Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative edited by Jerry L. Martin

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Theology Without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative has been published by Routledge.  It is a landmark event.  It speaks to the urgent theological challenge of our times.  Once we look beyond confessional walls, even when primarily working within our own traditions, richer insights into the divine or ultimate reality become possible.  The explorations beyond the walls can take us in many directions.  In this volume, a diverse array of twenty-one scholars explore the different avenues new theological thinking open up.  Including sympathetic critics, the collection taken as a whole is much stronger than any single essay read apart.  Together, they make a powerful case for the importance and potential of Theology Without Walls.

Thinking about ultimate reality is becoming increasingly transreligious. This transreligious turn follows inevitably from the discovery of divine truths in multiple traditions. Global communications bring the full range of religious ideas and practices to anyone with access to the internet. Moreover, the growth of the "nones" and those who describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious" creates a pressing need for theological thinking not bound by prescribed doctrines and fixed rituals. This book responds to this vital need.

The chapters in this volume each examine the claim that if the aim of theology is to know and articulate all we can about the divine reality, and if revelations, enlightenments, and insights into that reality are not limited to a single tradition, then what is called for is a theology without confessional restrictions. In other words, a Theology Without Walls. To ground the project in examples, the volume provides emerging models of transreligious inquiry. It also includes sympathetic critics who raise valid concerns that such a theology must face.

This is a book that will be of urgent interest to theologians, religious studies scholars, and philosophers of religion. It will be especially suitable for those interested in comparative theology, inter-religious and interfaith understanding, new trends in constructive theology, normative religious studies, and global philosophy of religion.


An outstanding collection of articles that provide a great intellectual resource for Theology Without Walls

 

 

Brill Companion to Comparative Theology  (Forthcoming) - Theology Without Walls - Edited by Jerry L. Martin

 

References (courtesy of John Becker, Center for Process Studies; in order of appearance in the text)

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-----------, ed. Topical issue: Recognizing Encounters with Ultimacy across Religious Boundaries. Open Theology 4, Issue 1 (2018).

-----------, ed. Topical Issue: Is Transreligious Theology Possible? Editor Jerry L. Martin, Open Theology 2, Issue 1 (2016).

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——. Existence. Philosophical Theology, Volume Two. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2015.

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——. In Our Own Image: Anthropomorphism, Apophaticism, and Ultimacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

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——. “‘True to and True For’: The Problem and Promise of Religious Truth for a Theology Without Walls.” Journal of Ecumenical Studies 51, no. 4 (2016): 450-63.

——. "Transreligious Theology as the Quest for Interreligious Wisdom." Open Theology 2, no. 1 (2016): 354-62.

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Martin, Jerry L. “Theology Without Walls: Beyond Pluralism.” Lecture, Center for Process Studies, October 2017. Academia.edu.

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——. Dualities: A Theology of Difference. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010.

Denny, Christopher D. A Generous Symphony: Hans Urs Von Balthasar's Literary Revelations. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2016.

——. "Trinitarian Theology between Religious Walls in the Writings of Raimon Panikkar." Open Theology 2, no. 1 (2016): 363–373.

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Mercadante, Linda A. Belief Without Borders: Inside the Minds of the Spiritual but Not Religious. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014.

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Keller, Catherine. Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming. London: Routledge, 2003.


 

Recognizing Encounters with Ultimacy across Religious Boundaries, edited by Jerry L. Martin

 

CONTENT:

Introduction to Topical Issue “Recognizing Encounters with Ultimacy across Religious Boundaries”,  Martin, Jerry L.

Encounters with Ultimacy?: Autobiographical and Critical Perspectives in the Academic Study of Religion, Hedges, Paul

Encountering the Ultimate in the Bhagavad Gītā: An Experience of Pratyabhijñā (Recognition) , Long, Jeffery D.

Four Ways to Another Religion’s Ultimate , Hustwit, J. R.

Conditions for Encounters with Ultimacy Across Religious Boundaries , Konigsburg, Joyce Ann

The Illusion of Agency as a Mark of Ultimacy , Nicholson, Hugh

“The Mass on the World” on a Winter Afternoon: Contemporary Wilderness Religious Experience and Ultimacy,  Bratton, Susan Power

 

All articles are available (free access) at https://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth.2018.4.issue-1/issue-files/opth.2018.4.issue-1.xml


 

"Is Transreligious Theology Possible?", edited by Jerry L. Martin

CONTENT:

Introduction to the Topical Issue “Is Transreligious Theology Possible?”, Martin, Jerry L.

Theology Without Walls: The Future of Transreligious Theology, Wildman, Wesley J.

Transreligious Theology as the Quest for Interreligious Wisdom: Defining, Defending, and Teaching Transreligious Theology, Thatamanil, John J.

Theology Without Walls: Sic et Non, Feldmeier, Peter

Myself, Only Moreso: Conditions for the Possibility of Transreligious Theology, Hustwit, J. R.

Interspiritual Theology as a Radical Potential for New Vistas in Theological Thought, McEntee, Rory

The Breadth of the Riches: Transreligious Theology, Particularity, and Universality, Sydnor, Jon Paul

Multiple Religious Orientation, Diller, Jeanine

Is Transreligious Theology Unavoidable in Interreligious Theology and Dialogue?, Gustafson, Hans

Trinitarian Theology between Religious Walls in the Writings of Raimon Panikkar, Denny, Christopher

A ‘No’ at the Core of Life: Doing Transreligious Theology with William James, Weidenbaum, Jonathan

Without Boundaries? Deriving Pluralist Theologies for Projects Using a Theology Without Walls, Watson, Anthony J.

All articles are available (free access) at http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/opth.2016.2.issue-1/issue-files/opth.2016.2.issue-1.xml

 


 

Journal of Ecumenical Studies Special Issue: Theology Without Walls

Fall 2016, Volume 51, No. 4

 

Jerry L. Martin, University of Colorado at Boulder (retired):
“What Is Theology without Walls?”

John Thatamanil, Union Theological Seminary:
“True to and True For’: The Problem and Promise of Religious Truth for a Theology without Walls”

Robert Cummings Neville, Boston University:
“Tale of a Theologian without Walls”

S. Mark Heim, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary:
“In Two Minds about a Theology Without Walls”

Paul Knitter, Union Theological Seminary:
“Without Walls = Multiple Belonging?”

Jeanine Diller, University of Toledo:
“Which Ultimate(s) Would Theology without Walls Be About?”

Kurt Anders Richardson, University of Toronto:
“Theology without Walls: Toward a Hermeneutics without Boundaries?”

Kenneth Cracknell, Brite Divinity School:
“We Talking About Us’: Wilfred Cantwell Smith’s Relevance to Theology without Walls”

 

Click HERE —-> http://dialogueinstitute.org/jes-volume51/