The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism PDF Download
Are you looking for read ebook online? Search for your book and save it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Download The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism PDF full book. Access full book title The Spirit of Contradiction in Christianity and Buddhism by Hugh Nicholson. Download full books in PDF and EPUB format.
Author: Hugh Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613823
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book
Book Description
The cognitive science of religion has shown that abstract religious concepts within many established religious traditions often fail to correspond to the beliefs of the vast majority of those religions' adherents. And yet, while the cognitive approach to religion has explained why these "theologically correct" doctrines have difficulty taking root in popular religious thought, it is largely silent on the question of how they developed in the first place. Hugh Nicholson aims to fill this gap by arguing that such doctrines can be understood as developing out of social identity processes. He focuses on the historical development of the Christian doctrine of Consubstantiality, the claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, and the Buddhist doctrine of No-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents. Both doctrines are maximally counterintuitive, in the sense that they violate the default expectations that human beings spontaneously make about the basic categories of things in the world. Nicholson argues that that these doctrines were each the products of intra- and inter-religious rivalry, in which one faction tried to get the upper hand over its ingroup rivals by maximizing the contrast with the dominant outgroup. Thus the "pro-Nicene" theologians of the fourth century developed the concept of Consubstantiality in the context of an effort to maximize, against their "Arian" rivals, the contrast with Christianity's archetypal "other," Judaism. Similarly, the No-self doctrine stemmed from an effort to maximize, against the so-called Personalist schools of Buddhism, the contrast with Brahmanical Hinduism with its doctrine of an unchanging and eternal self. In this way, Nicholson shows how religious traditions, to the extent that their development is driven by social identity processes, can back themselves into doctrinal positions that they must then retrospectively justify.
Author: Hugh Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613823
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book
Book Description
The cognitive science of religion has shown that abstract religious concepts within many established religious traditions often fail to correspond to the beliefs of the vast majority of those religions' adherents. And yet, while the cognitive approach to religion has explained why these "theologically correct" doctrines have difficulty taking root in popular religious thought, it is largely silent on the question of how they developed in the first place. Hugh Nicholson aims to fill this gap by arguing that such doctrines can be understood as developing out of social identity processes. He focuses on the historical development of the Christian doctrine of Consubstantiality, the claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, and the Buddhist doctrine of No-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents. Both doctrines are maximally counterintuitive, in the sense that they violate the default expectations that human beings spontaneously make about the basic categories of things in the world. Nicholson argues that that these doctrines were each the products of intra- and inter-religious rivalry, in which one faction tried to get the upper hand over its ingroup rivals by maximizing the contrast with the dominant outgroup. Thus the "pro-Nicene" theologians of the fourth century developed the concept of Consubstantiality in the context of an effort to maximize, against their "Arian" rivals, the contrast with Christianity's archetypal "other," Judaism. Similarly, the No-self doctrine stemmed from an effort to maximize, against the so-called Personalist schools of Buddhism, the contrast with Brahmanical Hinduism with its doctrine of an unchanging and eternal self. In this way, Nicholson shows how religious traditions, to the extent that their development is driven by social identity processes, can back themselves into doctrinal positions that they must then retrospectively justify.
Author: Hugh R. Nicholson
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780190455361
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book
Book Description
Hugh Nicholson examines the role of social identity processes in the development of two religious concepts. The first of these is the Christian claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, a concept which forms the basis of the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. The second is the Buddhist doctrine of No-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents. Both doctrines are massively counterintuitive in the sense that they violate the default expectations that human beings spontaneously make about basic categories of things in the world. The book argues that the development of counterintuitive doctrines like No-self and consubstantiality can be understood in terms of the social psychological principle that, all things being equal, members of a group will seek to maximise the contrast with the dominant out-group.
Author: Hugh Nicholson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190455357
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book
Book Description
The cognitive science of religion has shown that abstract religious concepts within many established religious traditions often fail to correspond to the beliefs of the vast majority of those religions' adherents. And yet, while the cognitive approach to religion has explained why these "theologically correct" doctrines have difficulty taking root in popular religious thought, it is largely silent on the question of how they developed in the first place. Hugh Nicholson aims to fill this gap by arguing that such doctrines can be understood as developing out of social identity processes. He focuses on the historical development of the Christian doctrine of Consubstantiality, the claim that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, and the Buddhist doctrine of No-self, the claim that the personality is reducible to its impersonal physical and psychological constituents. Both doctrines are maximally counterintuitive, in the sense that they violate the default expectations that human beings spontaneously make about the basic categories of things in the world. Nicholson argues that that these doctrines were each the products of intra- and inter-religious rivalry, in which one faction tried to get the upper hand over its ingroup rivals by maximizing the contrast with the dominant outgroup. Thus the "pro-Nicene" theologians of the fourth century developed the concept of Consubstantiality in the context of an effort to maximize, against their "Arian" rivals, the contrast with Christianity's archetypal "other," Judaism. Similarly, the No-self doctrine stemmed from an effort to maximize, against the so-called Personalist schools of Buddhism, the contrast with Brahmanical Hinduism with its doctrine of an unchanging and eternal self. In this way, Nicholson shows how religious traditions, to the extent that their development is driven by social identity processes, can back themselves into doctrinal positions that they must then retrospectively justify.
Author: Amos Yong
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 900423117X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 322
Get Book
Book Description
This project at the interface of Buddhist-Christian studies, comparative theology, and Christian systematic theology proceeds by way of exploring questions related to the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit in a 21st century world of many faiths.
Author: Fredericks, James L.
Publisher: Orbis Books
ISBN: 1608333817
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book
Book Description
Buddhists and Christians examines Christian teachings about other religions to argue that the next step to dialogue is ""comparative theology."" Fredericks asks why the Buddha refused to engage in God-talk and suggests that understanding the answer to this question will help Christians and Buddhists to have better communication and to find that God reveals the way to mutual comprehension and deeper solidarity.
Author: Thomas Sterling Berry
Publisher: Asian Educational Services
ISBN: 9788120612181
Category : Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Get Book
Book Description
A Comparison And A Contrast (Non-Christian Religious System Series).
Author: Andy Wrasman
Publisher: WestBow Press
ISBN: 1490819290
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 267
Get Book
Book Description
Tolerance and co-existence are both great! In fact, they are necessary. If we are to live together in peace without hating each other, or physically harming each other over differences in race, culture, sexual orientation, political views, and religious beliefs, we must have tolerance. However, we must also recognize that every belief can't be equally valid. If two beliefs directly contradict each other, both of them cannot be true, no matter how "tolerant" we become. This means it is false to say that every religion is true, or that every religion leads to God. When people make such claims they show that they have not taken the time to study the world's religions, because a brief reading of the sacred texts of only a handful of religions quickly reveals contradictions on the most fundamental levels. Religious Contradictions Reincarnation (Hinduism and Buddhism) contradicts the belief that this is your only life before eternity (Christianity, Judaism, and Islam). Salvation from sin (Christianity) contradicts the belief that there is no sin to be saved from but simply pain that can be escaped through enlightenment (Buddhism). Jesus Christ is the incarnate, Son of God (Christianity), contradicts the teaching that he is just a prophet (Islam) or that he was a false prophet (Judaism). In light of these contradictions alone, all religions can't be true. They could all be false, but they can't all be true. Are any of them true? This is the most important question anyone can ask. Recognize religious contradictions. Embrace them. Test them. Seek the truth. www.contradictmovement.org
Author: Amos Yong
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004230491
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Get Book
Book Description
The interjection of pneumatology in both theologies of interreligious dialogue and in the theology-and-science conversation comes together in this volume. The resulting Christianity-Buddhism-science trialogue opens up to new pneumatological perspectives on philosophical cosmology and anthropology in interdisciplinary and global context.
Author: Joseph T. Arellano
Publisher: Trafford Publishing
ISBN: 1412008646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 309
Get Book
Book Description
This work supports the proposition that the eradication of religion will make us live as one, and there is only one way to remove religion and that is to remove the need for it. Armed only with reason, this work will prove that due to ignorance religion is just an invention to fill a need. This work has three segments. The first explores - from the point of view of a Christian-practicing Pagan - the process on how myth became reality. It will prove that God was invented, and re-invented perpetually, for necessity and convenience. It is that need that gave the bible its religious relevance. Understood with a naked mind, the bible is far from being just a religious document but a political one. This work explores why religion and politics cannot and will not separate. Hence, unavoidably, it dipped its hands into one painful political issue - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The second part elucidates that if the foundation is a myth it only follows that what was founded on it - Jesus - is a lie. It will give proof to the fact that the New Testament was manipulated to further vested interest. Understood with an unconditioned mind, that is, without the traditional spirituality attached to it, it will prove that Jesus is just selfishly scheming to regain his grandfather David's throne; it will also prove that Jesus is gay. The last part is my way of introducing Buddhism. It could shed light to what Western science is exiting themselves about. It answers why man will never find the Missing Link. It explains how and why advanced civilizations deteriorated to their present state. In our fight against virus causing disease we must explore all avenues to defeat it, Buddhism offers one. Buddhism is not only about science, it is also about religion; it delves into the reality of a soul. Buddhism gives us reason on why we must discriminate on account of race, or for any other reason.
Author: Ravi Zacharias
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 1588601145
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 97
Get Book
Book Description
Popular scholar Ravi Zacharias sets a captivating scene between Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha in the first book of the Conversations with Jesus series. Have you ever wondered what Jesus would say to Mohammed? Or Buddha? Or Oscar Wilde? Maybe you have a friend who practices another religion or admires a more contemporary figure. Drop in on a conversation between Jesus and some well-known individuals whose search for the meaning of life took them in many directions--and influenced millions. Through dialogue between Christ and Gautama Buddha, Zacharias reveals Jesus' warm, impassioned concern for all people and explores God's true nature.
