God or the Divine?: Religious Transcendence beyond Monism and Theism, between Personality and Impersonality

Published by De Gruyter 2023

God or the Divine?

Religious Transcendence beyond Monism and Theism, between Personality and Impersonality

Edited by: Bernhard Nitsche and Marcus Schmücker

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110698343

Overview
Contents

About this book

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.

Author / Editor information

Bernhard Nitsche, University of Münster, Germany and Marcus Schmücker, Austrian Academy of Science, Vienna, Austria.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	III
Table of Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction Bernhard Nitsche Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Dimensions of Human Existence as Dimensions of the Hermeneutics of Transcendence Bernhard Nitsche Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
God or the Divine? Bernhard Nitsche Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Transcendence in Difference to Creation: A Christian Essential as a Problem of Modern Philosophical Theorizing Florian Baab Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
I Buddhism
The “Entangled” Presence of the Unconditioned: A Buddhist Vision of “Transimmanence” Robert M. Gimello Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
Effort and Grace in Relationship with the Transcendent in Buddhism Noel Sheth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	81
Nirvāṇa as “Unconditioned” (asaṃskṛta) and “Transcendent” (lokottara) Reality Perry Schmidt-Leukel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	87
Considerations on the Inappropriateness of the “Transcendence” Paradigm to the Hermeneutics of Buddhist Scriptures Hermann-Josef Röllicke Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
The World Transcendent. A Madhyamaka Interpretation Anne MacDonald Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
Is All-Unity a Possibility in Mahāyāna Thought? Some Musings Centering on Huayan Expositions of the Net of Indra Jörg Plassen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
Unity of Consciousness in Buddhism Michael von Brück Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Dependent Arising (pratītyasamutpāda) and the Problem of Continuity: Does the Concept Lead to an Idea of All-Unity? Klaus-Dieter Mathes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Jinen as Transcendent Reality in Shinran Dennis Hirota Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
The Status of Amida Buddha as a Person: Henri de Lubac’s Encounter with Pure Land Buddhism James L. Fredericks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
The Tetralemma, the Two Truths, Skilful Means, and Divine Personality Joseph S. O’Leary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
II Hinduism
Potters, Human and Divine: Manifesting Śaṅkara’s Īśvara through Pedagogy, Playdough, and Personhood Brad Bannon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Ontological Interpretation of Śaṅkara and the Question of Non-Dualism Godabarisha Mishra Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
The World and the (Non)Transcendent: A Reflection on Some Abundant and Elusive Possibilities from the Brahminical Traditions Francis X. Clooney Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	281
The Supreme Being: A Person? Gérard Colas Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
Gnoseological Interpretation of Śaṅkara: A Proposal for the Relationality of Saguṇa and Nirguṇa Brahman Anantanand Rambachan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	319
Śiva’s Claim to Identity: Can Personalism in a Theistic Tradition of a Strict Identity Survive? John Nemec Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
The Bhedâbheda (Difference and Non-difference) of Nimbārka Noel Sheth Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	345
Madhva’s Concept of Divine Personality and Personalism Robert Zydenbos Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	351
“The Deepest Insoluble Embarrassment of Abstract Monism”: Śaṅkara and Schelling on the Origin of the Finite World of Appearance Fabian Völker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	363
Theology in Poetry: Divinity, Humanity, and the Natural World in Veṅkaṭanātha’s Haṃsasandeśa Steven P. Hopkins Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	383
Aesthetic Experience as a Mediator Between Personal and Impersonal Transcendence Timothy Cahill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	411
How Can Christian Theology and Hinduist Theology have Resonance? Christine Büchner Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	431
Blurry Vision as Transcendence: Lessons from Non-dual Śaivism Michelle Voss Roberts Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	449
The Divine Gift according to Rāmānuja, Sudarśanasūri and Veṅkaṭanātha Marcus Schmücker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	469
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	507
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	509

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars of the fields: Philosophy of Religion, Theology, Indology, Buddhology
Pages
- Front matter: 10
- Main content: 518
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 1
Keywords: Divine; Personality; Impersonality; Transcendence

eBook

Published: March 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110698343

Hardcover

Published: March 20, 2023
ISBN: 9783110698169