Comparing Faithfully: Insights for Systematic Theological Reflection

Roberts, Michelle Vo

ISBN 10: 0823274667 / ISBN 13: 9780823274666

Published by Fordham University Press, 2016

About this Item

Editor(s): Roberts, Michelle Voss. Series: Comparative Theology: Thinking Across Traditions. Num Pages: 336 pages. BIC Classification: HRAC; HRLB. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 231 x 157 x 25. Weight in Grams: 567. . 2016. 1st Edition. hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780823274666

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Comparing Faithfully: Insights for Systematic Theological Reflection
• Publisher: Fordham University Press
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0823274667
• ISBN 13: 9780823274666
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Every generation of theologians must respond to its context by rearticulating the central tenets of the faith. Interreligious comparison has been integral to this process from the start of the Christian tradition and is especially salient today. The emerging field of comparative theology, in which close study of another religious tradition yields new questions and categories for theological reflection in the scholar’s home tradition, embodies the ecumenical spirit of this moment. This discipline has the potential to enrich systematic theology and, by extension, theological education, at its foundations.

The essays in Comparing Faithfully demonstrate that engagement with religious diversity need not be an afterthought in the study of Christian systematic theology; rather, it can be a way into systematic theological thinking. Each section invites students to test theological categories, to consider Christian doctrine in relation to specific comparisons, and to take up comparative study in their own contexts.

This resource for pastors and theology students reconsiders five central doctrines of the Christian faith in light of focused interreligious investigations. The dialogical format of the book builds conversation about the doctrine of God, theodicy, humanity, Christology, and soteriology. Its comparative essays span examples from Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, Jain, and Confucian traditions as well as indigenous Aztec theology, and contemporary “spiritual but not religious” thought to offer exciting new perspectives on Christian doctrine.

About the Author

Michelle Voss is Professor of Theology at Emmanuel College in the Toronto School of Theology. She is a scholar of comparative theology, with a particular focus on Christian and Hindu contexts, and has also written widely about aesthetics, gender, and embodiment. Recent works include Body Parts: A Theological Anthropology (Fortress, 2017) and The Handbook of Hindu-Christian Relations, which she edited with Chad Bauman (Routledge, 2020).