While traditional Christian thought and spirituality have always affirmed the divine presence in human life, Thatamanil argues we have much to learn from non-dualistic Hindu thought, especially that of the eighth-century thinker Sankara, and from the Christian panentheism of Paul Tillich. Thatamanil compares their diagnoses and prognoses of the human predicament in light of their doctrine of God or Ultimate Reality. What emerges is a new theology of God and human beings, with a richer and more radical conception of divine immanence, a reconceived divine transcendence, and a keener sense of how the dynamic and active Spirit at work in us anchors real hope and deep joy.
Using key insights from Christian and Hindu thought, Thatamanil vindicates comparative theology, expands the vocabulary about the ineffable God, and arrives at a new construal of the problems and prospects of the human condition.
"The Immanent Divine vividly demonstrates how comparative theology is a quickly maturing discipline, able to engage fundamental and wide-reaching human and religious issues."
-Francis X. Clooney, S.J., Harvard Divinity School
John J. Thatamanil is Assistant Professor of Theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, Tennessee. His prior teaching has been at Boston University and at Millsaps College. He is past President of the North American Paul Tillich Society.
