key trends, develops original models of practice and method, and picks out and discusses critical issues within the field.

How to Do Comparative Theology

How to Do Comparative Theology PDF Author: Francis X. Clooney
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823278425
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 351

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Book Description
For a generation and more, the contribution of Christian theology to interreligious understanding has been a subject of debate. Some think of theological perspectives are of themselves inherently too narrow to support interreligious learning, and argue for an approach that is neutral or, on a more popular level, grounded simply open-minded direct experience. In response, comparative theology argues that theology, as faith seeking understanding, offers a vital perspective and a way of advancing interreligious dialogue, aided rather than hindered by commitments; theological perspectives can both complement and step beyond the study of religions by methods detached and merely neutral. Thus comparative theology has been successful in persuading many that interreligious learning from one faith perspective to another is both possible and worthwhile, and so the work of comparative theology has become more recognized and established globally. With this success there has come to the fore new challenges regarding method: How does one do comparative theological work in a way that is theologically grounded, genuinely open to learning from the other, sophisticated in pursuing comparisons, and fruitful on both the academic and practical levels? How To Do Comparative Theology therefore contributes to the maturation of method in the field of comparative theological studies, learning across religious borders, by bringing together essays drawing on different Christian traditions of learning, Judaism and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism, the wisdom of senior scholars, and also insights from a younger generation of scholars who have studied theology and religion in new ways, and are more attuned to the language of the “spiritual but not religious.” The essays in this volume show great diversity in method, and also—over and again and from many angles—coherence in intent, a commitment to one learning from the other, and a confidence that one’s home tradition benefits from fair and unhampered learning from other and very different spiritual and religious traditions. It therefore shows the diversity and coherence of comparative theology as an emerging discipline today.

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Comparative Theology

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Comparative Theology PDF Author: Axel M. Oaks Takacs
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1394160577
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 565

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Book Description
An incisive and original collection of the most engaging issues in contemporary comparative theology In The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Comparative Theology, a team of distinguished scholars delivers a one-of-a-kind collection of essays on comparative theology. Honoring the groundbreaking work of Francis X. Clooney, S.J.—whose contributions to theology and religion will endure for generations—the included works explore seven key subjects in comparative theology, including its theory, method, history, influential contemporary developments, and potentially fruitful avenues for future discussion. The editors provide essays that reflect on the critical, theoretical, and methodological aspects of comparative theology, as well as constructive and critical appraisals of Francis Clooney’s scholarship. Over forty original contributions from internationally recognized scholars and insightful newcomers to the field are included within. Readers will also find: Insightful discussions of the larger implications of comparative theology beyond the discipline itself, especially as it relates to educational programs, institutions, and post-carceral life Robust promotion of the research methods and critical thinking present in Francis Clooney’s work Practical discussions of the most pressing challenges and opportunities facing theological researchers today Papers from leading contributors located around the globe, including emerging voices from the global south Perfect for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of theology and religious studies, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Comparative Theology will also benefit scholars with an interest in comparative religion, interreligious studies, and interreligious theology.

The Theology of Louis Massignon

The Theology of Louis Massignon PDF Author: Christian S. Krokus
Publisher: CUA Press
ISBN: 0813229464
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In The Theology of Louis Massignon, author Christian Krokus argues that Louis Massignon’s achievements in Christian-Muslim understanding, his activism on behalf of Muslim immigrants, refugees, and Middle Eastern Christians, as well as his developing understanding of Islam must be understood in the light of his Catholic convictions in relation to God, Christ, and the Church. With ample references to primary works, many translated into English for the first time, Krokus offers a comprehensive account of the main points of Massignon’s religious thought that will prove essential to theologians and historians working on questions of Christian-Muslim dialogue, comparative theology, and religious pluralism.

Comparing Faithfully

Comparing Faithfully PDF Author: Michelle Voss
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823274683
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Every generation of theologians must respond to its context by rearticulating the central tenets of the faith. Interreligious comparison has been integral to this process from the start of the Christian tradition and is especially salient today. The emerging field of comparative theology, in which close study of another religious tradition yields new questions and categories for theological reflection in the scholar’s home tradition, embodies the ecumenical spirit of this moment. This discipline has the potential to enrich systematic theology and, by extension, theological education, at its foundations. The essays in Comparing Faithfully demonstrate that engagement with religious diversity need not be an afterthought in the study of Christian systematic theology; rather, it can be a way into systematic theological thinking. Each section invites students to test theological categories, to consider Christian doctrine in relation to specific comparisons, and to take up comparative study in their own contexts. This resource for pastors and theology students reconsiders five central doctrines of the Christian faith in light of focused interreligious investigations. The dialogical format of the book builds conversation about the doctrine of God, theodicy, humanity, Christology, and soteriology. Its comparative essays span examples from Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Jain, and Confucian traditions as well as indigenous Aztec theology, and contemporary “spiritual but not religious” thought to offer exciting new perspectives on Christian doctrine.