Cart
Free Shipping in Australia
Proud to be B-Corp

Hindu Theology and Biology Jonathan B. Edelmann (Assistant Professor of Religion, Mississippi State University)

Hindu Theology and Biology By Jonathan B. Edelmann (Assistant Professor of Religion, Mississippi State University)

Summary

A unique response to the challenging questions raised in the science and religion dialogue by drawing on Hindu theology. Edelmann replies to the sciences through close reading of an important Hindu text, the Bhagavata Purana, as well engaging with Hindu philosophical disciplines such as Samkhya-Yoga.

Hindu Theology and Biology Summary

Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory by Jonathan B. Edelmann (Assistant Professor of Religion, Mississippi State University)

Western intellectual history has benefited from a rich and sophisticated conversation between theology and science, leaving us with centuries of scientific and theological literature on the subjects. Yet the Hindu traditions are virtually unused in responding to the challenging questions raised in the science and religion dialogue. This book replies to the sciences by drawing from an important Hindu text called the Bhagavata Purana, as well as its commentaries, and philosophical disciplines such as eamkhya-Yoga. One of the greatest challenges facing Hindu traditions since the nineteenth century is their own self-understanding in light of science and technology. Hoping to establish the conceptual foundations for a mutually beneficial dialogue between the Hindu Theologies and the Western Sciences, Jonathan B. Edelmann faces that challenge directly. Since so much of the Hinduism-science discussion is tangled in misconstrual, Edelmann clarifies fundamental issues in each tradition, for example the definition of consciousness, the means of generating knowledge and the goal of knowledge itself. He argues that although Darwinian theory seems to entail a materialistic view of consciousness, the Bhagavata's views provide an alternative framework for thinking about Darwinian theory. Furthermore, Edelmann argues that objectivity is a hallmark of modern science, and this is an intellectual virtue shared by the Bhagavata. Lastly, he critiques the view that science and religion have different objects of knowledge (that is, the natural world vs. God), arguing that many Western scientists and theologians have found science helpful in thinking about God in ways similar to that of the Bhagavata.

Hindu Theology and Biology Reviews

Awarded the 2015 Dharma Academy of North America Book Award for Excellence in Constructive Theology, Philosophy and Critical Reflection
In this enterprising study, Jonathan Edelmann shows how the analysis of an ancient Indian text, the Bhagavata Purana, throws into sharp relief the often unquestioned metaphysical naturalism of the modern life sciences. The degree to which a meaningful dialogue can be constructed between the ancient and the modern is a question handled with originality and sensitivity. The result is a fascinating and rewarding exploration of contrasting cultures that, throughout the book, meet in suggestive and surprising ways. * John Hedley Brooke, Oxford University *
Jonathan B. Edelmann achieves what many talk about and few accomplish - the opening of an Indian and Hindu perspective on a topic of contemporary academic relevance, shedding new light on the old debates about Darwin and religion. Hindu Theology and Biology should be welcomed not only by scholars of Hinduism and comparativists, but by all who ponder how religion and science matter to one another, and how we are to understand nature and ourselves in today's religiously diverse era. * Francis X. Clooney, Harvard University *
This is a much-needed book, as it is one of the very few that brings a Hindu theological perspective to bear on the urgent debates on science and religion that currently dominate the Western cultural landscape. In what is often a noisy debate characterised by simplistic assumptions about the nature of religion, Jonathan Edelmann's calm, careful and thoughtful work opens up and nuances the debate, philosophically, theologically and culturally. His delineation of a theology drawn from a reading of the Bh?gavata Pur??a meets the scholarly of those who know Hindu traditions while also being clear to those who are more familiar with Christianity and other traditions. In this, it offers a proper cross-cultural and constructive theological account of areas of natural science, and amply demonstrates that sophisticated and balanced studies of the relationship between theology and the natural sciences are of universal concern. * Chakravarthi Ramprasad, University of Lancaster *
Edelmann provides an insightful elaboration of the dualistic purusa-prakrti ontology of the Samkhya school. * Andrew McGarrity, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies *

Table of Contents

Preface ; Introduction: The Purpose and Possibility of Dialogue ; A Dialogue Between Science and Religion? ; The Meaning of Bhagavata Theology ; Types of Biological Texts ; Anatomy of a Worldview ; 1. Setting the Scene ; Bhagavata Purana Overview ; Contemporary Evolutionary Theory Overview ; 2. Ontology of Body, Mind and Consciousness ; Ontology of the Bhagavata ; Physicalism: Views From Darwin and Neuroscience ; Reconciling Physicalism and the Ontology of the Bh?gavata ; 3. Toward a Bhagavata Theory of Knowledge ; The Instruments of Knowledge ; Relationships Between the Instruments of Knowledge ; Testimony, Nonsensory Perception and Practice ; 4. The Study of Nature as Vaishnava-Yoga ; Cosmic Body ; Cosmogony ; Cosmography ; 5. Seeing Truth, Hearing Truth ; Objectivity in the Natural Sciences ; Testimony in the Sciences ; Transforming Vaishnava Theology: Reflections on Hermeneutics ; 6. Moving from Nature to God ; From Scientific Theory to God ; Closer Comparisons ; Science as a Form of Religious Practice ; Closer Comparisons ; Conclusion

Additional information

NPB9780199641543
9780199641543
0199641544
Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory by Jonathan B. Edelmann (Assistant Professor of Religion, Mississippi State University)
New
Hardback
Oxford University Press
2012-01-26
272
Winner of Winner of the 2011 John Templeton Award for Theological Promise.
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a new book - be the first to read this copy. With untouched pages and a perfect binding, your brand new copy is ready to be opened for the first time

Customer Reviews - Hindu Theology and Biology