A Dialogical Theism: Francis X. Clooney’s Comparative Theology as a Resource for Interreligious Models of Ultimate Reality

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Richard Hanson

Abstract

Francis X. Clooney is a seminal figure in the emerging approach to religious diversity known as Comparative Theology. Much of his work in this field has been concerned with engaging particular texts from Hindu and Christian traditions in the praxis of context- specific, in-depth comparison. Informed by the four features of a relevant contemporary theology—interreligious, comparative, dialogical, and confessional—that Clooney identifies in 2001’s Hindu God, Christian God, the author explores how each feature helps to flesh out a model of ultimate reality that is implicit in their connotations. The author frames his argument in the terms of Christian tradition in order to show Christianity as one example, one partner who can benefit tremendously from engagement with and criticism from perspectives outside its tradition. 

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