The Incarnation in Comparative Perspective

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This class introduces students to the Incarnation and divine embodiment in comparative perspective by contrasting theologies of incarnation in Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Daoism. Topics discussed include the purpose or reasons for the incarnation, its relationship to salvation and deification, and its presence in the community through the sacraments. Readings from the Christian tradition will include Origen, St. Athanasius, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Maximus the Confessor, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Bonaventure, Bl. John Duns Scotus, Maurice Blondel, Teilhard de Chardin, Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Sergius Bulgakov. Readings from non-Christian authors will include Ādi Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja, Vedāntadeśika, Rūpa Gosvāmī, Abhinavagupta, Aghoraśiva, and several Mahāyāna Buddhist authors. Special attention will also be given to analogues of the devotion to the Sacred Heart in different religious traditions.