Circling the elephant : a comparative theology of religious diversity /
Thatamanil, John J.,
Circling the elephant : a comparative theology of religious diversity / Comparative theology of religious diversity John J. Thatamanil. - First edition. - 1 online resource (xviii, 296 pages) - Comparative Theology: Thinking Across Traditions . - Comparative theology--thinking across traditions. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface : autobiography and comparative theology -- Introduction : revisiting an old tale -- Religious difference and Christian theology : thinking about, thinking with, and thinking through -- The limits and promise of exclusivism and inclusivism : assessing major options in theologies of religious diversity -- No one ascends alone : toward a relational pluralism -- Comparative theology after religion? -- Defining the religious : comprehensive qualitative orientation -- The hospitality of receiving : Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and interreligious learning -- God as ground, singularity, and relation : trinity and religious diversity -- This is not a conclusion.
Christian theologians have for some decades affirmed that they have no monopoly on encounters with God or ultimate reality and that other religions also have access to religious truth and transformation. If that is the case, the time has come for Christians not only to learn about but also from their religious neighbors. Circling the Elephant affirms that the best way to be truly open to the mystery of the infinite is to move away from defensive postures of religious isolationism and self-sufficiency and to move, in vulnerability and openness, toward the mystery of the neighbor. Employing the ancient Indian allegory of the elephant and blind(folded) men, John J. Thatamanil argues for the integration of three often-separated theological projects: theologies of religious diversity (the work of accounting for why there are so many different understandings of the elephant), comparative theology (the venture of walking over to a different side of the elephant), and constructive theology (the endeavor of re-describing the elephant in light of the other two tasks). This book argues that Christian theology must be done in conversation with other religions. The book integrates theology of religious diversity, comparative theology, and constructive theology by moving beyond reified accounts of "religions" that make interreligious learning impossible. The author proposes a new theory of the religious that celebrates interreligious learning.
In English.
9780823288533 0823288536 9780823288540 0823288544
10.1515/9780823288540 doi
22573/ctv119rv35 JSTOR
Christianity and other religions.
Religious pluralism.
Religions--Relations.
Cultural pluralism.
Cultural Diversity
Christianisme--Relations.
Religions--Relations.
Diversit�e culturelle.
RELIGION--Theology.
Religious pluralism
Cultural pluralism
Christianity and other religions
Interfaith relations
Religions
Comparative theology. Trinity. constructive theology. genealogy of religion. interreligious dialogue. interreligious hospitality. theology of religions.
BL41 / .T43 2020eb
201
Circling the elephant : a comparative theology of religious diversity / Comparative theology of religious diversity John J. Thatamanil. - First edition. - 1 online resource (xviii, 296 pages) - Comparative Theology: Thinking Across Traditions . - Comparative theology--thinking across traditions. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface : autobiography and comparative theology -- Introduction : revisiting an old tale -- Religious difference and Christian theology : thinking about, thinking with, and thinking through -- The limits and promise of exclusivism and inclusivism : assessing major options in theologies of religious diversity -- No one ascends alone : toward a relational pluralism -- Comparative theology after religion? -- Defining the religious : comprehensive qualitative orientation -- The hospitality of receiving : Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and interreligious learning -- God as ground, singularity, and relation : trinity and religious diversity -- This is not a conclusion.
Christian theologians have for some decades affirmed that they have no monopoly on encounters with God or ultimate reality and that other religions also have access to religious truth and transformation. If that is the case, the time has come for Christians not only to learn about but also from their religious neighbors. Circling the Elephant affirms that the best way to be truly open to the mystery of the infinite is to move away from defensive postures of religious isolationism and self-sufficiency and to move, in vulnerability and openness, toward the mystery of the neighbor. Employing the ancient Indian allegory of the elephant and blind(folded) men, John J. Thatamanil argues for the integration of three often-separated theological projects: theologies of religious diversity (the work of accounting for why there are so many different understandings of the elephant), comparative theology (the venture of walking over to a different side of the elephant), and constructive theology (the endeavor of re-describing the elephant in light of the other two tasks). This book argues that Christian theology must be done in conversation with other religions. The book integrates theology of religious diversity, comparative theology, and constructive theology by moving beyond reified accounts of "religions" that make interreligious learning impossible. The author proposes a new theory of the religious that celebrates interreligious learning.
In English.
9780823288533 0823288536 9780823288540 0823288544
10.1515/9780823288540 doi
22573/ctv119rv35 JSTOR
Christianity and other religions.
Religious pluralism.
Religions--Relations.
Cultural pluralism.
Cultural Diversity
Christianisme--Relations.
Religions--Relations.
Diversit�e culturelle.
RELIGION--Theology.
Religious pluralism
Cultural pluralism
Christianity and other religions
Interfaith relations
Religions
Comparative theology. Trinity. constructive theology. genealogy of religion. interreligious dialogue. interreligious hospitality. theology of religions.
BL41 / .T43 2020eb
201