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MINNEAPOLIS – In The Immanent Divine, John J. Thatamanil provides an East-West conversation about what ails us humans. While traditional Christian thought and spirituality have always affirmed the divine presence in human life, Thatamanil argues we have much to learn from non-dualistic Hindu thought, especially that of the eighth-century thinker Sankara, and from the Christian panentheism of Paul Tillich. Thatamanil compares their diagnoses and prognoses of the human predicament in light of their doctrine of God or Ultimate Reality. What emerges is a new theology of God and human beings, with a richer and more radical conception of divine immanence, a reconceived divine transcendence, and a keener sense of how the dynamic and active Spirit at work in us anchors real hope and deep joy. Using key insights from Christian and Hindu thought Thatamanil vindicates comparative theology, expands the vocabulary about the ineffable God, and arrives at a new construal of the problems and prospects of the human condition "The Immanent Divine vividly demonstrates how comparative theology is a quickly maturing discipline, able to engage fundamental and wide-reaching human and religious issues. In this elegant exploration of the human predicament and theology's contribution to human healing, John J., Thatamanil draws us into an interreligious conversation with two great theologians, Paul Tillich and Sankara, on how they diagnose what ails us and how fresh thinking about Ultimate Reality can be our healing. – Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School, author of Hindu God, Christian God. "This is a faithful and engaging inquiry into the theological assumptions of two seminal theologians, Sankara and Paul Tillich, illumining the questions and concerns that are central to all non-dualistic worldviews. . . . [Thatamanil] creatively shows how the theologies of Sankara and Tillich are enriched by being brought into dialogue with each other and with emerging non-dual perspectives. His detailed and thoughtful analysis is a significant and exciting contribution to non-dual comparative theology and to Hindu-Christian dialogue." – Anantanand Rambachan, Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College, author of The Advaita Worldview. "In this splendid contribution to the emergent field of comparative theology, an ecstatic Christian ontology encounters an apophatic Asian anthropology. Both transitions undergo a surprising metamorphosis, as Thatamanil becomes midwife to a dynamic nondualism that will prove illumining not only for religious pluralist and philosophical theologians, but for students of mysticism and philosophy, process and postcolonial theology, deconstruction and dogmatics. Here is a rigorous and generous new voice for transdisciplinary theology." – Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University, author of Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming. John J. Thatamanil is Assistant Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville. His work centers on comparative theology and interreligious dialogue, and he is past President of the North American Paul Tillich Society. The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Human Predicament, By John J. Thatamanil, Format: 6" x 9," paperback, 256 pages, ISBN: 0-8006-3793-3, Price: $25.00, Publisher: Fortress Press, Rights: World. To order The Immanent Divine please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.fortresspress.com/. |
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