The Routledge Handbook of Buddhist-Christian Studies

Buddhist-Christian dialogue has a long and complex history that stretches back to the first centuries of the common era. Comprising42 international and disciplinarily diverse chapters, this volume begins by setting up a framework for examining the nature of Buddhist-Christian interreligious dialogue, discussing how research in this area has been conducted in the past and considering future theoretical directions. Subsequent chapters delve into: important episodes in the history of Buddhist-Christian dialogue; contemporary conversations such as monastic interreligious dialogue, multiple religious identity, and dual religious practice; and Buddhist-Christian cooperation in social justice, social engagement, pastoral care, and interreligious education settings. The volume closes with a section devoted to comparative and constructive explorations of different speculative themes that range from the theological to the philosophical or experiential. This handbook explores how the study of Buddhist-Christian relations has been and ought to be done. The Routledge Handbook of Buddhist-Christian Studies is essential reading for researchers and students interested in Buddhist-Christian studies, Asian religions, and interreligious relationships. It will be of interest to those in fields such as anthropology, political science, theology, and history.

IntroductionCarol Anderson and Thomas Cattoi Part I: Theory and Method 1. The Variety of Methods in Buddhist-Christian StudiesLeo D. Lefebure 2. Buddhism and Christianity through Fractal EyesPerry Schmidt-Leukel 3. Buddhist-Christian Dialogue: A ProposalJim Fredericks 4. The Craft of Interfaith CuriosityJohn P. Keenan 5. Dialogue as Contemplative Practice: Buddhist Contributions to Interreligious DialogueJudith Simmer-Brown 6. Serving Two Masters: Possibilities and Opportunities of Double BelongingPaul Knitter 7. Meeting in kenosisJoseph S. O’Leary Part II: Historical Encounters 8. Christianity in early Tibet: Shreds of EvidenceFrancis Tiso 9. Ippolito Desideri and Buddhist-Christian DialogueTrent Pomplun 10. From Competition to Collaboration: Four Hundred Years of Buddhist-Catholic Engagement in Vietnam, 1620-2020Anh Q. Tran 11. The Christian-Buddhist Encounter in 17th century ChinaThierry Meynard 12. Buddhist-Christian Relations in Colonial and Postcolonial Contexts: the case study of Sri LankaElizabeth J Harris 13. Spiritualities separated at birth or accidentally related? The 'spiritual senses' traditions in Eastern Orthodox Hesychasm and Chan/Zen BuddhismBrandon Gallaher 14. Poor, Yet Making Many Rich: Poverty as Virtue in the Franciscan and Theravada Buddhist monastic traditions Nicholas Alan Worssam Part III: Contemporary Conversations 15. Monastic Interreligious Dialogue and its contribution to Buddhist-Christian encounterFabrice Blée 16. A Comparison of Aquinas and Dogen’s Views on Religious/Monastic LifeChristina Atienza 17. Millennium World: Thomas Merton, Buddhism, & Monastic FuturismJack Lee Downey 18. Constructive Catholic Theology in the Light of a Buddhist ImaginationRoger Haight 19. Heaven and Sukhavati: Martin Luther and Shinran Shonin on Death and What FollowsKristin Johnston Largen 20. Thich Nhat Hanh’s Buddhist-Christian "Practical Theological Vision" for Rebuilding Hope: Co-designing the Practice for Peaceful Communities that Restore Faith, Courage, and LoveSandra Costen Kunz 21. The Buddhist Christian Encounter and the Challenges of Multiple Religious Belonging in AsiaJonathan Seitz 22. Zen Buddhism and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: Toward Mutual Learning and EnrichmentRuben Habito Part III: Social engagement, pastoral care, and the challenge of interreligious education 23. Interreligious Solidarity for an Ecological Civilization: a Catholic and Humanistic Buddhist ConversationJohn Becker 24. Towards a Buddhist Theory of Social Justice: Thich Nhat Hanh, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Just SocietySallie B. King 25. Buddhist-Christian dialogue and inter-religious learningMartin Rötting 26. Herding Cows and Sheep: Giving Guidance in Buddhist and Christian Spiritual FormationPamela Ayo Yetunde and John Chang-Yee Lee 27. Buddhist-Christian Dialogue in ArtGudrun Löwner 28. African American and Womanist Buddhist ThoughtCarolyn M. Jones Medine 29. A brief critical appraisal of the Buddhist Modernism ParadigmNatalie Fisk Quli Part IV: Constructive Reflections 30. A Tibetan epektasis? Gregory of Nyssa’s understanding of spiritual progress and the Gelug pa teaching on the four Buddha bodiesThomas Cattoi 31. Aquinas and Dölpopa, searching for foundationsScott Steinkerchner 32. Eckhart and Dogen on Forgetting the Self: A Contemplative Studies PerspectiveAndré van der Braak 33. Commensurable Saints? Buddhist-Christian Dialogue and Comparative Notions of SanctityMassimo Rondolino 34. The Composite Union of Natures: A Study Comparing the Structures of Hypostatic Union in Chalcedonian Christology and Dharmakara Bodhisattva in Shin-BuddhismYuichi Tsunoda 35. On Religious Engagement: Shinran and Heidegger’s PaulDennis Hirota 36. Creative Tensions in Buddhist and Christian DoctrineHugh Nicholson 37. The Paths of Purification: Buddhaghosa and John of the CrossPeter Feldmeier 38. Irreversibility and Reciprocity in the Divine-Human RelationshipYutaka Tanaka 39. "Being in Love": Religious Conversion in Bernard Lonergan and the Lotus SutraHiroshi Munehiro Niwano 40. Buddhist-Christian dialogue and the Kyoto schoolMartin Repp 41. The Deaths of Buddha and JesusJ. Abraham Velez de Cea 42. Matchless on Their Way: Comparative Reflections on Christ and the BodhisattvaS. Mark Heim

Carol S. Anderson is Professor of Religion at Kalamazoo College, U.S.A. Thomas Cattoi is Associate Professor in Christology and Cultures at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University and the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, U.S.A.