The Mystery of God and the Claim of Reason: Comparative Patterns in Hindu-Christian Theodicy
Authors
Barua, A
Publication Date
2021Journal Title
International Journal of Hindu Studies
ISSN
1022-4556
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
25
Issue
3
Pages
259-288
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Barua, A. (2021). The Mystery of God and the Claim of Reason: Comparative Patterns in Hindu-Christian Theodicy. International Journal of Hindu Studies, 25 (3), 259-288. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-021-09306-7
Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>In a comparative study of <jats:italic>karma</jats:italic> theodicy and atonement theodicy, as developed by some Hindu and Christian theologians, this article argues that they present teleological visions where individuals become purged, purified, and perfected in and through their worldly suffering. A <jats:italic>karma</jats:italic> theodicy operates with the notion that there is some form of proportionality between past evil and present suffering, even if such correlations can only be traced by an enlightened sage or are known to the omniscient God. Christian mystics too seek not so much to explain suffering as to identify suffering with the agony of Christ on the cross, and they envision such suffering as part of a unitive journey where their love of Christ is purified. In these ways, both styles of theodicy use rational resources towards the goal of explanation, while reminding their adherents that the faltering intelligibility that they seek is to be seen as an integral component of their active participation in a sense of theological mystery that enfolds, and yet transcends, their finite existences.</jats:p>
Keywords
Article: Special Issue on Vedāntic Theodicies, Karma, Reincarnation, Atonement, Rammohun Roy, Sydney Cave, Alfred George Hogg, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Rāmakṛṣṇa, Julian of Norwich
Identifiers
s11407-021-09306-7, 9306
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-021-09306-7
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/334011
Rights
Licence:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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