MACMILLAN Comparative Theology Among Multiple Modernities: Cultivating Phenomenological Imagination

This book presents a heuristic and critical study of comparative theology in engagement with phenomenological methodology and sociological inquiry. It elucidates a postcolonial study of religion in the context of multiple modernities. Review “Without doubt Paul’s fine and creative work represents the best of the Christian theology of religions tradition. … What it does is to help interested fellow thinkers to appreciate new connections between ideas usually not brought together, to consider fresh perspectives on the questions of religious diversity, and―simply put―to be fed by “solid” theological-philosophical-religious nutrition!” (Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Fuller Theological Seminary, USA) “A widely read and dependable interpreter of other scholars, Paul S. Chung draws upon insights from philosophy, sociology, and hermeneutics to construct an original approach to theological phenomenology as a method for doing comparative theology. He demonstrates the fruitfulness of phenomenological imagination, for example, by juxtaposing theology of the cross to Buddhist compassion and a post-colonial ethics of solidarity to Confucian ethics. This volume provides an original contribution to interreligious studies at the interface of multiple modernities, practicing comparative theology with respect and keen insight and thereby opening a path for others to follow in engaging texts from other religions with integrity.” (Craig L. Nessan, Wartburg Theological Seminary, USA) “Comparative Theology among Multiple Modernities brings a fresh perspective to comparative theology by approaching interreligious theological learning from a Protestant Christian perspective, with deep roots in Lutheran and Barthian perspectives on God and the world, theology and religions. Chung’s sensitivity to the variety of modernities, enriched by learning from figures as diverse as Ernst Troeltsch, Max Weber, and Emmanuel Levinas, gives a timely ethical and political edge to his interpretation of comparative theology. A fruit of this interesting work is Chung’s fresh reading of East Asian intellectual traditions, including a re-reassessment of Shinran’s Amida Buddhist “Protestantism,” and the political ethics of Mencius. This is a new and notable addition to the growing literature of comparative theological study as it matures and diversifies.” (Francis X. Clooney, SJ., Harvard Divinity School, USA) “In this enormously rich, creative and ambitious book, Paul S. Chung casts his net widely. Working from a theological center in Karl Barth, he tackles many social, political, philosophical and religious themes. The range is astonishing: Luther in relation to Buddhism, multiple modernities, comparative theologies, postcolonial revisions of Christian mission, Confucianism, Weber, Foucault, Geertz, Troeltsch, and more. Multiple misconceptions about Barth are exploded along the way. Chung locates himself in the relatively neglected theological interpretive tradition inspired by Gollwitzer and Marquardt. This is a welcome work that will need to be grappled with for years to come.” (George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA) From the Back Cover This book presents a heuristic and critical study of comparative theology in engagement with phenomenological methodology and sociological inquiry. It elucidates a postcolonial study of religion in the context of multiple modernities. About the Author Paul S. Chung teaches at Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, USA. His is the author of Postcolonial Imagination: Archaeological Hermeneutics and Comparative Religious Theology (2014) and Karl Barth: God’s Word in Action (2008).