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extensions of the very best contemporary thinking in the area of hermenutics in general, and of reader-oriented literary theory in particular. |
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For theologians who are committed to a particular religious tradition, Theology After Vedanta opens a path toward a new kind of theology of religions that combines two elements. The first is a perspective that is "inclusivist" in the sense that it recognizes the potential truth value and soteriological efficacy of the theologies and traditions of "others." The second element, which serves as an essential complement to the first, is a very hard-nosed method for pursuing potentially transformative comparative studies. It is certainly within the realm of possibility that such an inclusivist, comparatively oriented, potentially transformative theology of religions could revitalize contemporary theological research and reflection not only in Christianity, but (with appropriate adaptations) in other religious traditions as well. |
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For those who pursue the comparative philosophy of religions in a non-theological mode, Clooney's work is no less important. At an empirical or descriptive level, his interpretation of his Advaita and Christian texts will foster among such philosophers a new kind of sensitivity to the theological significance of the theological data that they study. At a more theoretical or normative level, Clooney's notion of comparing texts and traditions by means of a back-and-forth process of creatively ordered reading deserves serious consideration. The highly innovative and creative strategies that he employs in a theological mode arein terms of their basic structureequally relevant for comparativists who identify themselves with secular philosophical traditions. |
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FEBRUARY 10, 1992 |
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