Tastes of the divine : Hindu and Christian theologies of emotion / Michelle Voss Roberts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Voss Roberts, Michelle, author.

Series:

Comparative theology--thinking across traditions.

Comparative Theology: Thinking Across Traditions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Christianity and other religions--Hinduism.

Christianity and other religions.

Hinduism--Relations--Christianity.

Hinduism.

Emotions--Religious aspects.

Emotions.

Rasas.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (296 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Fordham University Press, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The intensity and meaningfulness of aesthetic experience have often been described in theological terms. By designating basic human emotions as rasa, a word that connotes taste, flavor, or essence, Indian aesthetic theory conceptualizes emotional states as something to be savored. At their core, emotions can be tastes of the divine. In this book, the methods of the emerging discipline of comparative theology enable the author’s appreciation of Hindu texts and practices to illuminate her Christian reflections on aesthetics and emotion. Three emotions vie for prominence in the religious sphere: peace, love, and fury. Whereas Indian theorists following Abhinavagupta claim that the aesthetic emotion of peace best approximates the goal of religious experience, devotees of Krishna and medieval Christian readings of the Song of Songs argue that love communicates most powerfully with divinity. In response to the transcendence emphasized in both approaches, the book turns to fury at injustice to attend to emotion’s foundations in the material realm. The implications of this constructive theology of emotion for Christian liturgy, pastoral care, and social engagement are manifold.

Contents:

Front matter

CONTENTS

ABBREVIATIONS

SANSKRIT PRONUNCIATION GUIDE

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Introduction: RASA

1. The Bliss of Peace

2. Suffering and Peace

3. The Rasa of Love Incarnate

4. A Dilemma of Feeling

5. Love, Bodies, and Others

6. Dalit Arts and the Failure of Aesthetics

7. Fury as a Religious Sentiment

8. Toward a Holistic Theology of the Emotions

9. Wonder

NOTES

Glossary of Sanskrit Terms

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780823257416

082325741X

9780823257393

0823257398

9780823257423

0823257428

9780823261536

0823261530

9780823257409

0823257401

OCLC:

878144395