This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. This intriguing book compares beliefs concerning the nature of God in a variety of world religions by focusing on a number of
This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. This intriguing book compares beliefs concerning the nature of God in a variety of world religions by focusing on a number of "polarities," or pairs of qualities in the divine character that are seemingly opposed. Carman examines such polarities as supremacy/accessibility, immanence/transcendence, justice/mercy, and majesty/meekness, tracing their roles in the understandings of God expressed by Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism.
Lamin Sanneh
— Yale Divinity School
"In this valuable book Dr. Carman offers a careful and sensitive account of ideas about God in Hinduism and Christianity, with complementary views in Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism. It is a profound theological work that compares religious traditions in order to take seriously the challenge they represent."
Wilfred Cantwell Smith
— Harvard University
"From this study Christians will in an engaging way learn much about others' religious perceptions around the world on matters of central theological importance to us all. More significant yet, they will also learn much about themselves and gain a new, deepened appreciation of Christian issues. . . A striking work."
Robert C. Neville
— Boston University School of Theology
"Majesty and Meekness is the outstanding example to date of the emerging genre of world theology — that is, theology in a religious tradition written in reference to the theologies of other world religious traditions. Carman has the sensitivity of a profound scholar of Hinduism and brings it to the Christian theological themes explored in this book."
Stephen N. Dunning
— University of Pennsylvania
"An extraordinary book. . . The heart of Majesty and Meekness is a formidable grappling with the polarities in the divine nature that express the paradoxical mystery of God's reality and relation to all human beings."
Keith E. Yandell
— University of Wisconsin-Madison
"There is nothing else like this superb phenomenological project that discusses similarities and polarities in concepts of God found in Hindu and Semitic monotheistic traditions. It should be required reading in theology, religious studies, and philosophy of religion courses."
View Review quote
John B. Carman, former director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard University, is professor emeritus of comparative religion at Harvard Divinity School. His previous works include The Theology of Ramanuja: An Essay in Interreligious Understanding.
View Biographical note
