Description
Book SynopsisExploring a new approach to interfaith/interreligious communication, the contributors to this collection seek to interact from the perspective of their own tradition or academic discipline with Ernest Becker's theory on the relationship between religion, culture and the human awareness of death and mortality. While much interfaith/interreligious dialogue focuses on beliefs and practices, thus delineating areas of disagreement as a starting point, these chapters foster interactive communication rooted in areas of the universal human experience. Thus by demonstration these authors argue for the integrity and efficacy of this approach for pursuing intercultural and interdisciplinary communication.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
Daniel Liechty
Chapter One:
God is Sometimes Great! The Glory and Shame of Religion
Sheldon Solomon and Spee Kosloff
Chapter Two:
The Nature of Consciousness:
A Nondual (Advaita) Dialogue with Ernest Becker
Anantanand Rambachan
Chapter Three:
Religion as Umbrella, Religion as Path:
A Buddhist Perspective on Death Denial and Life Transformation
David R. Loy
Chapter Four:
L’Dor v’Dor: The Intergenerational Style of Hebraic ‘Immortality’
Paul Cantz
Chapter Five:
Heroism, Sacrifice, and Jewish Identity:
Exploring Rabbinic Readings of the Esther Story
Jonathan Cohen
Chapter Six:
Naming Our Incompleteness:
A Christian Encounter with Ideas of Ernest Becker
Daniel Liechty
Chapter Seven:
Death, Self, and Political Survival in Islam and Islamicate Contexts
Anas Malik
Chapter Eight:
The Sacred Cosmos: Transcendence Without Absolutism
Merlyn E. Mowrey
