Comparative religious insights into the meaning of vocation in today's world The concept of "vocation" or "calling" is a distinctively Christian concern, grounded in the long-h
Comparative religious insights into the meaning of vocation in today's world
The concept of "vocation" or "calling" is a distinctively Christian concern, grounded in the long-held belief that we find our meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in God. But what about religions other than Christianity? What does it mean for someone from another faith tradition to understand calling or vocation?
In this book contributors with expertise in Catholic and Protestant Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism, and secular humanism explore the idea of calling from these eight faith perspectives. The contributors search their respective traditions' sacred texts, key figures, practices, and concepts for wisdom on the meaning of vocation. Greater understanding of diverse faith traditions, say Kathleen Cahalan and Douglas Schuurman, will hopefully increase and improve efforts to build a better, more humane world.
CONTRIBUTORS
Mark Berkson (Confucianism and Daoism)
Kathleen A. Cahalan (Catholicism)
Amy Eilberg (Judaism)
John Kelsay (Islam)
Edward Langerak (Secularism)
Anantanand Rambachan (Hinduism)
Douglas J. Schuurman (Protestantism)
Mark Unno (Buddhism)
Francis X. Clooney, SJ
— Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University
"Calling in Today's World offers broad yet balanced perspectives on a question that rightly preoccupies believers across religious traditions: What is this call that changes one's life, whence does it come, and where does it lead? Whether readers are already convinced of their calling, or seeking to retrieve the very idea of a personal calling, or simply curious about how religious people think themselves called, this volume offers a mature and generous set of aptly nuanced possibilities for study and appropriation."
Kristin Johnston Largen
— Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg
"Each chapter in this interesting, accessible book explores the understanding of 'calling' within the broader picture of a different religion as a whole, helping Christians in particular understand the key concept of vocation from an interreligious perspective. Central figures and texts from each religion are discussed, and the result is a rich picture of how different faith traditions positively inform an individual's life in community and in the world."
Jennifer Peace
— Andover Newton Theological School
"Starting from the Christian concept of 'call,' editors Cahalan and Schuurman have created a dynamic interreligious dialogue in this book, conducted in the particular languages of diverse religious and ethical traditions, altogether speaking eloquently to that deeply human desire to hitch one's own life to meaningful work and ways of being."
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Kathleen A. Cahalan is professor of theology at Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary, Collegeville, Minnesota, and coauthor of Christian Practical Wisdom: What It Is, Why It Matters.
Douglas J. Schuurman is professor of religion at St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, and the author of Vocation: Discerning Our Callings in Life.
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