While traditional Christian thought and spirituality
have always affirmed the divine presence in
human life, Thatamanil argues we have much to learn
from non-dualistic Hindu thought, especially that of the
eighth-century thinker Sankara, and from the Christian
panentheism of Paul Tillich. Thatamanil compares their
diagnoses and prognoses of the human predicament in
light of their doctrine of God or Ultimate Reality. What
emerges is a new theology of God and human beings,
with a richer and more radical conception of divine
immanence, a reconceived divine transcendence, and a
keener sense of how the dynamic and active Spirit at work
in us anchors real hope and deep joy.
Using key insights from Christian and Hindu thought
Thatamanil vindicates comparative theology, expands the
vocabulary about the ineffable God, and arrives at a new
construal of the problems and prospects of the human
condition.
"The Immanent Divine vividly demonstrates
how comparative theology is a quickly maturing
discipline, able to engage fundamental and
wide-reaching human and religious issues."
Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Harvard Divinity School
"This is a faithful and engaging inquiry into the theological assumptions of two seminal theologians, Sankara and Paul Tillich, illumining the questions and concerns that are central to all non-dualistic worldviews.... [Thatamanil] creatively shows how the theologies of Sankara and Tillich are enriched by being brought into dialogue with each other and with emerging non-dual perspectives. His detailed and thoughtful analysis is a significant and exciting contribution to non-dual comparative theology and to Hindu-Christian dialogue."
Anantanand Rambachan, Professor of Religion, Saint Olaf College, author of The Advaita Worldview
"In this splendid contribution to the emergent field of comparative theology, an ecstatic Christian ontology encounters an apophatic Asian anthropology. Both transitions undergo a surprising metamorphosis, as Thatamanil becomes midwife to a dynamic nondualism that will prove illumining not only for religious pluralist and philosophical theologians, but for students of mysticism and philosophy, process and postcolonial theology, deconstruction and dogmatics. Here is a rigorous and generous new voice for transdisciplinary theology."
Catherine Keller, Professor of Constructive Theology, Drew University, author of Face of the Deep: A Theology of Becoming