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concreteness of multiple theological traditions; more attentive to how learning, writing and true knowledge follow from patient reading; more cognizant of the location of faith statements and realizations not only as prior to theological activity, but also as continually recomposed in light of and according to the requirements of that activity. |
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Third, and consequently, this book explores the tension between the study of Advaita and the construction of a (Christian) comparative theology, as this is mediated by a reflective reappropriation of reading as a primary practical avenue of knowledge. It is about the array of smaller and larger practices which are parts of that disciplined reading, and about the realizations that become possible and necessary for the theologian who ventures to read carefully in a tradition distinct from her or his own. |
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This book will therefore attract a variety of readers, including those who may be tempted to read selectively. The interpretation of Advaita which occupies Chapters 2, 3, and 4 breaks new ground in its insistence that we understand Advaita primarily as a theological tradition, and it may be of interest to readers who are not at all concerned with comparative theology. The inquiry into comparison as the practice of intelligent comparative reading, presented chiefly in this chapter and Chapter 5, may be of interest to those curious about the possible uses of reading theory in comparative religious studies, and to those who actually do comparative work; the presentation of a better, textual foundation for comparative theology and of the implied reconstruction of theological practice in general, presented chiefly in Chapter 5, will be of special interest to theologians, including those who specialize in reflection on religions other than their own. But as a whole the book addresses those who are interested in Advaita and theology and reading and comparative work; it is properly understood only when these subsidiary concerns are not separated. |
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In its broader frame the composition of this book reflects on how I, though not an Advaitin, nevertheless chose to become a reader of Advaita, to engage in that reading with some successes and some failures, and consequently to reflect on that |
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