Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
1 A Preliminary Orientation 1
Religious Pluralism 1
Interreligious Theology 8
Part 1 Religious Pluralism
2 Pluralist Awakenings in Christianity 17
The Emergence of the Pluralist Option 17
Doctrinal Presuppositions 21
Saving Faith 22
The Concept of God and Divine Revelation 24
Jesus Christ 26
Prospects and Developments 28
3 Judaism and the Many Covenants 32
A Prelude to Jewish Pluralism 32
The Traditional Background 34
Toward a Theology of Multiple Covenants 36
"No Religion Is an Island" 39
4 Submission to a Divinely Willed Diversity: Islamic Pluralism 42
The Meaning of islam 43
Diversity and Universality 45
The Impact of Islamic Mysticism 48
5 Is Hinduism a Pluralist Religion? 54
Vivekananda's Presentation of Hinduism 54
Some Retrospective Observations 58
Pro-Pluralist Tendencies in Hindu History 58
Anti-Pluralist Tendencies in Hindu History 61
Hindu Approaches to Islam and Christianity 63
Hinduisms and Pluralism Today 65
The Legal Battle between the Ramakrishna Mission and the State of West Bengal 65
On the Position of the Hindutva Movement 66
Toward an Alternative Pluralism 68
6 The Difficult Road to Pluralism in Buddhism 71
Of Blind Men, Elephants, and Rafts 71
Theravada Buddhism and Religious Pluralism 74
Doctrinal Obstacles 74
Two Possible Starting Points 77
Pluralist Approaches in Mahayana Buddhism 82
Traditional Mahayana Approaches to Religious Diversity 82
Pluralist Moves 85
7 Pluralist Inclinations in Chinese Religions 90
Unity and Diversity of Religions in China 90
Daoist and Confucian Attitudes toward Religious Diversity 94
Regulated Pluralism and Multiple Participation 97
Contemporary Discourses 100
Part 2 Interreligious Theology
8 From Religious Pluralism to Interreligious Theology 109
Pluralisms across Religious Traditions 109
Religious Pluralism and the Vision of a Global Theology 114
Religious Pluralism versus Religious Diversity? 119
Religious Pluralism and the Need for an Ongoing Dialogue 124
An Interim Conclusion 128
9 Interreligious Theology: Principles and Methodology 130
Four Key Principles of Interreligious Theology 130
A Theological Credit of Trust 130
The Unity of Reality 133
Tied to Interreligious Discourse 136
An Open Process 138
Methodological Issues 139
Perspectival: Facing the Confessional Dimension 140
Imaginative: Seeing through the Eyes of the Other 141
Comparative: Seeking Reciprocal Illumination 143
Constructive: Mutual Transformation 144
10 The Prophet and the Son 147
The Son 148
The Critique of "the Son" 148
Understanding "the Son" 151
Toward a Synthesis 154
The Prophet 158
Understanding "the Prophet" 158
The Critique of "the Prophet" 159
Toward a Synthesis 160
11 The Son and the Buddha 164
Between Demonization and Sanctification 164
Christian Perspectives 164
Buddhist Perspectives 167
Acknowledging the Buddha 171
An Atheist Philosopher? 171
A Mind from Beyond 173
Acknowledging the Son 178
Conclusion 182
12 The Buddha and the Prophet 185
Historical Perspectives 185
Early Muslim Views 185
Early Buddhist Views 190
Dialogical Perspectives 193
Tracking Down the Problem 193
Acknowledging the Buddha 196
Acknowledging the Prophet 199
13 Toward an Interreligious Theology of Creation 204
The Buddhist Critique of a Divine Creator 207
Some Important Modifications 211
A Synthesizing View 217
14 A Fractal Interpretation of Religious Diversity 222
The Theory of Fractals 223
Observations from Intercultural Philosophy 225
Observations from Comparative Religion 227
Interreligious Theology and the Fractal Interpretation of Religious Diversity 232
The Basic Idea 233
Hints at a Fractal Approach in Current Interreligious Theology 237
The Fruitfulness of the Theory 243
References 247
Index 279
