Dr. Keith Ward - Christianity and the Indian Religious Traditions

[@buddhabillybob]

This man helps us understand the love and grace of God. Thank you!!

[@maryknights-rutten4033]

Pity there was no microphone for the questions !

[@vvanamali6286]

His statement that the Vedantins believe that the next birth will always be worse and hence you better get released from the cycle of samsara is such a gross misunderstanding that it is in complete contrast with what one expects from a person with his resume. True dialogue and understanding comes from experiential knowledge, not from reading any number of books. For an authentic encounter between Hinduism and Christianity one should read the words of the Benedictine monk Father Henri Le Saux or Father Bede Griffiths. The words of professors, who look at the problem from an intellectual angle, will be so off the mark and coloured by their beliefs that they will be neither true nor inspiring.

[@joanofarc6402]

V Vanamali hello, they aren’t Catholic so they would never read works from the saints or anything from the church. Once the split happen Protestants pushes forward reinventing the wheel and getting it wrong.

[@haveaniceday7950]

Thank you for posting this i haven't heard of either one.

[@haveaniceday7950]

What's a better interpretation?

[@sumitlala]

That's not true. You next birth can be better than this life. But you still at will be stuck in the material world.

[@maryknights-rutten4033]

I get your response , but if you listen to the whole thing ( I nearly turned it off ) you will hear he was just speaking about one view point , and he goes on to point out the similarities . I found his manner of making jokes about some of the Indian ideas in poor taste , and his sense of superiority rather off putting .

[@rootberg]

Great lecture! I know Keith asked the question rhetorically, but I think clearly the reason we don't use pantheistic language in the Christian tradition is to stress God's transcendence (perhaps in polemic with monisms in greek religion and philosophy?). But surely many western Christians take it to far and turn almost to Deists. Very good and important points made, God is immanent in creation and this is a great starting point for understanding our brothers and sisters in India.

[@arvind13]

You are not even close to understanding. This is the equivalent of using molecular biology to understand economics. It is bound to fail, because they are totally unrelated domains. The fundamental assumptions and paradigm are flawed. Social sciences assume (without any sort of theoretical proof) that religion is a cultural universal. This assumption originated in Christian theology. When Europeans started traveling the world, they 'saw' religion and religious practices wherever they went, because they viewed these practices through the lens of Christian theology. Current social sciences and religious studies still haven't broken out of this theological framework. In this case, Keith War is assuming that the Indian traditions are 'religious'. Infact, descriptions of these 'religions' by anthropologists and theologians tell us more about Western culture and Christianity than they tell us about Indian 'religious' traditions

[@rootberg]

arvind13 I think you are incorrect and demand "theoretical proof".

[@JP-rf8rr]

@@arvind13 I mean regardless if you want to call it religious, it is objectively a view examining the metaphysical foundation of reality which according to aquinas "we call God" Whether or not "religious" is an appropriate term, Keith's comparison is appropriate.

[@keriford54]

Nice talk, I think it is an essential point that because of modern communications this is a smaller world and we must now work out how to have an enriching dialogue with other faiths.

[@nuggetoftruth-ericking7489]

thanks

[@fraserdaniel3999]

I haven't heard much of Dr. Ward but he sounds lot like David Bentley Hart!

[@joanofarc6402]

What happened to the lecture on Indian religions.

[@bayreuth79]

Ramājuna's idea that we are "parts" of the One God is not too dissimilar to the view of Prince Andrei in Tolstoy's War and Peace.

[@truthlivingetc88]

He is a treasure of wit and open minded truthfulness - fluid conceptually and very G++d natured - who the Hell (ahem) is gonna replace Keith when he moves on ?

[@newdawnrising8110]

Christianity and Hinduism have little in common. Natural religion like Buddhism. Taoism and Hindu or Vedic teachings can take man to his highest natural state of unitive consciousness. The experience of “oneness” and the “Self” are expressed in Christian mysticism but the ultimate revelation is Christian. The Word that descends and lifts the donor up to review the Godhead, the Pleroma, the Father of Lights if far beyond the natural religions experience and drugs won’t help you get there either. Only the name of Jesus. The Word of God by Whom all things are created.

[@philipbuckley759]

you lost me, when you went to mix....hmmm, with whom.....try one, or the other, but not both.....sounds like an oximoron....