Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras

by Diana L. Eck

Overview

A clarion call for interfaith dialogue in the U.S., this “splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God . . . encourages an increased religious literacy that . . . will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity” (Publishers Weekly)
 
In this tenth-anniversary edition of Encountering God, religious scholar Diana Eck shows why dialogue with people of other faiths remains crucial in today’s interdependent world—globally, nationally, and even locally.
 
As the director of the Pluralism Project—which seeks to map the new religious diversity of the United States, from Hinduism and Buddhism to Islam—she reveals how her own encounters with other religions have shaped and enlarged her Christian faith toward a bold new Christian pluralism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807073049
Publisher:	Beacon Press
Publication date:	10/28/2014
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	284
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Diana L. Eck is professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, and author of A New Religious America. She was involved in the interfaith dialogue program of the World Council of Churches for fifteen years.

Table of Contents

	Preface 2003	ix
	Preface 1993	xvii
1.	Bozeman to Banaras: Questions from the Passage to India	1
2.	Frontiers of Encounter: The Meeting of East and West in America since the 1893 World's Parliament of Religions	22
3.	The Names of God: The Meaning of God's Manyness	45
4.	The Faces of God: Discovering the Incarnation in India	81
5.	The Breath of God: The Fire and Freedom of the Spirit	118
6.	Attention to God: The Practice of Prayer and Meditation	144
7.	"Is Our God Listening?": Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism	166
8.	The Imagined Community: Spiritual Interdependence and a Wider Sense of "We"	200
	Notes	233
	Selected Readings	245
	Index	253

Editorial Reviews

Eck, a leader in interfaith dialogue movements and professor of comparative religion at Harvard, here scans the current religious landscape, reshaped by recent immigrants to the U.S., and examines ``the challenge that religious diversity poses to people of faith in every religious tradition.'' Her personal Christian grounding in Methodism, begun in Bozeman, Mont., has been enhanced by Eastern spirituality, particularly her encounters with Hinduism during her studies and travels in India. ``Today these two places, Bozeman and Banaras, both convey the spiritual meaning of home to me.'' In examining the differences among religious cultures, Eck continually places the Christian believer in relationship with those who follow Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Native American religious practices. In a splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God, Eck encourages an increased religious literacy that she suggests will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

A Harvard professor of religion and Indian studies, as well as a lifelong Methodist Christian, Eck explores ways in which her ``encounters with people of other faiths have challenged, changed, and deepened'' her own faith. Her 15 years on the World Council of Churches' Working Group on Dialog with People of Living Faiths gave her many opportunities for substantive dialog that has enriched her life and will benefit both the educated public and religious professionals. Highly recommended.

Library Journal

A beautiful apologia. A genre of "dialogue theology" is emerging that provides a model of sharing that goes well beyond ecumenism. Eck's work would have delighted prophets such as Thomas Merton, who foretold the effects of braiding traditions so as to give strength to the spiritual life (Eck cites four of his works). The bibliography of this book is a roster of names who have created a festival of understanding. With this account of her life journey, Eck will be incorporated in the list of twentieth-century interpreters who have facilitated the conversations of men and women dedicated to the interior life. The stream of understanding is swelling and slaking the thirst of many and different hearts, thanks to this new unifying theology, which regards each view of divinity as something precious.

Gary Young

In a splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God, Eck encourages an increased religious literacy that she suggests will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity.”
—Publishers Weekly

“There cannot be a wiser or more authoritative guide to this challenging world of diverse spirituality than Diana Eck.”
—Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God

“Eck has put the structure and content of her beliefs on the line while opening herself to encounter deep places of living, vibrant faith in other religious traditions. Her Christian faith commitment is apparent, as is her dedication to dialogue, and she has managed deftly to balance the two, presenting a nuanced discussion of the richness that can be gained from such authentic encounters both here and abroad.”
—Parabola

“Although Encountering God is the work of a scholar and is throughout informed by scholarship, its intended audience is anyone who has ever entertained spiritual and religious questions.”
—Boston Phoenix

“With this account of her life journey, Eck will be incorporated in the list of twentieth-century interpreters who have facilitated the conversations of men and women dedicated to the interior life.”
—Booklist

“This book is not simply a personal diary. It is also both an urgent call for interreligious dialogue and a theological argument for that pluralism underlying such dialogue.”
—Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher