Description
Book SynopsisDrawing 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
Trade Review"This marvelous book should stand as an invitation to many. I very much hope that it is taken up.” (Harvard
Theological Review, 1 April 2012)
“In this context, Comparative Theology is a timely publication.” (Teaching Theology, 2012)
"It's a fascinating book, all the same. I warmly recommend it ." (Theology, 1 March 2011)
"Comparative Theology will be of interest to people looking for a method for interfaith dialogue that affirms the value of one's theological commitments and could serve well as a textbook for courses exploring interfaith theological discourse." (Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 1 January 2011)
"But as this volume suggests, our interreligious milieu provides a new impetus not just for learning about our neighbors' faiths but learning from them. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., is a most trustworthy guide." (The National Catholic Weekly, September 2010)
"Clooney's book thus provides an extremely needful, as well as accessible, contribution to the furthering of this developing discipline, and as such it is a very valuable piece of scholarship." (American Theological Inquiry, July 2010)
Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments xi
Part I Starting Points 1
1 Religious Diversity and Comparative Theology 3
Diversity around Us 4
Diversity within Us 6
Comparative Theology as a Response to Twenty-first-Century Religious Diversity 8
Distinguishing Comparative Theology from Related Disciplines 9
Comparative Theology and the Academic Study of Religions 12
Comparative Theology and Interreligious Dialogue 13
Comparative Theology and the Theology of Religions 14
Comparative Theology Autobiographically Grounded 16
On the Limits of This Book 19
Looking Ahead 22
2 In Generations Past: Some Ancestors to Today's Comparative Theology 24
Comparative Theology and the Long History
of Christian Interreligious Reflection 24
Western Jesuit Scholars in India 27
Comparative Theology as a Discipline (1699– ) 30
A Moderate Criticism of Missionary Scholarship and the Older Comparative Theology 35
At the End of the Era 37
3 Comparative Theology Today 41
David Tracy 42
Keith Ward 43
Robert C. Neville 45
A Note on Raimon Panikkar 47
James Fredericks 49
New Directions 50
From Theory (Back) to Practice 52
Part II Doing Theology Comparatively 55
4 From Theory to Practice 57
The Practice of (Comparative) Religious Reading 57
Intelligent Reading 59
Commentary as a Religious Practice 60
Interreligious Commentary 63
Leaving Room for Other Readers and Their Readings 66
Necessarily Elite Choices 67
5 Getting Particular: A Christian Studies Hinduism 69
The Importance of Focus 69
(Self)Identifying This Particular Comparative Theologian 70
Making a Map, Marking the Field: Hinduism in Brief 70
Getting Particular: Mimamsa, Vedanta, and Srivaisnavism 74
Appreciating Similarities 75
Theistic Hinduism as a Useful and Comfortable Focus 77
Theology as a Hindu Discipline 78
Comparative Theology in Hinduism and Other Traditions 80
My Comparative Theology, Indebted to Hindu Theologies 83
6 "Learning to See": Comparative Practice and the Widening of Theological Vision 87
Plenary Address at the Catholic Theology Society of America, 2003 88
Near a Goddess 88
Devi's Beauty, Devi's Pleasure 90
Rediscovering Mary 93
Mary and Her Son Jesus, through Muslim Eyes 96
Sojourner Truth's Liberating God 99
All in Christ, but Still All 103
Vocation 105
After "Learning to See" 106
Part III The Fruits of Comparison 109
7 Theology After Comparison 111
Comparative Theology and the Larger Work of Theology 111
The Multiple Responsibilities of the Comparative Theologian 113
Some Theological Presuppositions Implicit in Comparative Theology 114
Comparative Theological Learning, in Particular 117
The Imago Dei and Our Destiny in Bliss 118
What "Narayana" Might Mean for the Christian 121
Encountering Goddesses 123
Comparative Theology and the Intensification of Devotion 125
Theology on a Smaller Scale 127
8 "God for Us" 128
"God for Us": An Essay 128
A Verse, a Clue 129
What Hindus Thought about the Verse 130
Living the Verse 132
The Verse and Its Wider Context 133
An Aside on How to See God and on How God Wills to Be Seen 135
Noticing One's First Citizenship: Reflection on Ignatian Insight and My Home Citizenship 139
What Ignatius Had to Say 140
Some Contemporary Views of the Intensification and Emptying of the Imagination in the Spiritual Exercises 143
Multiple Religious Belonging, Human but Also Divine 146
"God for Us" as Comparative Theology 151
9 Comparative Writer, Comparative Reader 154
The Comparative Theologian Transformed 155
The Comparative Theologian as Marginal Person 157
The Comparative Theologian's New Community 160
Tasks and Opportunities for the Reader 162
Beyond This Book 164
Notes 166
Select Bibliography 172
Index 177
