John Hick's Religious Pluralism in Global Perspective

2023-01-01
 |  Philosophy
John Hick's Religious Pluralism in Global Perspective

Author: Sharada Sugirtharajah

Publisher: Springer Nature

ISBN: 9783031110085

Category: Philosophy

Page: 345

View: 635

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This volume contains fresh scholarly contributions to mark the birth centenary of John Hick, the internationally well-known philosopher of religion, whose works continue to have significant global relevance in today’s religiously diverse and conflict-ridden world. His writings have reset the parameters of religious pluralism. Up till now, Hick’s religious pluralism has been mainly seen in relation to the Western context where Christianity is the predominant religion. This volume includes both Western and non-Western engagement with his thinking in contexts such as Japan, China, Korea, Nigeria, and India, where Christianity is a minority religion with little political power. Its distinctiveness lies in widening the debate on religious pluralism by bringing Hick’s pluralistic hypothesis into a constructive cross-cultural and interreligious conversation with scholars of Hinduism, Jainism, Daoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and African traditional religions. In doing so, this collection examines how Hick’s philosophy of religious pluralism has been received, appropriated and appraised by these scholars. It has been appreciated and critiqued in equal measure, and continues to impact on current thinking on religious pluralism. This volume makes a significant contribution to the debate initiated by Hick.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedanta

2020-05-28
 |  Philosophy
The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedanta

Author: Ayon Maharaj

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN: 9781350063259

Category: Philosophy

Page: 492

View: 268

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This handbook brings together a distinguished team of scholars from philosophy, theology, and religious studies to provide the first in-depth discussion of Vedanta and the many different systems of thought that make up this tradition of Indian philosophy. Emphasizing the historical development of Vedantic thought, it includes chapters on numerous classical Vedantic philosophies as well as the modern Vedantic views of Sri Ramakrishna, Sri Aurobindo, and Romain Rolland. The volume offers careful hermeneutic analyses of how Vedantic texts have been interpreted, and it addresses key issues and debates in Vedanta, including religious diversity, the nature of God, and the possibility of embodied liberation. Venturing into cross-philosophical and cross-cultural territory, it also brings Vedanta into dialogue with Saiva Nondualism as well as contemporary Western analytic philosophy. Highlighting current scholarly controversies and charting new paths of inquiry, this is an indispensable research guide for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of Vedanta and Indian philosophy.

Historical Dictionary of Hinduism

2020-04-15
 |  Religion
Historical Dictionary of Hinduism

Author: Jeffery D. Long

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

ISBN: 9781538122945

Category: Religion

Page: 504

View: 318

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Hinduism is the world’s third largest and most ancient religion. The scope of this book ranges from the ancient history of Hinduism to the contemporary issues that Hindus face today. It explores the Hindu history, society, philosophy, theology, and culture. In addition to Hinduism, this book also touches upon religious traditions with which Hindus have had extensive interaction, such as Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, and Zoroastrianism. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Hinduism contains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on deities, historical figures, festivals, philosophical terms, ritual implements, and much more. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Hinduism.

Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion

2022-12-20
 |  Philosophy, Indic
Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion

Author: Pankaj Jain

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

ISBN: 9781793623164

Category: Philosophy, Indic

Page: 163

View: 544

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Philosophical concepts are influential in the theories and methods to study the world religions. Even though the disciplines of anthropology and religious studies now encompass communities and cultures across the world, the theories and methods used to study world religions and cultures continue to be rooted in Western philosophies. For instance, one of the most widely used textbooks used in introductory courses on religious studies, introduces major theoreticians such as Edward Burnett Tylor, James Frazer, Sigmund Freud, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Mircea Eliade, William James, E. E. Evans-Pritchard, and Clifford Geertz. Their theories are based on Western philosophy. In contrast, in Indic philosophical systems, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism, one of the common views on reality is that the world both within one self and outside is a flow with nothing permanent, both the observer and the observed undergoing constant transformation. This volume is based on such innovative ideas coming from different Indic philosophies and how they can enrich the theory and methods in religious studies.

Theology Without Walls

2019-10-01
 |  Religion
Theology Without Walls

Author: Jerry L. Martin

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9780429671548

Category: Religion

Page: 268

View: 364

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Thinking about ultimate reality is becoming increasingly transreligious. This transreligious turn follows inevitably from the discovery of divine truths in multiple traditions. Global communications bring the full range of religious ideas and practices to anyone with access to the internet. Moreover, the growth of the "nones" and those who describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" creates a pressing need for theological thinking not bound by prescribed doctrines and fixed rituals. This book responds to this vital need. The chapters in this volume each examine the claim that if the aim of theology is to know and articulate all we can about the divine reality, and if revelations, enlightenments, and insights into that reality are not limited to a single tradition, then what is called for is a theology without confessional restrictions. In other words, a Theology Without Walls. To ground the project in examples, the volume provides emerging models of transreligious inquiry. It also includes sympathetic critics who raise valid concerns that such a theology must face. This is a book that will be of urgent interest to theologians, religious studies scholars, and philosophers of religion. It will be especially suitable for those interested in comparative theology, inter-religious and interfaith understanding, new trends in constructive theology, normative religious studies, and global philosophy of religion.

Hindu Perspectives on Evolution

2012-01-19
 |  Religion
Hindu Perspectives on Evolution

Author: C. Mackenzie Brown

Publisher: Routledge

ISBN: 9781136484674

Category: Religion

Page: 276

View: 688

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Providing new insights into the contemporary creationist-evolution debates, this book looks at the Hindu cultural-religious traditions of India, the Hindu Dharma traditions. By focusing on the interaction of religion and science in a Hindu context, it offers a global context for understanding contemporary creationist-evolution conflicts and tensions utilizing a critical analysis of Hindu perspectives on these issues. The cultural and political as well as theological nature of these conflicts is illustrated by drawing attention to parallels with contemporary Islamic and Buddhist responses to modern science and Darwinism. The book explores various ancient and classical Hindu models to explain the origin of the universe encompassing creationist as well as evolutionary—but non-Darwinian—interpretations of how we came to be. Complex schemes of cosmic evolution were developed, alongside creationist proofs for the existence of God utilizing distinctly Hindu versions of the design argument. After examining diverse elements of the Hindu Dharmic traditions that laid the groundwork for an ambivalent response to Darwinism when it first became known in India, the book highlights the significance of the colonial context. Analysing critically the question of compatibility between traditional Dharmic theories of knowledge and the epistemological assumptions underlying contemporary scientific methodology, the book raises broad questions regarding the frequently alleged harmony of Hinduism, the eternal Dharma, with modern science, and with Darwinian evolution in particular.

Evolution and Religious Creation Myths : How Scientists Respond

2007-06-08
 |  Education
Evolution and Religious Creation Myths : How Scientists Respond

Author: Paul F. Lurquin School of Molecular Biosciences Washington State University

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

ISBN: 9780199717965

Category: Education

Page: 240

View: 335

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Polls show that 45% of the American public believes that humans were created about 10,000 years ago and that evolution is non existent. Another 25% believes that changes in the natural world are directed by a supernatural being with a particular goal in mind. This thinking clashes frontally with scientific findings obtained in the past 150 years. A large portion of the general public espouses the views of creationists and their descendants, and ignores or is unaware of scientific advances. Critical thinking about the natural world within a scientific framework is lacking in the USA and many parts of the world. This manuscript provides a multidisciplinary explanation and defense for the science of evolution (not just Darwinism) as it is being challenged by arguments for "intelligent design" and other creation myths. It draws in the life, physical, and social sciences, and recent studies of human evolution that rely much on the idea of change over time, which is evolution writ large. It puts the evolution/ID issue into international perspective by including opinions held in world religions other than Christianity. It is clearly written and also can easily be used as a guide for those with some science background. The authors make a convincing case that other books do not achieve this as much as they do in this work. The book is written for a whole spectrum of educated people including teachers and teachers in training who are interested in the broad issues of the origins of the universe, life, and humans, and who may not quite grasp the potential magnitude of the negative influence on all of science education of people embracing creationist and ID thinking. This includes high school teachers and people on boards of education and in municipal governments--anyone involved in education. It could be used also in college courses such as "contemporary social issues" and "Science and Society" -- sometimes team taught by sociologists and scientists. The authors show that when they are teleological, dogmatic, or politically inspired, religious and creation myths threaten scientific efforts. The book does not require any extensive knowledge of science. The principle of change over time pervades all of science, from cosmology, to the search for the origin for life, to human physical and cultural evolution. The book educates readers on scientific matters that overwhelmingly support the idea of evolution, not only in the living world, but also in physical and social science. It explains too how evolution -- physical and biological -- is a random, unguided process whose roots can be already found in quantum physics.

Reincarnation and the Law of Karma

2014-01-26
 | 
Reincarnation and the Law of Karma

Author: William Atkinson

Publisher: Advanced Thought Publishing

ISBN: 0981318886

Category:

Page: 120

View: 582

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Reincarnation is the religious or philosophical concept that the soul or spirit, after biological death, begins life in a new body that may be human, animal or spiritual depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions. This doctrine is a central tenet of several religions including Buddhism and Hinduism. It is also a common belief of various ancient and modern religions such as Spiritism, Theosophy, and Eckankar and is found in many tribal societies around the world. In this classic work on reincarnation by William Walker Atkinson, the author explores the subject from a diverse range of perspectives that are as relevant today as when they were written: THE EARLY RACES. What is Reincarnation?--Transmigration of Souls--The Something That Persists After Death--The Soul Not a Fresh Creation, but a Traveler on a Long Journey. THE EGYPTIANS, CHALDEANS, DRUIDS, ETC.. The Egyptian Idea of the Soul--Forty Centuries of Occult History--The Inner Teachings of Egypt--The Ancient Chinese Teachings and Doctrine--The Ancient Druids and Their Teachings. THE ROMANS AND GREEKS The Reasons of Rome's Backwardness in Spiritual Knowledge--Why the Greeks were Advanced--Pythagoras; Orpheus; Plato--The Various Grecian Teachings Regarding the Soul and Its Future Life--Plato's Wonderful Teachings and Philosophy. THE JEWS, ESSENES, AND EARLY CHRISTIANS The Inner Teachings of the Jewish Priests--The Jewish Rabbins and Their Secret Doctrines--The Kaballah, the Zahar, Nichema; Ronach; and Nephesh--A Mysterious Brotherhood--The Christian Inner Doctrine--The Mysteries of Jesus. THE HINDUS India the Mother of Reincarnation, Past and Present--The Aryan Teachings--The History of the Belief Among the Hindus--Fundamental Hindu Philosophy. THE MODERN WEST Reincarnation in the Modern Western World--The Revival of Interest and Its Cause--Theosophical Society--Madame Blavatsky--The Western School of Yogi Philosophy: Its Fundamental Teachings--The Spiritists, and Their Doctrine--The Teachings of the "Elect Few" in Their Secret Societies--Is Earth a Hell?--Christian Reincarnationists and Their Beliefs. BETWEEN AND BEYOND INCARNATIONS How Long Between Incarnations?--Necessity for Mental and Spiritual Digestion and Assimilation--The Advanced Teachings--Earth-bound Souls--Advanced Souls and Their Rest Period--Where Does the Soul Dwell Between Incarnations?--What Happens at Death--The Great Astral World and Its Planes and Sub-planes--Where the Soul Goes After Death and What It Does There--Rebirth and Its Laws--What is the Final State of the Soul?--The Message of the Illumined. THE JUSTICE OF REINCARNATION The Contrasting Theories of the Soul and Its Future Life--Doctrine of Reincarnation the Only Philosophical Theory that Reconciles Facts with Theory--The Law of Karma Automatic and Enforces Itself--Every One Their Own Judge and the Executor of Their Own Destiny THE ARGUMENT FOR REINCARNATION Natural Laws Universal--If the Soul is Immortal, it Must Have Always Been So--A Mortal Thing Cannot be Made Immortal Any More Than Nothing Can be Made Something--Future Life Implies Past Life--Varient Experiences Necessary for the Soul's Education--Advancement Necessary to Enjoyment of the Soul's Higher States of Being THE PROOFS OF REINCARNATION Actual Proofs of Personal Conscious Experience Demanded by Science--Such Proofs Possible and Have Occurred to Many of the Race--The Remembrance of the Details of Past Existence Common to the Race--Interesting Cases Given on Good Authority--Messages from the Past. ARGUMENTS AGAINST REINCARNATION Why Reincarnation is Opposed by Some--The Answers to the Objections--The Proof of the Existence of the Soul--Is Reincarnation Un-Christian and Derived from Pagan and Heathen Sources? THE LAW OF KARMA What Karma Means--Does Karma Punish or is it but the Workings of a Natural Law?--The Various Kinds of Karma--The Advanced Mystical Doctrine--The End is Absolute Good--There is No Devil but Fear and Unfaith.

Karma and Rebirth

1986-05-31
 |  Religion
Karma and Rebirth

Author: Ronald W. Neufeldt

Publisher: State University of New York Press

ISBN: 9781438414454

Category: Religion

Page: 380

View: 235

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Karma and Rebirth: Post Classical Developments explains the religious concepts most central to Asian philosophy, religion, and society, presenting articles representative of contemporary understanding and practice. The contributors look not only at the understanding of karma and rebirth in modern India, but also in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, Tibet, China, Japan, and the Western world. This broad treatment underscores the fact that karma and rebirth have become part of the religious history and cultural fabric of the Western world. The collection is divided into three sections. Part I deals with figures and movements of the Hindu renaissance in India in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Part II on Buddhism deals with Indian, Chinese, Tibetan, and Japanese treatments of karma. Part III is devoted to the influence of karma and rebirth in the Western world through theosophy, new religious movements, and recent developments in psychology.