Buddhist Christianity

by Thompson, Ross

• ISBN13: 9781846943362
• ISBN10: 1846943361
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-08-16
• Publisher: Christian Alternative

Summary

It is possible to be a Christian Buddhist in the context of a universal belief that sits fairly lightly on both traditions. Ross Thompson takes especially seriously the aspects of each faith that seem incompatible with the other, no God and no soul in Buddhism, for example, and the need for grace and the historical atonement on the cross in Christianity. Buddhist Christianity can be no bland blend of the tamer aspects of both faiths, but must result from a wrestling of the seeming incompatibles, allowing each faith to shake the other to its very foundations. The author traces his personal journey through which his need for both faiths became painfully apparent. He explores the Buddha and Jesus through their teachings and the varied communities that flow from them, investigating their different understandings of suffering and wrong, self and liberation, meditation and prayer, cosmology and God or not? He concludes with a bold commitment to both faiths.

Table of Contents

All You Need to Know	p. 1
Autobiographical Prelude: The Twice-Shattered Pot	p. 3
Introduction: Ways of Being a Buddhist Christian	p. 20
Dharma Embodied? The Buddha and the Christ	p. 40
Was Jesus a Buddhist? The Teachers and Their Teachings	p. 59
Everything on Fire: Suffering, Sin and Their Causes	p. 77
Webs of Desire: The Politics of the Self	p. 95
Faith for Fools: Liberation and Atonement	p. 129
Butter Sculptures: The Arts of Transformation	p. 157
The Hollow Flute: Life, Time, the Universe and Everything	p. 193
Grasping the Nettle: God - or Emptiness?	p. 231
A Buddhist Way to Follow Christ?	p. 271
Bibliography	p. 288
Index	p. 302
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.