Comparative Theology

Francis X. Clooney, S.J., is Parkman Professor of Divinity at Harvard University. His primary areas of scholarship are theological commentarial writings in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of Hindu India, and the developing field of comparative theology. He was the first president of the International Society for Hindu-Christian Studies, and, from 1998 to 2004, was coordinator for interreligious dialogue for the Jesuits of the United States. Professor Clooney is the author of numerous articles and books, including Hindu God, Christian God (2001), Divine Mother, Blessed Mother (2005), Jesuit Postmodern: Scholarship, Vocation, and Identity in the 21st Century (2006), Beyond Compare: St. Francis and Sri Vedanta Desika on Loving Surrender to God (2008), and The Truth, the Way, the Life: Christian Commentary on the Three Holy Mantras of the Srivaisnava Hindus (2008).

“This marvelous book should stand as an invitation to many. I very much hope that it is taken up.”  (HarvardTheological Review, 1 April 2012)“In this context, Comparative Theology is a timely publication.”  (Teaching Theology, 2012)"There is much to admire in this short but insightful book - not least the background that Clooney sketches: the genealogy of the term ‘comparative theology' and the summary of various contemporary comparativists, from Raimon Pannikkar, Robert Neville and Keith Ward to a whole school of younger scholars which is beginning to emerge, especially in the United States." (The Way,1 April 2011) "It's a fascinating book, all the same. I warmly recommend it ." (Theology, 1 March 2011)"Comparative Theology will be of interest to people looking for a method for interfaith dialogue that affirms the value of one's theological commitments and could serve well as a textbook for courses exploring interfaith theological discourse." (Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 1 January 2011)"But as this volume suggests, our interreligious milieu provides a new impetus not just for learning about our neighbors' faiths but learning from them. Francis X. Clooney, S.J., is a most trustworthy guide." (The National Catholic Weekly, September 2010)"Clooney's book thus provides an extremely needful, as well as accessible, contribution to the furthering of this developing discipline, and as such it is a very valuable piece of scholarship." (American Theological Inquiry, July 2010)

• Preface and Acknowledgments xiPart I Starting Points 11 Religious Diversity and Comparative Theology 3Diversity around Us 4Diversity within Us 6Comparative Theology as a Response to Twenty-first-Century Religious Diversity 8Distinguishing Comparative Theology from Related Disciplines 9Comparative Theology and the Academic Study of Religions 12Comparative Theology and Interreligious Dialogue 13Comparative Theology and the Theology of Religions 14Comparative Theology Autobiographically Grounded 16On the Limits of This Book 19Looking Ahead 222 In Generations Past: Some Ancestors to Today’s Comparative Theology 24Comparative Theology and the Long History of Christian Interreligious Reflection 24Western Jesuit Scholars in India 27Comparative Theology as a Discipline (1699–) 30A Moderate Criticism of Missionary Scholarship and the Older Comparative Theology 35At the End of the Era 373 Comparative Theology Today 41David Tracy 42Keith Ward 43Robert C. Neville 45A Note on Raimon Panikkar 47James Fredericks 49New Directions 50From Theory (Back) to Practice 52Part II Doing Theology Comparatively 554 From Theory to Practice 57The Practice of (Comparative) Religious Reading 57Intelligent Reading 59Commentary as a Religious Practice 60Interreligious Commentary 63Leaving Room for Other Readers and Their Readings 66Necessarily Elite Choices 675 Getting Particular: A Christian Studies Hinduism 69The Importance of Focus 69(Self)Identifying This Particular Comparative Theologian 70Making a Map, Marking the Field:Hinduism in Brief 70Getting Particular: Mimamsa, Vedanta, and Srivaisnavism 74Appreciating Similarities 75Theistic Hinduism as a Useful and Comfortable Focus 77Theology as a Hindu Discipline 78Comparative Theology in Hinduism and Other Traditions 80My Comparative Theology, Indebted to Hindu Theologies 836 “Learning to See”: Comparative Practice and the Widening of Theological Vision 87Plenary Address at the Catholic Theology Society of America, 2003 88Near a Goddess 88Devi’s Beauty, Devi’s Pleasure 90Rediscovering Mary 93Mary and Her Son Jesus, through Muslim Eyes 96Sojourner Truth’s Liberating God 99All in Christ, but Still All 103Vocation 105After “Learning to See” 106Part III The Fruits of Comparison 1097 Theology After Comparison 111Comparative Theology and the Larger Work of Theology 111The Multiple Responsibilities of the Comparative Theologian 113Some Theological Presuppositions Implicit in Comparative Theology 114Comparative Theological Learning, in Particular 117The Imago Dei and Our Destiny in Bliss 118What “Narayana” Might Mean for the Christian 121Encountering Goddesses 123Comparative Theology and the Intensification of Devotion 125Theology on a Smaller Scale 1278 “God for Us” 128“God for Us”: An Essay 128A Verse, a Clue 129What Hindus Thought about the Verse 130Living the Verse 132The Verse and Its Wider Context 133An Aside on How to See God and on How God Wills to Be Seen 135Noticing One’s First Citizenship: Reflection on Ignatian Insight and My Home Citizenship 139What Ignatius Had to Say 140Some Contemporary Views of the Intensification and Emptying of the Imagination in the Spiritual Exercises 143Multiple Religious Belonging, Human but Also Divine 146“God for Us” as Comparative Theology 1519 Comparative Writer, Comparative Reader 154The Comparative Theologian Transformed 155The Comparative Theologian as Marginal Person 157The Comparative Theologian’s New Community 160Tasks and Opportunities for the Reader 162Beyond This Book 164Notes 166Select Bibliography 172Index 177