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.

Jerry L. Martin has served as chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities and of the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has also taught at Georgetown University and the Catholic University of America. He has published on issues in epistemology, philosophy of mind, phenomenology, transreligious theology, and public policy. In 2014, he founded the Theology Without Walls project, which meets with the American Academy of Religion. He is the author of God: An Autobiography, as Told to a Philosopher (2016).

Acknowledgments List of Contributors Introduction-Jerry L. Martin Part One. Why Theology Without Walls? 1 Paideias and Programs for Theology Without Walls-Robert Cummings Neville 2 In Spirit and Truth: Toward a Theology Without Walls-Richard Oxenberg 3 Revisiting Bellah's Sheila in a Religiously Pluralist Century-Christopher Denny 4 Theology Without Walls as Open-Field-Theology-Kurt Anders Richardson Part Two. Experience and Transformation 5 Theology Without Walls as the Quest for Interreligious Wisdom-John J. Thatamanil 6 My Buddha-Nature and My Christ-Nature-Paul Knitter7 Why Not Ten Sixty-Foot Wells?-Peter Savastano8 Theology Without Walls: An Interspiritual Approach-Rory McEntee 9 With Open Doors and Windows: Doing Theology in the Spirit of William James-Jonathan WeidenbaumPart Three. Challenges and Possibilities 10 Is Theology Without Walls Workable? Yes, No, Maybe-Peter Feldmeier 11 Daunting Choices in Transreligious Theology: A Case Study-Wesley J. Wildman with Jerry L. Martin 12 Cognitive Science of Religion and the Nature of the Divine: A Pluralist Non- Confessional Approach-Johan De Smedt and Helen De Cruz 13 Love and Desire, Human and Divine: A Trans-Religious Naturalist Account-Wesley J. Wildman Part Four. Theologizing in a Multi-Religious World 14 Dialogue and Transreligious Understanding: A Hermeneutical Approach-J. R. Hustwit15 Strategic Religious Participation in a Shared Religious Landscape: A Model for Westerners?-Paul Hedges16 How to Think Globally and Affiliate Locally-Jeanine Diller 17 Theology Without Walls: Is a Theology for SBNRs Possible?-Linda Mercadante Part Five. Expanded Confessional Theologies 18 More Window Than Wall: The Comparative Expansion of Confessional Theology-S. Mark Heim19 Strong Walls for an Open Faith-Francis X. Clooney, SJ 20 A Hinduism Without Walls? Exploring the Concept of the Avatar Inter-Religiously-Jeffery D. Long 21 My Path to a Theology of Qi- Hyo-Dong Lee