Full Product Details
Author: John J. Thatamanil
Publisher: Fordham University Press
Imprint: Fordham University Press
ISBN: 9780823288526
ISBN 10: 0823288528
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 02 June 2020
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
Circling the Elephant is a compelling case for interreligious learning in our times, grounded in a convincing critique of religious traditions as impermeable historical fortresses. Theological arguments for openness to the wisdom of our neighbors' traditions are richly illustrated by stories of the creativity and transformation that flow from such deep human encounters. Thatamanil's work is a new and valuable resource for comparative theology, theologies of religious diversity, and constructive theology across traditions. -- Anantanand Rambachan, St. Olaf College
Circling the Elephant is a compelling case for interreligious learning in our times, grounded in a convincing critique of religious traditions as impermeable historical fortresses. Theological arguments for openness to the wisdom of our neighbors' traditions are richly illustrated by stories of the creativity and transformation that flow from such deep human encounters. Thatamanil's work is a new and valuable resource for comparative theology, theologies of religious diversity, and constructive theology across traditions. -- Anantanand Rambachan, St. Olaf College
Religious diversity is a positive good. Interreligious learning does happen, but mostly in public life. Religious diversity should become a critical spiritual practice within faith communities, as it would help us understand both ultimate reality and each other better. Thatamanil's volume provides important food for thought towards this end.-- Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology Insightful, skillful, and convincing, this book could serve as an anchor for a course.-- Choice Thatamanil has given us an important text that expands debates within and beyond the theology of religions and comparative theology and will become, I believe, part of the standard repertoire for students and scholars.---Paul Hedges, Journal of the American Academy of Religion Circling the Elephant is a compelling case for interreligious learning in our times, grounded in a convincing critique of religious traditions as impermeable historical fortresses. Theological arguments for openness to the wisdom of our neighbors' traditions are richly illustrated by stories of the creativity and transformation that flow from such deep human encounters. Thatamanil's work is a new and valuable resource for comparative theology, theologies of religious diversity, and constructive theology across traditions.---Anantanand Rambachan, St. Olaf College, Rooted in the expansive diversity of our actual human existence, John Thatamanil offers a new approach to the well-worn paths of theologies of religious pluralism and comparative theology. Challenging the very category of 'religion' from out of the near-infinite ways we humans orient ourselves in the world, this provocative proposal invites us to consider what it might still mean to be 'religious' when the unbounded encounter with the beauty of the particular is data for theological reflection. As complex and complicated as our moment in history, Circling the Elephant is an invitation to embrace the bewildering divine and human with a creativity that just might make us want to be better people.---Jeannine Hill Fletcher, author of The Sin of White Supremacy: Christianity, Racism and Religious Diversity in America, With rigorous research and wisdom from years of Hindu-Christian-Buddhist trialogue, Dr. Thatamanil presents a trinitarian theology of religious diversity that is expansive, provocative, and imaginative. It is deeply rewarding to witness how intra- and inter-religious dialogues occur in this creative theologian's mind simultaneously on many levels. The book pushes the envelope of the ways constructive theology can be done!---Kwok Pui-lan, Dean's Professor of Systematic Theology, Candler School of Theology, Emory University,
Author Information
John J. Thatamanil is Associate Professor of Theology and World Religions at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. He is the author of The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament; An East–West Conversation (Fortress, 2006). He teaches a wide variety of courses in the areas of comparative theology, theologies of religious diversity, Hindu-Christian dialogue, the theology of Paul Tillich, theory of religion, and process theology. He is committed to the work of comparative theology—theology that learns from and with a variety of traditions. A central question that drives his work is “How can Christian communities come to see religious diversity as a promise rather than as a problem?”
