Description
Through an examination of Christian interaction with other religions, Paul S. Chung constructs a theology of comparative religion in Constructing Reality in Comparative Theology. In the course of this construction, he employs the work of Ernst Troeltsch, Robert Bellah,and Karl Barth, while offering case studies of transformative interaction between Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Chung’s interdisciplinary approach opens up new avenues for inter-religious understanding and melding, for instance exploring the development of a Protestant Islam. Throughout, he provides innovative conceptions of the religions involved and the realities they assert.
About the Author
Paul S. Chung (Dr Habil.) specialises in theology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and in sociology of religion at the University of California, Berkeley, CA. He is Distinguished Professor of Public Theology at HanShin University, South Korea, and has been nominated to be distinguished professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Historians’ Debate – Public Theology website and teaches in Berkeley.
Contents
Foreword by Ulrich Duchrow
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Ernst Troeltsch: Comparative Theology and Historical Research of Religion
2. Comparative Theology, Sociological Enquiry and Power Relations
3. Comparative Theology of Grace: Martin Luther and Shinran Shonin
4. Karl Barth, Religion and Comparative Theology
5. Islam: Religious Discourse, Power and Modernity
6. Comparative Theology: Culture and Religion
7. Comparative Theology and Interreligious Dialogue
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements and Reviews
This book offers a wide-ranging, expansive exploration of comparative theology, informed by a social scientific perspective, with the goal of emphasizing the practical role religions can play in promoting a more just and peaceful society. In today’s context, which has been negatively impacted by capitalism and partisanship, it brings a much-needed message of possibility.
Revd Dr Kristin Johnston Largen, President, Wartburg Theological Seminary
Paul Chung makes an important contribution to comparative theology, extending it beyond textual comparison by way of a sociological hermeneutic framework that considers broader political, economic, and cultural factors. Informed by his own tradition’s emphasis on reconciliation and a theologia crucis, he enriches the comparative project of reading together by attending to the ways texts are embodied in the social and ethical realities we construct for ourselves.
Lois Malcolm, The Olin and Amanda Fjelstad Reigstad Chair of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary
