Exploring Religious Pluralism
From Mystical Theology to the Science-Theology Dialogue

Christopher C. Knight's study re-examines religious pluralism, combining 'mystical theology' with insights from science-theology dialogues.

Christopher C. Knight (Author)

9781009450263, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 March 2024

242 pages
22.2 x 14.6 x 2 cm, 0.45 kg

'This is an excellent and intense book of theology, highly recommendable for scholars and for those looking for better ways to interact with science. It opens new ways and adds new arguments for the immense task we have before us: to render these two cultures less hostile and more collaborative for the good of humanity.' Lluis Oviedo, Reviews in Science, Religion and Theology, International Society of Science and Religion (ISSR)

How can we more deeply understand religious pluralism? In this study, Christopher C. Knight suggests that current explorations of religious pluralism may be supplemented by combining new thinking about divine action with the kind of 'mystical theology' that sees doctrinal statements as aids to contemplation rather than as philosophical truth claims. While Knight sees the 'perennialist' tradition of pluralistic thinking as deeply flawed, he nevertheless proposes that we can adopt a kind of neo-perennialism in which the supposed incompatibilities of different faith traditions may still be seen in the way that perennialists have usually considered them: as relating only to the exotericdimension of religious faith and practice. In this way, he suggests, the perennialist notion of esoteric ecumenism may still be valid. He cautions, nevertheless, that at a methodological level, there may be defensible reasons to hesitate before adopting a full-blown pluralism of this kind.

1. Introduction
2. Apophaticism and perennialism
3. The philosophy of religion and its limitations
4. Philosophy and noetic perception
5. Philosophy and the pluralistic hypothesis
6. Beyond philosophical argument
7. Archetypes and 'platonic' mysticism
8. Noetic perception and the role of the imagination
9. The evolution of religiosity
10. Revelation and divine action: a 'problem' solved?
11. A pluralistic model in the making
12. Pluralism or 'reciprocal inclusivism'?
Afterword.

Subject Areas: Philosophy of religion [HRAB]