Ecstasy and Nonduality: On Comparing Varieties of Immanence

For the benefit of those who have not read my book, let me offer a few framing remarks. I begin by noting that my initial working title for the book was Ecstasy and Nonduality, not The Immanent Divine. Although somewhat technical, the earlier title had the virtue of stipulating that my book compares two specific types of divine immanence. I root each sort of immanence in a fundamental scriptural locus within the Christian and Hindu traditions. In the Christian case, the scriptural text is Romans 8:26, Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs to deep for words (NRSV). The King James reads, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. In the Hindu case, the scriptural text is the Upanishadic mahavakya, Aham Brahmasmi from Brhadaranyaka Upanishad 1.4.10. In this Christian scripture, divine immanence is experienced as an ecstatic event accomplished by the work of the Holy Spirit that grasps and prays through us when we know not how to pray. In the Hindu scripture, immanence is given by way of nonduality: one just is Brahman

Circling the Elephant: A Comparative Theology of Religious Diversity [Table of Contents]

Christian theologians have for some decades affirmed that they have no monopoly on encounter with God or ultimate reality; other religions also have access to religious truth and transformation. If so, the time has come for Christians not just to learn about but also from their religious neighbors. Circling the Elephant affirms that the best way to move toward the mystery of divinity is to move toward the mystery of the neighbor.In this book, Thatamanil employs the ancient Indian allegory of the elephant and blindfolded men to argue for the integration of three, often-separated theological projects: comparative theology, constructive theology, and theologies of religious diversity. Circling the Elephant also offers an analysis of why we have fallen short in the past. Interreligious learning has been obstructed by problematic ideas about “religion” and “religions.” Thatamanil also notes troubling resonances between reified notions of “religion” and “race.” He contests these notions and offers a new theory of the religious that makes interreligious learning both possible and desirable.Christians have much to learn from their religious neighbors, even about such central features of Christian theology as Christ and Trinity. This book proposes a new theology of religious diversity, one that opens the door to true interreligious learning

Formation in the Classroom

What is the relationship between the academic knowledge of the guild and the formation of students in the classroom? This Forum gathers four essays originally presented at a Special Topics Session at the 2009 conference of the American Academy of Religion (Atlanta, Georgia), with a brief introductory essay by Fred Glennon explaining the genesis of the panel. Douglas Jacobsen and Rhonda Hustedt Jacobsen clarify some of the issues at stake in undergraduate liberal arts classrooms by distinguishing between four dimensions of what they refer to as the (in)formation teaching matrix: institutional context, course content, faculty roles, and student outcomes. John Thatamanil argues that all learning necessarily presupposes formation. Amanda Porterfield argues against using the word formation because it complicates and undermines her teaching goals to historicize religion and narratives about it through open-ended inquiry. And, finally, Mary Elizabeth Moore explores the interactive processes linking formation, information, reformation, and transformation. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd