Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions
Francis X. Clooney
Abstract
Hindu God, Christian God, an exercise in comparative theology, proposes that theology today is an interreligious discipline and illustrates this with reference to Christianity and Hinduism. Thinkers in many religious traditions share similar theological questions and problems in their quest to understand their faith, and so too use comparable methods for seeking right answers. However, much traditions emphasize their uniqueness and the necessity of faith, their thinkers usually teach, and often such teachings are recorded and become available as books that can be read and under ... More
Hindu God, Christian God, an exercise in comparative theology, proposes that theology today is an interreligious discipline and illustrates this with reference to Christianity and Hinduism. Thinkers in many religious traditions share similar theological questions and problems in their quest to understand their faith, and so too use comparable methods for seeking right answers. However, much traditions emphasize their uniqueness and the necessity of faith, their thinkers usually teach, and often such teachings are recorded and become available as books that can be read and understood, and even translated. Religions are partially intelligible to outsiders; reasoning inquirers, in beginning to understand various beliefs and practices, cross even the most firmly fixed religious boundaries. In the process, they learn from the new tradition and also see their own tradition anew, by a comparative reading process. The best theology is therefore not only interreligious but also comparative, well versed in how different traditions have dealt with the same concerns.
Keywords:
Sripati Pandita Acarya,
apologetics,
Hans Urs von Balthasar,
Karl Barth,
Kumarila Bhatta,
Christianity,
comparative,
Vedanta Desika,
dialogical,
divine embodiment,
existence of God,
God's nature,
Hinduism,
incarnation,
interreligious,
Roberto de Nobili,
Nrsimhasramin,
Karl Rahner,
Ramanuja,
reading,
religious truth,
revelation,
Saivism,
Sankara,
Sudarsana Suri,
Richard Swinburne,
theology,
true religion,
Vaisnavism
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2001 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780195138542 |
| Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: November 2003 |
DOI:10.1093/0195138546.001.0001 |