Toward a Comparative Theology of Liberation
Exploring the Relevance of Comparative Theology for doing Indian Liberation Theology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/isit.31058Keywords:
Dalit, Hindu-christian relations, Indian Subcontinent, Christianity in IndiaAbstract
Comparative Theology is a promising academic discipline. Yet, Comparative Theology appears to lag behind liberation theologies when it comes to addressing unjust and oppressive social realities. This seems to be particularly true in the case of comparative theological projects related to Hinduism. Many comparative theologians engaging with Hinduism, with very few exceptions, have overlooked the injustices caused by caste and untouchability, which occupy an important place in the Indian culture. One of the possible ways of handling such issues is to allow Comparative Theology to enter into critical conversations with liberation theologies, which in this case is Dalit Liberation Theology. Such an integrated theology would open up possibilities of articulating a people-centered, non-identitarian, and interreligious Theology of Liberation.
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Rambachan, Anantanand. 2015. A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not Two is Not One. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Tanner, Kathryn. 1997. Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Minne¬apolis: Fortress.
Taylor, Charles. 2011. “Why We Need a Radical Redefinition of Secularism.” In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan Vanantwerpen, 34-59. New York: Columbia University Press.
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Thatamanil, John J. 2011. “Comparative Theology after ‘Religion.’ ” In Plan¬etary Loves: Spivak, Postcoloniality, and Theology edited by Stephen D. Moore andMayra Rivera, 238-257. New York: Fordham University Press.
Tiemeier, Tracy Sayuki. 2010. “Comparative Theology as a Theology of Liber¬ation.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 129–149. New York: T & T Clark International.
Tillich, Paul. 1973. Systematic Theology. Volume One. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Vinayaraj, Y. T. 2011. “Envisioning a Postmodern Method of Doing Dalit The¬ology.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voic¬es, Discerning Pathways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock, 93–103. New Delhi: Oxford Uni¬versity Press.
Voss Roberts, Michelle. 2010. Dualities: A Theology of Difference. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
———. 2010. “Gendering Comparative Theology.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 109–128. New York: T & T Clark International.
———. 2014. Tastes of the Divine: Hindu and Christian Theologies of Emo¬tion. New York: Fordham University Press.
Webster, John C. B. 1999. “Who is a Dalit?” In Dalits in Modern India: Visions and Values, edited by S. M. Michael, 68–79. New Delhi: Vistaar.
Younger, Paul. 2002. Playing the Host to Deity: Festival Religions in the South Indian Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Census India. 2011. www.censusindia.gov.in
Chung, Hyun Kyung. 2004. Struggle to be the Sun Again: Introducing Asian Women’s Theology. Maryknoll: Orbis Books.
Clarke, Sathianathan. 1998. Dalits and Christianity: Subaltern Religion and Liberation Theology in India. Madras: Oxford University Press.
——— et al. 2011. “Introduction.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discord¬ant Voices, Discerning Pathways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock, 1–16. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Clooney, Francis X. 1990. “Reading the World in Christ.” In Christian Unique¬ness Reconsidered: The Myth of a Pluralistic Theology of Religions, edit¬ed by Gavin D’Costa, 63-80. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Clooney, Francis X. 2001. Comparative Theology: Deep Learning Across Religious Borders. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
———. 2005. Divine Mother, Blessed Mother: Hindu Goddesses and Virgin Mary. New York: Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/0195170377.001.0001
Dayam, Joseph Prabhakar. 2011. “Gonthemma Korika: Reimagining the Divine Feminine.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Mancha¬la and Philip Vinod Peacock, 137–149. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Devasahayam, V. 1997. “Doing Dalit Theology: Basic Assumptions.” In Frontiers of Dalit Theology, edited by V. Devasahayam, 270–282. Madras: Gurukul.
Fredericks, James L. 1999. Faith among Faiths: Christian Theology and Non-Chris¬tian Religions. New York:Mahwah.
———. 2010. “Introduction.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, ix–xix. New York: T & T Clark International.
Fulkerson, Mary McClintock. 1997. “Contesting the Gendered Subject: A Feminist Account of the Imago Dei.” In Horizons in Feminist Theology: Identity Tra¬dition, and Norms, edited by Rebecca S. Chopp and Sheila Greeve Davaney, 99–115. Minneapolis: Fortress.
Haight, Roger. 1999. Jesus Symbol of God. Maryknoll: Orbis.
———. 1999. Dynamics of Theology. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Habermas, Jürgen. 2011. “ ‘THE POLITICAL’ The Rational Meaning of a Ques¬tionable Inheritance of Political Theology.” In The Power of Religion in the Public Spherei, edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan Vanantwerpen, 15–33. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kiblinger, Kristin Beise, 2010. “Relating Theology of Religions and Comparative Theology.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 129–149. New York: T & T Clark International.
King, Richard. 1999. Orientalism and Religion: Postcolonial Theory, India and the Mystic East. London: Routledge.
Knitter, Paul F. 1987. “Toward a Liberationist Theology of Religions.” In The Myth of Christian Uniqueness, edited by Paul F. Knitter and John Hick, 178–200. Maryknoll: Orbis.
Laksana, A. Bagus. 2010. “Comparative Theology: Between Identity and Alterity.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 1–20. New York: T & T Clark International.
Lindbeck, George. 2009. The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Post¬liberal Age. Louisville: Westminister John Knox.
Mahmood, Sabah. 2005. Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Manchala, Deenabandhu. 2011. “Expanding the Ambit: Dalit Theological Contri¬bution to Ecumenical Social Thought.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock, 38–54. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Mar Coorilos, Geevarghese. 2011. “Dalit Theology and its Future Course.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Path¬ways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock, 168–177. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Masuzawa, Tomoko. 2005. The Invention of World Religions: Or, How Eu¬ropean Universalism Was Preserved in the Language of Pluralism. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226922621.001.0001
McDonald, Diane Prosser. 1995. Transgressive Corporeality: The Body, Poststruc¬turalism and the Theological Imagination. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Nirmal, Arvind P. 1990. “Towards a Christian Dalit Theology.” In A Reader in Dalit Theology, edited by Arvind P. Nirmal, 53–70. Madras: Gurukul.
Paden, William E. 1992. Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion. Bos¬ton: Beacon.
Rajkumar, Peniel Jesudason Rufus. 2013. “Re-Cast(e)ing Conversion, Re-visiting Dialogue: Indian Attempts at an Interfaith Theology of Wholeness.” Journal for the Academic Study of Religion 26(2): 157–171. https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v26i2.157
Rambachan, Anantanand. 2015. A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not Two is Not One. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Tanner, Kathryn. 1997. Theories of Culture: A New Agenda for Theology. Minne¬apolis: Fortress.
Taylor, Charles. 2011. “Why We Need a Radical Redefinition of Secularism.” In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, edited by Eduardo Mendieta and Jonathan Vanantwerpen, 34-59. New York: Columbia University Press.
Thatamanil, John J. 2006. The Immanent Divine: God, Creation, and the Hu¬man Predicament. Minneapolis: Fortress.
Thatamanil, John J. 2011. “Comparative Theology after ‘Religion.’ ” In Plan¬etary Loves: Spivak, Postcoloniality, and Theology edited by Stephen D. Moore andMayra Rivera, 238-257. New York: Fordham University Press.
Tiemeier, Tracy Sayuki. 2010. “Comparative Theology as a Theology of Liber¬ation.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 129–149. New York: T & T Clark International.
Tillich, Paul. 1973. Systematic Theology. Volume One. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Vinayaraj, Y. T. 2011. “Envisioning a Postmodern Method of Doing Dalit The¬ology.” In Dalit Theology in the Twenty-first Century: Discordant Voic¬es, Discerning Pathways, edited by Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock, 93–103. New Delhi: Oxford Uni¬versity Press.
Voss Roberts, Michelle. 2010. Dualities: A Theology of Difference. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press.
———. 2010. “Gendering Comparative Theology.” In The New Comparative Theology: Interreligious Insights from the Next Generation, edited by Francis X. Clooney, 109–128. New York: T & T Clark International.
———. 2014. Tastes of the Divine: Hindu and Christian Theologies of Emo¬tion. New York: Fordham University Press.
Webster, John C. B. 1999. “Who is a Dalit?” In Dalits in Modern India: Visions and Values, edited by S. M. Michael, 68–79. New Delhi: Vistaar.
Younger, Paul. 2002. Playing the Host to Deity: Festival Religions in the South Indian Tradition. New York: Oxford University Press.
Published
2017-03-27
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Samuel, J. (2017). Toward a Comparative Theology of Liberation: Exploring the Relevance of Comparative Theology for doing Indian Liberation Theology. Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology, 1(1), 47-67. https://doi.org/10.1558/isit.31058
