Comparative Theology Deep Learning Across Religious Borders

by Clooney, Francis X.

• ISBN13: 9781405179744
• ISBN10: 1405179740
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-03-29
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Drawing upon the author's three decades of work in comparative theology, this is a pertinent and comprehensive introduction to the field, which offers a clear guide to the reader, enabling them to engage in comparative study.The author has three decades of experience of work in the field of comparative theology and is ideally placed to write this book Today's increasing religious diversity makes this a pertinent and timely publication Unique in the depth of its introduction and explanation of the discipline of 'comparative theology' Provides examples of how comparative theology works in the new global context of human religiosity Draws on examples specific to Hindu-Christian studies to show how it is possible to understand more deeply the wider diversity around us. Clearly guides the reader, enabling them to engage in comparative study

Author Biography

Francis X. Clooney, S.J., is Parkman Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. His primary areas of scholarship are theological commentarial writings in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of Hindu India, and the developing field of comparative theology. He was the first president of the International Society for Hindu-Christian Studies, and, from 1998 to 2004, was coordinator for interreligious dialogue for the Jesuits of the United States. Professor Clooney is the author of numerous articles and books, including Hindu God, Christian God (2001), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother (2005), Jesuit Postmodern: Scholarship, Vocation, and Identity in the 21st Century (2006), Beyond Compare: St. Francis and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God (2008), and The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus (2008).

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. xi
Starting Points	p. 1
Religious Diversity and Comparative Theology	p. 3
Diversity around Us	p. 4
Diversity within Us	p. 6
Comparative Theology as a Response to Twenty-first-Century Religious Diversity	p. 8
Distinguishing Comparative Theology from Related Disciplines	p. 9
Comparative Theology and the Academic Study of Religions	p. 12
Comparative Theology and Interreligious Dialogue	p. 13
Comparative Theology and the Theology of Religions	p. 14
Comparative Theology Autobiographically Grounded	p. 16
On the Limits of This Book	p. 19
Looking Ahead	p. 22
In Generations Past: Some Ancestors to Today's Comparative Theology	p. 24
Comparative Theology and the Long History of Christian Interreligious Reflection	p. 24
Western Jesuit Scholars in India	p. 27
Comparative Theology as a Discipline (1699-)	p. 30
A Moderate Criticism of Missionary Scholarship and the Older Comparative Theology	p. 35
At the End of the Era	p. 37
Comparative Theology Today	p. 41
David Tracy	p. 42
Keith Ward	p. 43
Robert C. Neville	p. 45
A Note on Raimon Panikkar	p. 47
James Fredericks	p. 49
New Directions	p. 50
From Theory (Back) to Practice	p. 52
Doing Theology Comparatively	p. 55
From Theory to Practice	p. 57
The Practice of (Comparative) Religious Reading	p. 57
Intelligent Reading	p. 59
Commentary as a Religious Practice	p. 60
Interreligious Commentary	p. 63
Leaving Room for Other Readers and Their Readings	p. 66
Necessarily Elite Choices	p. 67
Getting Particular: A Christian Studies Hinduism	p. 69
The Importance of Focus	p. 69
(Self)Identifying This Particular Comparative Theologian	p. 70
Making a Map, Marking the Field: Hinduism in Brief	p. 70
Getting Particular: Mimamsa, Vedanta, and Srivaisnavism	p. 74
Appreciating Similarities	p. 75
Theistic Hinduism as a Useful and Comfortable Focus	p. 77
Theology as a Hindu Discipline	p. 78
Comparative Theology in Hinduism and Other Traditions	p. 80
My Comparative Theology, Indebted to Hindu Theologies	p. 83
"Learning to See": Comparative Practice and the Widening of Theological Vision	p. 87
Plenary Address at the Catholic Theology Society of America, 2003	p. 88
Near a Goddess	p. 88
Devi's Beauty, Devi's Pleasure	p. 90
Rediscovering Mary	p. 93
Mary and Her Son Jesus, through Muslim Eyes	p. 96
Sojourner Truth's Liberating God	p. 99
All in Christ, but Still All	p. 103
Vocation	p. 105
After "Learning to See"	p. 106
The Fruits of Comparison	p. 109
Theology After Comparison	p. 111
Comparative Theology and the Larger Work of Theology	p. 111
The Multiple Responsibilities of the Comparative Theologian	p. 113
Some Theological Presuppositions Implicit in Comparative Theology	p. 114
Comparative Theological Learning, in Particular	p. 117
The Imago Dei and Our Destiny in Bliss	p. 118
What "Narayana" Might Mean for the Christian	p. 121
Encountering Goddesses	p. 123
Comparative Theology and the Intensification of Devotion	p. 125
Theology on a Smaller Scale	p. 127
"God for Us"	p. 128
"God for Us": An Essay	p. 128
A Verse, a Clue	p. 129
What Hindus Thought about the Verse	p. 130
Living the Verse	p. 132
The Verse and its Wider Context	p. 133
An Aside on How to See God and on How God Wills to Be Seen	p. 135
Noticing One's First Citizenship: Reflection on Ignatian Insight and My Home Citizenship	p. 139
What Ignatius Had to Say	p. 140
Some Contemporary Views of the Intensification and Emptying of the Imagination in the Spiritual Exercises	p. 143
Multiple Religious Belonging, Human but Also Divine	p. 146
"God for Us" as Comparative Theology	p. 151
Comparative Writer, Comparative Reader	p. 154
The Comparative Theologian Transformed	p. 155
The Comparative Theologian as Marginal Person	p. 157
The Comparative Theologian's New Community	p. 160
Tasks and Opportunities for the Reader	p. 162
Beyond This Book	p. 164
Notes	p. 166
Select Bibliography	p. 172
Index	p. 177
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