God or the divine? : religious transcendence beyond monism and theism, between personality and impersonality / edited by Bernhard Nitsche and Marcus Schmucker.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Schmücker, Marcus, editor.

Nitsche, Bernhard, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Transcendence of God.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (528 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; Boston : Walter de Gruyter, [2023]

Summary:

Is there a language of transcendence which does not fall under the well-worn categories of monism, theism, pantheism, biblical or pagan monotheism, personal or tripersonal God, or an impersonal absolute, conceived as immanent and/or transcendent? The present set of studies from different fields of research centers on the question whether it is possible to speak at all of transcendence or a divinity, and if it is, under what limitations does such speech proceed. In current discussion in theology and in philosophy of religion, there is a pervasive awareness that the inherited terms and alternatives, developed in the western tradition, no longer facilitate an adequate understanding of the divine. Increasing familiarity with the languages of ‘immanence’ and ‘transcendence’ (under erasure) in Hindu and Buddhist thought has further jumbled our coordinates, while holding out the promise of a more subtle and vital engagement with the matter itself of religious inquiry. A further long-established distinction, between ‘personal’ and ‘impersonal,’ also takes on rich new hues in Asian contexts, where the very notion of ‘person’ may undergo unsettling critiques. Transgressing the categories of ‘personal’ and ‘impersonal’ points to the mystical depth of religious traditions, emphasizes their openness and reintegrates essential elements of both perspectives. Advancing with curiosity and caution, all the contributors take seriously the diversity of historical religious traditions, while nevertheless searching for a fresh language that may connect these traditions and provide a common ground of understanding.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

Dimensions of Human Existence as Dimensions of the Hermeneutics of Transcendence

God or the Divine?

Transcendence in Difference to Creation: A Christian Essential as a Problem of Modern Philosophical Theorizing

I Buddhism

The “Entangled” Presence of the Unconditioned: A Buddhist Vision of “Transimmanence”

Effort and Grace in Relationship with the Transcendent in Buddhism

Nirvāṇa as “Unconditioned” (asaṃskṛta) and “Transcendent” (lokottara) Reality

Considerations on the Inappropriateness of the “Transcendence” Paradigm to the Hermeneutics of Buddhist Scriptures

The World Transcendent. A Madhyamaka Interpretation

Is All-Unity a Possibility in Mahāyāna Thought? Some Musings Centering on Huayan Expositions of the Net of Indra

Unity of Consciousness in Buddhism

Dependent Arising (pratītyasamutpāda) and the Problem of Continuity: Does the Concept Lead to an Idea of All-Unity?

Jinen as Transcendent Reality in Shinran

The Status of Amida Buddha as a Person: Henri de Lubac’s Encounter with Pure Land Buddhism

The Tetralemma, the Two Truths, Skilful Means, and Divine Personality

II Hinduism

Potters, Human and Divine: Manifesting Śaṅkara’s Īśvara through Pedagogy, Playdough, and Personhood

Ontological Interpretation of Śaṅkara and the Question of Non-Dualism

The World and the (Non)Transcendent: A Reflection on Some Abundant and Elusive Possibilities from the Brahminical Traditions

The Supreme Being: A Person?

Gnoseological Interpretation of Śaṅkara: A Proposal for the Relationality of Saguṇa and Nirguṇa Brahman

Śiva’s Claim to Identity: Can Personalism in a Theistic Tradition of a Strict Identity Survive?

The Bhedâbheda (Difference and Non-difference) of Nimbārka

Madhva’s Concept of Divine Personality and Personalism

“The Deepest Insoluble Embarrassment of Abstract Monism”: Śaṅkara and Schelling on the Origin of the Finite World of Appearance

Theology in Poetry: Divinity, Humanity, and the Natural World in Veṅkaṭanātha’s Haṃsasandeśa

Aesthetic Experience as a Mediator Between Personal and Impersonal Transcendence

How Can Christian Theology and Hinduist Theology have Resonance?

Blurry Vision as Transcendence: Lessons from Non-dual Śaivism

The Divine Gift according to Rāmānuja, Sudarśanasūri and Veṅkaṭanātha

Contributors

Index

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

3-11-069834-X