2023/08/11

The Soul Of Christianity: Restoring The Great Tradition by Huston Smith

The Soul Of Christianity: Restoring The Great Tradition

https://www.scribd.com/book/163582951/The-Soul-of-Christianity-Restoring-the-Great-Tradition

The Soul Of Christianity: Restoring The Great Tradition Paperback – 4 December 2006
by Huston Smith (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 55 ratings

In this elegant and concise treatise, Huston Smith examines and puts forth what being a Christian has meant for him personally and how it shaped his life and beliefs. In contrast to the misguided course of culturally rigid and intolerant evangelical and fundamentalist Christianity on the one hand, and the non-transcendent liberal Christianity of Marcus Borg, John Shelby Spong, on the other, Smith presents a passionate and convincing argument for a vital alternative that is a deeper, authentic Christian faith that is both tolerant yet substantial

===

Denis Poisson

5.0 out of 5 stars Huston looks at the moon

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 16 November 2008

Verified Purchase

When the wise man point at the moon, the foolish man looks at the finger.

Huston Smith is one of the few authors who seems to have grasped the fact that religions are only systems, human maps that merely point at a truth. It is useful to have these pointers because the truth that they point to is beyond human experience, so we need pointers, metaphors, indicators, helpful words and visualisations that can give us an idea of what we're looking for.

After all, what is more important? The map that helps us understand what the ground is like or the ground itself? If the map is torn, does that change the ground itself?

Once we get to our destination, we realise that the map was useful, and did what it promised: ie. explain in human terms and on a human scale what the actual ground is like, so that you can take the appropriate direction even if (when you look up) the ground is unfamiliar.

Huston Smith understands that Christianity is such a map. A map that points to the reality that is eternal, beyond the physical world that we perceive with our mere 5 senses, and that we can only guess at.

His personal preference for this map remains nothing but that: a preference, and he uses other maps - Islam, Judaism, Hinduism Buddhism, Taoism etc... - to show that Christianity points in the same direction, and is therefore trustworthy (if all maps tell you to go south and the one you have tells you to go south too, you can assume that South is a pretty good bet!) However, he also goes into the individuality of Christianity and how its specific, exclusive features can be particularly helpful. (Much like the functions of a sat-nav versus a traditional paper map, to drive the metaphor even further)

Smith's acceptance that the Moon is what is important, not the finger really makes this a delightful read about the "finger" that I have found most accurate (Jesus' words, I mean, not the Roman Empire's Church's words).

For fans of Huxley's "the Perennial Philosophy".

3 people found this helpful

Report

Amazon Customer

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Overview of Christianity

Reviewed in the United States on 8 October 2022

Verified Purchase

I’ve searched a long time for this book. Simply grateful to have found it. The overview, and deep intellectual defense, is what I’ve been looking for since 2009.

Report

Beverly H.

5.0 out of 5 stars A JOY TO READ.

Reviewed in Canada on 3 November 2022

Verified Purchase

BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN.

Report

Marlene Oaks

5.0 out of 5 stars For Everyone On the Path

Reviewed in the United States on 17 June 2022

Verified Purchase

This is almost required reading. If I could, I would prescribe this book for your soul's health. I've read it before, quite a long time ago. I came to it this week with an open heart, and I was rewarded. It is stunning. It is one I will re-read. It is a treasure.

Report

Robert W. Kellemen

5.0 out of 5 stars Mr. Smith's Opus

Reviewed in the United States on 15 September 2005

Verified Purchase

Huston Smith is not one to take on small tasks, as evidenced by his universe-sized purpose statement, "I have tried to describe a Christianity which is fully compatible with everything we now know, and to indicate why Christians feel privileged to give their lives to it." If anyone has earned the right to try, Smith would be that person given his life-long scholarly, passionate pursuit of the history of world religion.

"The Soul of Christianity: Restoring the Great Tradition" arrives just in the nick of time to perhaps halt something of the great Christian capitulation to post-modern thinking. When so many other Christian authors are hyping the latest trend and hoping on the latest bandwagon, Smith calls a halt to the march.

He does so not as a naïve, head-in-the-sand cultural rejecter, but as a world-aware, Word-wise scholar who is well aware of the multiplicity of competing narratives. Smith expertly presents Christianity as THE meta-narrative that explain all the other mini-narratives. Further, he concisely and precisely sifts through the myriad of competing Christian narratives to restore the great tradition-the grand essentials of core Christian belief.

Granted, not everyone, including this reviewer, will name and claim the identical doctrines nor define them identically. However, it is difficult to refute the grand movement in the symphony that Smith composes.

Personally, one of the most helpful apologetical (reasoned, logical defense of Christianity in light of apparent contradictions) premises is Smith's pithily worded insight that modern (and post-modern) culture has not been able to "distinguish absence-of-evidence from evidence-of-absence." That is, we may not always be able to scientifically prove the active presence of God, however, nor can we prove the absence of God scientifically, and we certain can discern His affectionate, sovereign presence spiritually.

Reviewer: Bob Kellemen, Ph.D., is the author of "Soul Physicians" and "Spiritual Friends."

81 people found this helpful

Report

Donald B. Strobe

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, but not excellent

Reviewed in the United States on 1 December 2005

Verified Purchase

The book has all of the good aspects which other reviewers have given it, but Smith should have given it a re-read before publication. It reads as though he rushed through it to get it on the market, and re-used material from his other works. (He says as much at the beginning and at the end.) I am pretty sure that he knows that the word "Christ" comes from the Greek, not the Hebrew, (as the text says), and that most New Testament scholars think that Paul did NOT write Ephesians as his very clever illustration on p.24 says. These appear to be mistakes made in the haste of writing. Still, this is a very helpful book, even though it is not quite up to the standard of C.S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" or even Marcus Borg's recent elucidation of the essence of Christianity. His critiques of both fundamentalism and the modern religion of scientism are on target, and worth the price of the book.

11 people found this helpful

Report

lightshow

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Book Especially for Christians Who Have Explored Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.

Reviewed in the United States on 6 November 2018

Verified Purchase

Huston Smith's life was all about spirituality. He was completely open minded and open hearted and I have enjoyed his books for a few years. I identify with him very much -- I dropped acid, wandered away from Christianity (not sure he did that), have lived in India and practiced a Hindu/Vedic path, have explored Buddhism, and come back to Christianity. For me, it's been a journey reconciling my spiritual quest in other religions with my Christian faith. Smith helps me do that. He is unapologetically exuberant in his praise of other religions as he expounds the richness and, like the title says, soul of Christianity with love and devotion and passion. I recommend all his books to everyone interested in spirituality, God, Jesus, everything.

2 people found this helpful

Report

John Goerzen

4.0 out of 5 stars Mere Christianity for the 21st Century

Reviewed in the United States on 12 May 2009

Verified Purchase

I bought this book after reading Huston Smith's Why Religion Matters .

I was less impressed by this book than than Why Religion Matters, but that may have just been because I read it first and it was just so spectacularly amazing.

This was a more dense read. I had to read slowly, especially in part 1; parts 2 and 3 lightened up considerably.

I have learned quite a bit about Christianity from this book. It is a good, level-headed report that doesn't shrink from controversy, but rather reports it even-handedly where it matters and ignores it where it doesn't.

I heartily endorse it.

It is Mere Christianity for the 21st century, I'd say.

5 people found this helpful

Report

Celestra Cassidyne-Hook

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful writer, the best of what is true in Christianity

Reviewed in Canada on 16 June 2020

Verified Purchase

Huston Smith is my favorite writer on religions. Here he presents the best of Christianity with philosophical depth and beauty. Worth reading!

Report

Emily G

4.0 out of 5 stars Smith really shows the soul of Christianity

Reviewed in the United States on 17 October 2005

Verified Purchase

I read this book while at a crossroads about Christianity. Smith's views on the possibilities of this religion were hopeful and refreshing. The first chapter, which listed the beliefs of Christians was a little dry. Chapter 2, which focused on the Christian Story, was my favorite. Chapter 3 was a thoughtful history of the religion. Smith was passionate and knowledgeable without being "preachy". The bottom line, "The Soul of Christianity" reminded why I am a Christian. A good read, especially if you need a reminder.

18 people found this helpful

Report

===

Amos Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Smith convincingly argues that we need a radically theistic world-view. Nothing else will ultimately satisfy.

Reviewed in the United States on 25 May 2014

Verified Purchase

I learned a great deal from this book.

Smith accurately points out that human beings are hard-wired for transcendence.

That is what we yearn for instinctively.

Smith also writes that liberal churches often don't offer transcendence. Instead they offer rallying cries to be good, which ultimately doesn't satisfy. And as a result of this approach many liberal churches are digging their own graves.

We need a radically theistic world-view, which is the legacy of the Christian Mystics.

An emphasis on justice is essential, yet without a theistic world view at the center, we miss the mark.

-Amos Smith (author of Healing The Divide)

7 people found this helpful

Report

Titillated

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable review Christianity's contribution to world religions

Reviewed in the United States on 30 August 2017

Verified Purchase

An outstanding review of the core strengths of Christianity and the ways cultural developments in the 20th and early 21st centuries have impacted Christianity. It is clarifying to read a synthesis from a longtime dedicated Christian who is also the most sympathetic and knowledgeable student of all the major world faiths.

One person found this helpful

Report

5.0 out of 5 stars I felt like I never really "got" Christianity before reading this book

Reviewed in the United States on 12 November 2016

Verified Purchase

I felt like I never really "got" Christianity before reading this book. I grew up in a Western country and found Buddhism and Eastern religions much more attractive in my 20's. But after reading this book I now understand Christianity. The book addresses many modern issues around religion and is beautifully written, illuminating and inspiring.

Report

Jean E. Peterson

3.0 out of 5 stars The Soul of Christianity

Reviewed in the United States on 1 June 2015

Verified Purchase

I haven't made up my mind., some of it was very informative but i wouldn't say it depicted the soul of Christianity to me. I've had to read several parts again.I can't say I understood it or some of his ideas.. His acceptance of some of the creeds turned me off . I prefer Borg.

One person found this helpful

Report

Roy J Squires

5.0 out of 5 stars A tour deforce of Christian thought down the ages and ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 April 2017

Verified Purchase

A tour deforce of Christian thought down the ages and the language of symbolism, story and legend mixed with history and sort of biography of a kind.

Report

Allen Robins

3.0 out of 5 stars Book was interesting

Reviewed in the United States on 15 June 2013

Verified Purchase

This book was good but no where near as good as his book on World Religions. Much of the material was redundant to the material on Christianity in his World Religions book which was one of the best books I have ever read on the subject.

One person found this helpful

Report

Ahmad

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on 25 May 2017

Verified Purchase

Excellent

Report

Soulseeker2021

3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on 17 May 2017

Verified Purchase

This book summarizes Christian beliefs. If you are aChristian you might pick up a few bits of new information.

Report

Robert M. Wills

2.0 out of 5 stars Huston Smith is a great scholar, but dated

Reviewed in the United States on 12 September 2014

Verified Purchase

Huston Smith is a great scholar, but dated. He sets out to "refute" Marcus Borg's The Heart of Christianity and ends up simply restating the old traditional beliefs that Borg seeks to restate from a new paradigm. Smith's paradigm is traditional Christianity. He doesn't understand the new paradigm, yet he thinks it is wrong.

Report

Pam J

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 20 August 2017

Verified Purchase

Always an interesting read, Huston Smith does it again!

Report

====

CONTENTS

PREFACE PROLOGUE INTRODUCTION Part One THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW Part Two THE CHRISTIAN STORY Part Three THE THREE MAIN BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY TODAY CODA ACKNOWLEDGMENTS SEARCHABLE TERMS ABOUT THE AUTHOR BOOKS BY HUSTON SMITH CREDITS COPYRIGHT ABOUT THE PUBLISHER

CONTENTS

PREFACE

PROLOGUE

INTRODUCTION

Part One

THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW

Part Two

THE CHRISTIAN STORY

Part Three

THE THREE MAIN BRANCHES OF CHRISTIANITY TODAY

CODA

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

SEARCHABLE TERMS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

BOOKS BY HUSTON SMITH

CREDITS

COPYRIGHT

ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
Previous ChapterNext Chapter

===

** Indian philosophy A Very Short Intro (Text) Sue Hamilton

https://ia902905.us.archive.org/20/items/indianphilosophyaveryshortintroductionsuehamiltonsee2booksinbuddhismfolder_24_U/Indian%20Philosophy%20-%20A%20very%20short%20introduction%20Sue%20Hamilton%20%28%20See%202%20Books%20in%20Buddhism%20Folder%29.pdf

===

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY A Very Short Introduction

Sue Hamilton

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

===

First published as an Oxford University Press paperback 2000

First published as a Very Short Introduction 2001

===

Contents

1 Reason and Belief Richness and diversity in Indian thought

2 The Brahmanical Beginnings Sacrifice, cosmic speculation, oneness

3 Renouncing the Household The Buddha's Middle Way Renouncer v. Householder

4 Issues and Justifications Language, grammar, and polemics
The Threat to the Brahmins

5 Categories and Method Vaiśe·ika and Nyāya Vaiśe·ika Thought: the Categories of the Cosmos

6 Things and No-things Developments in Buddhist thought

7 The Witness and the Watched Yoga: Harmony and Control

8 The Word and the Book

===

Postscript From Classical Thought to the Modern Day 136

[독서생활] [나를 바꾸기] 위한 [타오이즘]공부 - 나를 위한 간단한 일차적 정리

Sejin Pak | Facebook

[독서생활] <나를 바꾸기> 위한 <타오이즘> 공부 - 나를 위한 간단한 일차적 정리
---
- 나를 포함한 많은 사람들이 <도덕경>과 <노장사상> 공부를 해본다. 그런데, 그런 공부를 해서 뭐를 배울까? 어느 정도의 지적 이해를 얻는 것 이상 뭐가 남는가? <자신의 삶의 방식이 달라지는> 뭔가를 배울 수 있을까? 그런 생각을 하면서 <타오이즘 Taoism/Daoism> 공부를 다시 한다.

- 이번의 포카스는

(1) 동양에서는 흔히 <노장사상>이라고 불리우는 <철학 사상>으로서의 <타오이즘>과

(2) <기공>같은 일종의 <수련문화>로서의 <타오이즘>, 그리고

(3) 흔히 <도교>라고 불리우는 <종교>.로서의 <타오이즘>간의

<차이와 관계>를 제대로 이해하자는 데에 있다. 거기에서 무언가를 깨달을 것 같다고는 전에부터 생각했다.

- 나도 많은 사람들처럼 <삶의 철학>으로서의 <노장사상>에 관심을 가지고 있었다. 세상을 보는 눈으로의, 또는 인생철학으로서의 노장사상이다. 그리고 또 한편으로는, 몸에 대한 동양식 이해와 제대로 실천은 하지 않았으나 태극권, 또는 요가같은 <몸 가꾸기>에 관심이 있었다. <도교>라는 <종교적> 타오이즘에 대해서는 중국인들의 일종의 <미신적> 민중종교라고 생각하여 특별히 관심도 없었고, 제대로 읽어본 적이 없었다. 그러니 철학사상으로서의 타오이즘 (노장사상)과종교로서의 타오이즘 (도교), 그리고 수련이나 의학으로서의 타오이즘의 관계를 제대로 이해하지 못하고 있었다. 그런데 그 관계를 설명하는 책들을 만났다. 첫번 째 만난 책이 종교학자 최준식의 책 <,,,>의 <노장사상과 도교>라는 부분 (장)이다. 이 부분에 대하여는 약 10년 전에 읽은 듯하여 어느 정도에서 최준식의 책을 다시 읽게되었고, 이 세 책에서 타오이즘에 대한 나에게는 가장 도움이 될만한 프레임이 떠 오르게 되었다는 것을 이제 여기 기록해두려고 한다. 이 정리를 일차적이라고 부르는 이유는 앞으로 몇년 간 더 공부를 하면서 뭔가가 바뀔 가능성을 열어둔다는 말이다. 그래서 제 2차 정리와 제 3차 정리가 몇년에 한번씩 일어나리라 생각한다.

---

- 우선은 휴스턴 스미스와 최준식의 <타오이즘> 이해에 대하여 말하자면, 타오이즘에 대한 다른 책들과 달리 이 두 저자는<노장사상> 만이 아니라 <도교>에 대하여도 함께 논한다는 것을 지적해야겠다. 그러나 두 저자 사이에는 차이가 있다. 휴스턴 스미스는 타오이즘에는 세가지 면이 있다고 한다. 그 하나는 <철학으로서의> 타오이즘이고, 그 둘째는 <종교로서의> 타오이즘이다.

25:38

Organized Daoism & Internal Alchemy (Neidan)

Let's Talk Religion

경희대학교에서 한일불교포럼을 개최: 2014 日蓮宗新聞

닛렌종 신문사 : 2014 : 10월

니치렌 종신문

日蓮宗新聞

2014년 10월 20일호

서울에서 한일불교포럼

한국·대한불교 寶土寺(禹法顯主任)는 10월 4일 서울시 경희대학교에서 한일불교포럼을 개최하고 동대학 불교학과 학생, 동사와 부산의 신도들이 참가했다 . 강연에서는 동대학교수, 일본에서 입정대학 불교학부의 키타가와 마에하 교수 등이 '현대불교·법화경의 의의', '법화경에 의한 삶의 방식' 등에 대해 말했다. 「現代仏教・法華経の意義」、「法華経による生き方」

경희대학에서 초기 불교에 대해서도 가르치는 철학과의 許祐盛 교수는 강연 시작, 한국에서도 잘 읽혀지는 법화경에서 설명되고 있는 어떤 사람도 존경하는常不軽菩薩 상불경 보살을 소개하며, “한국인은 민족 감정 를 넘어 일본인을 사랑한다(경건하다)라고 할 수 있을까?”라고 참가자에게 물었다. 근대에는 종교보다 국가주의가 우선되어 끊어진 한일의 불교 교류를 재전개하기 위해서는 스타니파타에 설 '자비'와 법화경의 '단행예배'의 마음을 가질 필요를 이야기하고, “양국의 정치인이 뭐라고 해도 민중 차원의 동력이 양국의 우호를 가져온다”고 말했다.

이어 키타가와 교수는 “법화경 전반은 모든 사람이 평등하고 성불한다는 가르침, 후반은 불타의 영원한 생명이 밝혀진다. 이 두 관계와는 차별하는 마음, 명예욕 등을 가진 나 이들 망설이는 중생은 부처의 아들이기 때문에 법화경의 가르침을 바탕으로 사는 것이 진실이라는 것이라고 교리를 설명했다.

또한 니치렌 성인이 법화경을 홍보하고 사람들이 안락한 마음이 되는 세계를 목표로 했다고 말했다. 의 가르침으로 현실세계와 역사에 관여해 나가는 것이 필요. 우리는 사람을 어리석게 하는 어리석은 사람이어서는 안 된다”고 호소했다.

마지막으로 동방대학·차차주석불교학과 교수가 “유마경을 바탕으로 일반인들과의 소통은 어렵지만 법화경에서는 그것이 가능하다”며 “예를 들어 옛날부터 말 이와 같이, 호카케이 삼차 화택의 굳은 화재를 깨닫지 못하는 아이들은, 탐조치를 가리키고 있어, 바로 현대인의 욕심에 해당되는 것이다」라고 호카케이는 중생에게 받아들여지기 쉬운 것을 말했다 . 강연 후의 질의응답에서는 왜 법화경이 예로부터 일본에서 받아들여졌는지 등의 질문이 있었다.

다음 날에는 키타가와 교수와 니치렌종 현대종교연구소의 미하라 정자소장이 광저우시에 있는 寶土寺에서 신도연수를 실시했다. 한국어 독특한 주제 발음으로 인한 주제로 양사를 맞이한 한국 신도들은 니치렌 종교학 전문 연구자들의 강의를 받을 기회가 거의 없기 때문에 강의에 천천히 귀를 기울였다. 참가자 중 한 명은 "법화경, 제목의 가르침을 천천히 접할 수 있었다. 배운 것을 마음에 새기고, 타인이나 타국을 배려하고 싶다"고 말했다.

우 주임은 “한국에서는 제목은 알려져 있어도 닛렌종은 알려지지 않았다. 의 규모는 작아질지도 모르지만, 흥미·의식 있는 사람이 참가할 수 있도록 계속해 나가고 싶다”고 말했다.

양국 관계가 차가워지는 가운데, 국경을 넘은 불교도로서의 거처 행동을 확인할 수 있던 포럼의 개최는 성공이라고 할 수 있다. 정치적인 문제는 잠시 해결할 수 없을 것이다. 그러므로 허교수가 말하는 것처럼 불교도라는 나라를 초월한 입장, 법화경을 가진 것으로서 모두를 존경한다는 입장에서 양국의 우호를 계속 구축해야 한다.

ソウルで韓日仏教フォーラム

IMG_8277韓国・大韓佛教寶土寺（禹法顯主任）は10月4日、ソウル市慶熙大学で韓日仏教フォーラムを開催し、同大学仏教学科の学生、同寺や釜山からの信徒らが参加した。講演では同大学教授、日本から立正大学仏教学部の北川前肇教授らが「現代仏教・法華経の意義」、「法華経による生き方」などについて語った。

慶熙大学で初期仏教についても教える哲学科の許祐盛教授は講演冒頭、韓国でもよく読まれている法華経で説かれるどんな人をも敬った常不軽菩薩を紹介し、「韓国人は民族感情を超え、日本人を愛している（敬う）といえるのか」と参加者に問いかけた。近代には宗教より国家主義が優先され、途絶えた韓日の仏教交流を再展開するためには、スッタニパータに説かれる「慈悲」と法華経の「但行礼拝」の心を持つ必要さを話し、「両国の政治家が何と言おうとも、民衆レベルの動力が両国の友好をもたらす」と述べた。

続いて北川教授は、「法華経前半はすべての人が平等であり成仏するという教え、後半は仏陀の永遠の命が解き明かされる。この二つの関係とは、差別する心、名誉欲などを持つ私たち迷いの衆生は仏の子であるがために、法華経の教えをもととして生きることが真実ということだ」と教義を説明した。また日蓮聖人が法華経を弘め、人びとが安穏な心になる世界を目指されたことを述べ、「日蓮聖人が大切にされた大慈悲心、柔和と忍辱の心、とらわれない立場を持つという法華経の教えで現実世界と歴史に関わっていくことが必要。私たちは人を愚弄するような愚か者であってはならない」と訴えた。

最後に、東方（ドンバン）大学・車次錫仏教学科教授が「維摩経をもとにして、一般の人びととの疎通は難しいが、法華経ではそれが可能である」とし、「例えば昔から言われるように、法華経三車火宅の譬えの火事に気付かぬ子どもたちは、貪瞋痴を指しており、まさしく現代人の欲に当てはまるものだ」と法華経は衆生に受け入られやすいことを述べた。講演後の質疑応答では、なぜ法華経が古来日本で受け入れられたのかなどの質問があった。

翌日には、北川教授と日蓮宗現代宗教研究所の三原正資所長が広州市にある寶土寺で信徒研修を行った。韓国語独特のお題目の発音による唱題で両師を迎えた韓国の信徒は、日蓮宗教学の専門の研究者による講義を受ける機会がほとんどないため講義にじっくりと耳を傾けた。参加者の一人は、「法華経、お題目の教えにじっくりと触れることができた。学んだことを心に刻み、他者や他国を思いやりたい」と話した。

禹主任は、「韓国では、お題目は知られていても日蓮宗は知られていない。今回、一般参加のフォーラムにすることで、韓国の仏教新聞に日蓮宗の名を告知掲載できた。次回開催の規模は小さくなるかもしれないが、興味・意識ある人が参加できるように続けていきたい」と述べた。

両国関係が冷え込むなか、国境を越えた仏教徒としての立ち居振る舞いを確認できたフォーラムの開催は成功といえる。政治的な問題は、しばらく解決できないだろう。だからこそ、許教授が言うように、仏教徒という国を超越した立場、法華経を持つものとしての誰もを敬うという立場で両国の友好を築き続けなければならない。

Asian Philosophies - Koller, John M. 2007, 2018

Asian Philosophies - Koller, John M.

5th ed 2007
https://archive.org/details/asianphilosophie0000koll/page/n9/mode/1up?view=theater

Asian Philosophies Paperback – 31 January 2018
by John M. Koller (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 21 ratings
Edition: 7th

With an inside view from an expert in the field and a clear and engaging writing style, Asian Philosophies, Seventh Edition invites students and professors to think along with the greatminds of the Asian traditions. Eminent scholar and teacher John M. Koller has devoted hislife to understanding and explaining Asian thought and practice. He wrote this text to givestudents access to the rich philosophical and religious ideas of both South and East Asia.

New to this seventh edition:

Added material on Confucianism, including focused coverage of (1) the Analects and society and (2) ren and nature;
Additional information on Theravada Buddhism, Vajrayana Buddhism, and Zen Buddhism as well as new in-depth coverage of ecological attitudes in Buddhism;
Expanded coverage of ecological attitudes in all of the Asian traditions;
Brief excerpts from primary sources to help better explain the key concepts;
Added timelines for essential texts in each tradition;
Improved Glossary and Pronunciation Guide;
Additional text boxes, to help students quickly understand key ideas, texts, and concepts;
Updated Further Reading sections.

=====

Kindle $130.02
Available instantly

Paperback $138.25

FREE delivery Monday, 14 August. Order within 8 hrs 47 mins

Deliver to Sejin - Campbelltown 5074‌

=====================

https://ergodebooks.com/?route=product/product&product_id=3603989&gclid=Cj0KCQjwldKmBhCCARIsAP-0rfz1UlotHjndkOZw63AZ15s_eDIKklifZM_eHTiBv58v5AdjE1fHnzgaAiFjEALw_wcB

===

Zoom

Asian Philosophies

Publisher: Pearson Higher Education
SKU: SONG0131951831
ISBN : 9780131951839
Condition : Used

Price:

$6.71

Condition :

Shipping & Tax will be calculated at Checkout.
Estimated delivery time 7-14 days.
International delivery time 2 to 4 weeks.

Qty:

- OR -

Add to Wish List
Add to Compare

Reviews(0) | Write a review

Tags: SONG0131951831, 9780131951839, Asian Philosophies, Pearson Higher Education Products, Politics, Society & Social Sciences Products

Description Reviews(0)

Asian Philosophies

With an inside view from an expert in the field, solid scholarship, and a clear and engaging writing style, Asian Philosophies invites students and professors to think along with the great thinkers of the Asian traditions.

John M. Koller is a scholar and teacher who has devoted his life to understanding Asian thought and practice. He wrote this text to give students and professors access to the rich philosophical and religious ideas of both South and East Asia.

About the Author

John M. Koller is a Professor of Asian and Comparative Philosophy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His research areas include Buddhism and Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy of Religion. He is the author of more than fifty journal articles and chapters in edited books as well as five books.

In addition, he is the recipient of several prestigious teaching awards:

Selected Outstanding Educator of America, 1975; Named Outstanding World Philosopher, 2005; Wm. H. Wiley Distinguished Faculty Award, 1986; and Rensselaer Distinguished Teaching Fellow, 1990-92.

Specification of Asian Philosophies

GENERAL
Author	Koller, John
Binding	paperback
Language	english
Edition	5
ISBN-10	131951831
ISBN-13	9780131951839
Publisher	Pearson Higher Education
Publication Year	10-10-2006

Internet Archive:"Koller, John M"

Internet Archive: "Koller, John M"

Asian philosophies 2007

The Indian way 1982

Oriental philosophies

Koller, John M

1985

Asian philosophies

Koller, John M

2007

Oriental philosophies

Koller, John M

1970

The Indian way

Koller, John M

1982

A sourcebook in Asian philosophy

Koller, John M

1991

10 A Final Examination Huston Smith

10 A Final Examination

An Outline Review

Huston Smith's

The World's Religions

(Our Great Wisdom Traditions)

Chapter X. A Final Examination

What have we gotten out of this inquiry? Has it done any good? Three answers are suggested:

A. The Relation between Religions.

This book has found nothing that privileges one tradition above the others, but that could be due to the kind of book it is: It eschews comparisons in principle. Nothing in the comparative study of religions requires that they cross the finishing line of the reader's regard in a dead heat.
There is a second position that holds that the religions are all basically alike. It is suggested that if we were to find ourselves with a single religion tomorrow, it is likely that there would be two the day after.
A third conception of the way the religions are related says that for God to be heard and understood divine revelations would have had to be couched in the idioms of its respective hearers.

B. The Wisdom Traditions. - What wisdom do they offer the world?

1. Ethics - The Decalogue pretty much tells the cross-cultural story: we should avoid murder, thieving, lying, and adultery.
2. Virtues - The wisdom traditions identify as basically three: humility, charity, and veracity.
3. Vision - The wisdom traditions' rendering of the ultimate character of things
a. Things are pervaded by a grand design.
b. Things are better than they seem.
c. Reality is seeped in mystery for which the human mind has no solution except to be transformed by flashes of insight into abiding light.

C. Listening.

If one of the wisdom traditions claims us, we begin by listening to it. We listen not uncritically but we listen expectantly, knowing that it houses more truth than can be encompassed in a single lifetime.
But we also listen to the faith of others, including the secularists. We listen for understanding, understanding can lead to love. But the reverse is also true, love brings understanding; the two are reciprocal.
God speaks to us in three places: in scripture, in our deepest selves, and in the voice of the stranger.

07 Judaism Huston Smith

07 Judaism

An Outline Review

Huston Smith's

The World's Religions

(Our Great Wisdom Traditions)

Chapter VII. Judaism

Part One: Their Passion for Meaning

One-third of our Western civilization bears the mark of its Jewish ancestry. What lifted the Jews from obscurity to permanent religious greatness was their passion for meaning.

A. Meaning in God.
From a very early date, possibly from the very beginning of the biblical record, the Jews were monotheists.
The supreme achievement of Jewish thought was not in its monotheism as such, but in the character it ascribed to the God it intuited as One. God is a God of righteousness, whose loving-kindness is from everlasting to everlasting and whose tender mercies are in all his works.
B. Meaning in Creation.
Judaism affirms the world's goodness, arriving at that conclusion through its assumption that God created it. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" and pronounced it to be good.
To affirm that existence is God-created is to affirm its unimpeachable worth.
The Semitically originated religions emerge as exceptional in insisting that human beings are ineradicably body as well as spirit and that this coupling is not a liability.
C. Meaning in Human Existence.
The striking feature of the Jewish view of human nature is that without blinking at its frailty, it went on to affirm its unspeakable grandeur. We are a blend of dust and divinity.
Human beings, once created, make or break themselves, forging their own destinies through their decisions.
People are God's beloved children.
The ingredients of the most creatively meaningful image of human existence that the mind can conceive - grandeur, sin, freedom, divine parentage; it is difficult to find a flaw in this assessment.
D Meaning in History.
1. For the Bible, history is neither Hinduism maya, illusion or a Greek circular process of nature; it is the arena of God's purposive activity.
2. Second, if contexts are crucial for life, so is collective action; social action.
3. Third, nothing in history happens accidentally; God shapes each sequence as a teaching experience for his people.
4. Finally, all events are important but not equally important. Each opportunity is unique, but some are decisive. For India, human destiny lies outside history altogether. Judaism, by contrast laid the groundwork for social protest. It is in the lands influenced by the Jewish historical perspective that the chief thrusts for social betterment have occurred.
E. Meaning in Morality.
Without moral constraints, human relations would become as snarled as traffic in the Chicago loop if everyone drove at will. The Jewish formulation of "those wise restraints that make men free" is contained in her Law. The Hebrew Bible contains no less than 613 commandments that regulate human behavior. Four of these will suffice for our purposes: the four ethical precepts of the Ten Commandments, for it is through these that Hebraic morality has had its greatest impact.
Appropriated by Christianity and Islam, four of the Ten Commandments constitute the moral foundation of most of the Western world. There are four danger zones in human life that can cause unlimited trouble if they get out of hand:
1. Force - You can bicker and fight, but killing within the in-group will not be permitted, for it instigates blood feuds that shred community. Therefore thou shalt not murder.
2. Wealth - As for possessions, you may make your pile as large as you please and be shrewd and cunning in enterprise. One thing, though, you may not do, and that is pilfer directly off someone else's pile, for this outrages the sense of fair play and builds animosities that become ungovernable. Therefore thou shalt not steal.
3. Sex - You can be a rounder, flirtatious, even promiscuous, and though we do not comment such behavior, we will not get the law after you. But at one point we draw the line: Sexual indulgence of married persons outside the nuptial bond will not be allowed, for it rouses passions the community cannot tolerate. Therefore thou shalt not commit adultery.
4. Speech - You may dissemble and equivocate, but there is one time when we require that you tell the truth, and nothing but the truth. If a dispute reaches such proportions as to be brought before a tribunal, on such occasions the judges must know what happened. If you lie then, while under oath to tell the truth, the penalty will be severe. Thou shalt not bear false witness.
F. Meaning in Justice.
It is to a remarkable group of men we call the prophets more than to any others that Western civilization owes its convictions (1) that the future of any people depends in large part on the justice of its social order, and (2) that individuals are responsible for the social structures of their society as well as for their direct personal dealings.
Whereas the Pre-Writing Prophets Such as Elijah and Elisha challenged individuals the Writing Prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah challenged corruptions in the social order and oppressive institutions.
Thanks to the Prophets, what other nations would have interpreted as simply a power squeeze, the Jews saw as God's warning to clean up their national life: establish justice throughout the land, or be destroyed.
Stated abstractly, the Prophetic Principle can be put as follows: The prerequisite of political stability is social justice, for it is in the nature of things that injustice will not endure.
Stated theologically the point reads: God has high standards. God will not put up forever with exploitation, corruption, and mediocrity.
One thing is common to all the Jewish prophets: the conviction that every human being, simply by virtue of his or her humanity, is a child of God and therefore in possession of rights that even kings must respect. Wealth and splendor count for nothing compared with purity, justice, and mercy.
G. Meaning in Suffering.
From the eighth to the sixth centuries B. C., during which Israel and Judah tottered before the aggressive power of Syria, Assyria, Egypt, and Babylon, the prophets found meaning in their predicament by seeing it as God's way of underscoring the demand for righteousness.
God was using Israel's enemies against her. The experience of defeat and exile was teaching the Jews the true worth of freedom.
Another lesson was that those who remain faithful in adversity will be vindicated.
Stated abstractly, the deepest meaning the Jews found in their Exile was the meaning of vicarious suffering: meaning that enters lives that are willing to endure pain that others might be spared it. "the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
H. Meaning in Messianism.

Part Two: The Hallowing of Life. - Jewish ceremonies and observances

The West, influenced by the Greek partiality for abstract reason, emphasizes theology and creed, the East has approached religion through ritual and narrative.
Ritual plays a part in life that nothing else can fill. In Judaism it aims to hallow life - ideally, all life.
The name for the right approach to life and the world is piety. The secret of piety consists in seeing the entire world as belonging to God and reflecting God's glory.
The Jews preserve this sense of the sanctity of all things through tradition. Judaism the most historically minded of all religions finds holiness and history inseparable.
The basic manual for the hallowing of life is the Law, the first five books of the Bible.

Part Three: Revelation.

The Jews in their interpretation of the major areas of human experience arrived at a more profound grasp of meaning than any of their Mediterranean neighbors; a grasp that in its essentials has not been surpassed.
The Jew's say they did not reach these insight on their own. They were revealed to them.
For the Jews God revealed himself first and foremost in actions - not words but deeds. It was through miracles, divine intervention.
God took the imitative.
The God that the Exodus disclosed was powerful and a God of goodness and love. A God who was intensely concerned with human affairs. It followed that God would want people to be good as well.
Finally, suffering must carry significance because it was unthinkable that a God who had miraculously saved his people would ever abandon them completely. All this took shape for the Jews around the idea of the covenant.
Yahweh would continue to bless the Israelites if they, for their part, would honor the laws they had been given.

Part Four :The Chosen People.

The idea that a universal god decided that the divine nature should be uniquely and incomparably disclosed to a single people is among the most difficult notions to take seriously in the entire study of religion.
The Jews did not see themselves as singled out for privileges. They were chosen to serve, and to suffer the trials that service would often exact.
Isaiah's doctrine of vicarious suffering meant that the Jews were elected to shoulder a suffering that would otherwise have been distributed more widely.
It is the doctrine that God's doings can focus like a burning glass on particular times, places, and peoples - in the interest, to be sure, of intentions that embrace human beings universally.

Part Five: Israel.

Judaism cannot be reduced to its biblical period. In 70 A.D. the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem and the focus of Judaism shifted to Rabbinic Judaism - from the sacrificial rite of the Temple to the study of the Torah and its accompanying Oral Tradition in academies and synagogues around the world.
Today, almost two thousand years later, there are four great sectors of Judaism that still constitute its spiritual anatomy - faith, observance, culture, and nation.
The reasons for the establishment of the modern of Israel in 1948 present complex problems. Without presuming to answer these problems, we can appreciate the burdens they place on the conscience of this exceptionally conscientious people.