This collection features books and book contributions written by faculty in the Department of Religious Studies at Fairfield University.
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Inculturation and the Church in North America (The Boston College-Church in the 21st Century Series)
T. Frank Kennedy S.J. and Nancy Dallavalle
Nancy Dallavalle is a contributing author, “Resiliant Citizens: The Public (and Gendered) Face of American Catholicism".
Book description: What does the Church look like to outsiders? How do Catholics understand their shared identify from within? How do Catholics participate in the Church, and what is distinctive about the Church in diverse settings? In Inculturation and the Church in North America, T. Frank Kennedy introduces the work of leading Catholic theologians, writers, and scholars to address the challenge of inculturation in the North American context.
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Faith in America: Changes, Challenges, New Directions - Volume 1: Organized Religion Today
Charles H. Lippy and Paul F. Lakeland
Paul Lakeland is a contributing author, "Roman Catholicism After the Sex Scandals", pp. 445-461.
Book description: Addresses the current state of religion in the U.S. and examines the many ways it has changed and been transformed, as well as how those changes impact us personally and as a society.
Over the last 25 years, there has been much talk of the presumed decline in religious participation in America. In addition, from the 1960s on, surveys that mark the influence of religion in American life have shown a mixed response. Many suggest that religion is losing influence in the culture as a whole; others indicate that while organized religion may be experiencing challenges, spirituality is on the upswing. At the same time, however, there have been signs that religious life in the U.S. is extraordinarily healthy. But religion in America has changed, to be sure, in a number of ways. And it has changed us and our culture in return. This timely set looks at the major forces that are changing the shape of religion in American life.
With an influx of immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and other regions, the diversity of religion has grown to include Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and other faiths. Latin American and African American communities have experienced changes in the ways they practice their faith and in turn influence American culture in general. Women have entered the clergy in record numbers, and the push for allowing women and gays to enter the clergy in religions that limit or prohibit their roles is on the increase. In addition, gay couples are leading the same-sex marriage movement, and other social issues such as abortion, stem-cell research, end of life care, etc., are still being debated. Interest over how people actually live out their religion or spirituality has mushroomed in recent decades, thanks in part to the information revolution and popular culture. What folks do when they gather together to worship, and where they come together, has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet and the role of sports in American life. So much has changed, and faith in America has become more important than ever—as part of our culture, our way of life, and the way we relate to each other and the world around us. The essays found in these pages shed light on our understanding of these transformations and help us comprehend the enormous role of religion in our society and in our world.
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The Culture of Secrecy in Japanese Religion
Bernhard Scheid, Mark Teeuwan, and Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald M. Davidson is a contributing author, "The Problem of Secrecy in Indian Tantric Buddhism", pp. 60-77.
The Japanese Middle Ages were a period when forms of secrecy dominated religious practice. This fascinating collection traces out the secret characteristics and practices in Japanese religion, as well as analyzing the decline of religious esotericism in Japan. The essays in this impressive work refer to Esoteric Buddhism as the core of Japan’s "culture of secrecy". Esoteric Buddhism developed in almost all Buddhist countries of Asia, but it was of particular importance in Japan where its impact went far beyond the borders of Buddhism, also affecting Shinto as well as non-religious forms of discourse. The contributors focus on the impact of Esoteric Buddhism on Japanese culture, and also include comparative chapters on India and China. Whilst concentrating on the Japanese medieval period, this book will give readers familiar with present day Japan, many explanations for the still visible remnants of Japan’s medieval culture of secrecy.
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Tradition and Tradition Theories: An International Discussion
Siegfried Wiedenhofer, Torsten Larbig, and John E. Thiel
John E. Thiel is a contributing author, "Romantic Difficulties: Thoughts on the Form-Content Theory of Doctrinal Development," pp.356-374.
Recently, cultural and religious traditions have found new broad and intensive attention in different areas of scholarship. This is especially true with reference to two important theoretical and practical questions. The first one is how cultural and religious traditions work and develop in the context of modern societies. The second one is how do they work and develop in the context of globalisation when they are forced to meet each other in a radical new way. The main goal of the volume is to present a more or less representative survey of the international discussion on a theory of cultural and religious traditions, in order to stimulate interdisciplinary and international collaboration. Therefore, representatives of all relevant disciplines and of as many as possible approaches are invited to contribute.
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Church Ethics and Its Organizational Context: Learning from the Sex Abuse Scandal in the Catholic Church
Jean M. Bartunek, Mary Ann Hinsdale, James F. Keenan, and Paul F. Lakeland
Paul Lakeland is a contributing author, "Understanding the Crisis in the Church", pp. 3-15.
Book description: Church Ethics and Its Organizational Context is the first book to provide a broadly interdisciplinary approach to understanding the leadership crisis in the Catholic Church in the wake of the sex abuse scandal and how it was handled. Well-known scholars, religious clergy, and laymen in the trenches of church formation and leadership come together from the disciplines of organizational behavior, theology, sociology, history, and law, to foster the creation of a new code of ethics that is both ecclesial and professional. Touching on issues of governance, authority, accountability, and transparency, this volume goes on to specifically explore whether and how professional ethics can shape the identity and actions of Church leaders, ministers, and their congregations. While evoked by the sex scandal in the Church, the essays in this book raise questions that have implications far beyond this current issue, to much broader issues such as the role of professionalism in ethics and what it means for an organization to engage in moral action.
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Lay Leaders in Catholic Higher Education: An Emerging Paradigm for the Twenty-first Century
Anthony J. Cernera and John E. Thiel
John E. Thiel is a contributing author, "Response to Anthony J. Cernera," pp.63-69.
Since the Second Vatican Council, lay women and men are assuming greater responsibility for guiding the mission of the Catholic Church in the modern world. This is particularly the case in institutions of Catholic higher education in the United States. The eighteen essays in this volume, based on presentations at a conference sponsored by Sacred Heart University and the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, examine the many challenges facing lay leaders of Catholic institutions of higher learning. The volume begins with a report on a detailed study of the background of lay leaders; the essays that follow address such topics as spirituality and lay leadership, the relationship between a school and its sponsors, cultivating Catholic identity on campus, and defining and implementing the mission of a school.
Although the volume will be of particular interest to Catholic educators, its examination of broad topics such as academic and administrative leadership geared to public service as well as faith will be useful to all those working to shape the colleges and universities of the twenty-first century into communities of social engagement as well as personal growth.
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Tibetan Renaissance: Tantric Buddhism in the Rebirth of Tibetan Culture
Ronald M. Davidson
How did a society on the edge of collapse and dominated by wandering bands of armed men give way to a vibrant Buddhist culture, led by yogins and scholars? Ronald M. Davidson explores how the translation and spread of esoteric Buddhist texts dramatically shaped Tibetan society and led to its rise as the center of Buddhist culture throughout Asia, replacing India as the perceived source of religious ideology and tradition. During the Tibetan Renaissance (950-1200 C.E.), monks and yogins translated an enormous number of Indian Buddhist texts. They employed the evolving literature and practices of esoteric Buddhism as the basis to reconstruct Tibetan religious, cultural, and political institutions. Many translators achieved the de facto status of feudal lords and while not always loyal to their Buddhist vows, these figures helped solidify political power in the hands of religious authorities and began a process that led to the Dalai Lama's theocracy. Davidson's vivid portraits of the monks, priests, popular preachers, yogins, and aristocratic clans who changed Tibetan society and culture further enhance his perspectives on the tensions and transformations that characterized medieval Tibet.
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The Cambridge Companion to Karl Rahner
Mary Hines, Declan Marmion, and Nancy Dallavalle
Nancy Dallavalle is a contributing author, “Feminist Theologies".
Book description: Karl Rahner (1904-1984) was one of the most significant theological voices of the twentieth century. For many his theology symbolizes the Catholic Church's entry into modernity. Part of his enduring appeal lies in his ability to reflect on a variety of issues in theology and spirituality and direct this plurality into a few basic convictions. In addition to the main themes of Rahner's work, this Companion assesses his significance for contemporary theology through dialogues with many current concerns including: religious pluralism, spirituality, postmodernism, ecumenism, ethics and developments in political and feminist theologies.
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Constructive Theology: A Contemporary Approach to Classical Themes: A project on the workgroup on constructive theology
Paul F. Lakeland, Serena Jones, and John E. Thiel
Paul Lakeland is an editor and a contributing author, "Preface," pp. vii-viii, and "Church," Chapter 5, pp.201-238.
John E. Thiel is a contributing author, "Sin and Evil," Chapter 3, pp. 117-160.
Coordinated by Serene Jones of Yale Divinity School and Paul Lakeland of Fairfield University, fifty of North America's top teaching theologians (members of the Workgroup on Constructive Christian Theology) have devised a text that allows students to experience the deeper point of theological questions, to delve into the fractures and disagreements that figured in the development of traditional Christian doctrines, and to sample the diverse and conflicting theological voices that vie for allegiance today.
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Encyclopedia of Buddhism, 1st Edition
Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald Davidison is a contributing author, "“Vajrayāna,” “Tantra,” “Initiation,” “Tibetan Buddhism,” and “Sakya Paṇḍita.”
Book description: Providing a comprehensive overview of one of Asia's most important religious and social forces, the Encyclopedia of Buddhism describes the Buddhist world view, basic teachings and practices of Buddhism, as well as its different schools and sects. In addition to containing entries on Buddhist scriptures, art, architecture, saints, demons, monastic orders, festivals, rites and ceremonies, this 2-vol. set explores the history of Buddhism, the different forms it has taken in different parts of the world, and how Buddhism has blended with other religions like Shinto, Confucianism, Daoism and Christianity.
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Cosmogony and the Origins: Lungta (Amnye Machen Institute) 16
Roberto Vitali and Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald M. Davidson is a contributing author, "The Kingly Cosmogonic Narrative and Tibetan Histories: Indian Origins, Tibetan Space, and the bKa’ ’chems ka khol ma Synthesis", pp. 64-83.
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The Liberation of the Laity: In Search of an Accountable Church
Paul F. Lakeland
The present crisis in the American Catholic Church stems from a two-fold source: lay people are powerless while the bishops are accountable to no one but the pope and the curia. While the number of lay people exercising ministries in the church has grown enormously over the past thirty years (largely due to the shortage of priests), there has been little or no theological reflection till now on the genuine role of the laity. It is only from such reflection that structural reform of the church will come.The first half of The Liberation of the Laity concentrates on the fortunes of the laity, theologically speaking, between Vatican I (1870) and Vatican II (1962-65). It examines the growth of the "new theology" in France in the 1940s and 1950s and shows how in the work of one of its leading practitioners, Yves Congar, much of the vision of the laity expressed at Vatican II was anticipated. Seeing the years after the council as decades of missed opportunities to recognize the role of the laity, the book then turns to a series of constructive proposals for the liberation of the laity, and thus the liberation of the church. It discusses the importance of "secularity," the need for a "lay liberation theology," and the centrality of the struggles against global capitalism in the mission of the church. It ends with a chapter envisioning dramatic changes in ministry and governing structures, in which accountability will be central, "servant leaders" will include women and married people, and both ecclesiastical careerism and the College of Cardinals will be history.
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Abhidharma Buddhist Philosophy
Karl Potter and Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald M. Davidson is a contributing author, "Sthiramati's Pañcaskandhaprakaranavaibhasya", pp. 514-523.
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Indian Esoteric Buddhism: A Social History of the Tantric Movement
Ronald M. Davidson
Book description: Despite the rapid spread of Buddhism -- especially the esoteric system of Tantra, one of its most popular yet most misunderstood forms -- the historical origins of Buddhist thought and practice remain obscure. This groundbreaking work describes the genesis of the Tantric movement in early medieval India, where it developed as a response to, and in some ways an example of, the feudalization of Indian society. Drawing on primary documents -- many translated for the first time -- from Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tibetan, Bengali, and Chinese, Ronald Davidson shows how changes in medieval Indian society, including economic and patronage crises, a decline in women's participation, and the formation of large monastic orders, led to the rise of the esoteric tradition in India that became the model for Buddhist cultures in China, Tibet, and Japan.
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Proceedings of the Ninth Seminar of the IATS, 2000. Volume 10: The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism
Helmut Eimer, David Germano, and Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald M. Davidson is a contributing author, "Gsar ma Apocrypha: The Creation of Orthodoxy, Gray Texts, and the New Revelation", pp. 203-224.
Subject of The Many Canons of Tibetan Buddhism are both the mainstream Tibetan canons of translated Buddhist classics (known as the Bka' 'gyur & Bstan 'gyur), and the alternative canons of literature of the Nyingma sectarian traditions (known as the Rnying ma rgyud 'bum). The first section discusses the formation and transmission of Tibetan "canonical" texts, but also includes important works of reference, such as a Bka' gdams pa handbook and several unique catalogues. It also features a first report on Tibetan textual transmission in Mongolia. The second section not only presents interpretative analysis of one of the most important alternative canons in Tibet, the Rnying ma rgyud 'bum, but also discusses essential issues of legitimacy, authority and lineage during the "gray" period of the tenth to twelfth centuries which laid the foundation for the formation of all ensuing Tibetan canons. The volume thus develops fresh perspectives on the nature, plurality and contents of canons in Tibetan Buddhism.
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Professing in the Postmodern Academy: Faculty and the Future of Church-Related Colleges
Stephen R. Haynes and Paul F. Lakeland
Paul Lakeland is a contributing author, “The Habit of Empathy”.
Book description: Professing in the Postmodern Academy examines the landscape of religiously affiliated higher education in America from the perspective of faculty members critically committed to the future of church-related institutions. The book includes articles on a variety of topics from members of the Rhodes Consultation on the Future of Church-Related College, a project that has involved ninety church-related institutions since 1996.
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God, Evil, and Innocent Suffering: A Theological Reflection
John E. Thiel
Do people suffer only because they deserve to suffer? According to classical Christian belief, yes. John Thiel, however, insists that some people who suffer are truly innocent. Innocent suffering suggests a different way of thinking about God’s presence, including how God is not directly involved in human suffering and death.
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Divine Aporia: Postmodern Conversations About the Other
John C. Hawley and Paul F. Lakeland
Paul Lakeland is a contributing author, “Is the Holy Wholly Other, and is the Wholly Other Really Holy? Reflections on the Postmodern Doctrine of God”.
Book description: The fifteen essays in Divine Aporia are structured to accentuate three major ways of approaching the common theme of otherness or alterity. The book's appeal will be clear to humanists who are interested in interdisciplinary studies, especially scholars of literature and literary criticism, philosophers of religion, feminist theologians, religious ethicists, and those biblical theorists who are integrating current veins in hermeneutical and cultural theories with more traditional tools of textual and historical criticism. The book seeks to record the ongoing conversation between two traditions in the West: the empiricist, philistine, and basely pragmatic, versus the alternative vatic approach that, in the words of John Milbank, "construes empiricism as openness to the strange and unclassifiable, and pragmatism as surrender to the surprise of that which is mediated to us through language."
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Senses of Tradition: Continuity and Development in Catholic Faith
John E. Thiel
This book articulates a theory of Catholic tradition that departs from previous understandings. Drawing on the medieval concept of the four-fold sense of scripture, John Thiel proposes four interpretive senses of tradition. He also offers a theory of doctrinal development that reconciles Catholic belief in apostolic authority and continuity of tradition with a critical approach to the evidence of history.
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Changing Churches: The Local Church and the Structures of Change
Michael Warren and Paul F. Lakeland
Paul Lakeland is a contributing author, "Raising Lay Consciousness: the Liberation of the Church”, pp. 163-184.
Book description: This exploration of church culture for pastors and parish ministers of any tradition confronts the hard questions facing church leaders as we enter the third millennium. It helps to integrate the changeless ecclesiastical elements with the changing elements of history and cultural geography.
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Source and Summit: Commemorating Josef A. Jungmann, S.J.
Michael Downey, Joanne Pierce, and Nancy Dallavalle
Nancy Dallavalle is a contributing author, "Fides Trinitatis: Liturgical Practice and the Economy of Salvation".
Book description: It is almost impossible to overestimate the impact that Josef Andreas Jungmann, SJ, (1889-1975) and his work have had on the liturgical reforms which flowed from Vatican Council II. In Source and Summit editors and authors honor the memory of one of the greatest liturgical scholars of the twentieth century, not just by reflecting on Jungmann's past achievements, but by highlighting the trajectories of his influence on the life of the Church twenty-five years after his death and into the next century.
As a common starting point from which various authors offer reflections, Pierce begins by summarizing Jungmann’s essay "The Defeat of Teutonic Arianism and the Revolution in Religious Culture in the Early Middle Ages." Pierce and Downey then group the essays of Source and Summit into four general categories, which reflect four governing concerns: Jungmann’s own context, historical, and theological considerations, differing perspectives, and present and future implications. The first two groups of articles address the context out of which Jungmann’s essay (and the whole of his work) appears, either theologically or historically. The third group provides a spectrum of reflection from different denominational or methodological “lenses” that serve to expand on Jungmann’s immediate horizon. Finally, the fourth group of essays deal with more theoretical ramifications of Jungmann’s thought and work, critical ramifications that extend beyond the initial context and point to the liturgical future.
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Dharmakirti's Thought and Its Impact on Indian and Tibetan Philosophy--Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Dharmakirti and Pramana
Katsuru Shoryu and Ronald M. Davidson
Ronald M. Davidson is a contributing author, "Masquerading as Pramana: Esoteric Buddhism and Epistemological Nomenclature", pp. 25-35.
The proceedings of the Third International Dharmakirti Conference held in Hiroshima in 1997 collect a number of papers devoted to the study of the great seventh-century Buddhist philosopher, Dharmakirti, and his impacts upon the succeeding generations of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist philosophers in India and Tibet. The Second International Dharmakirti Conference was held in Vienna, and its proceedings, Studies in the Buddhist Epistemological Tradition, have been published in this same series. The present volume contains the results of the important researches made by the major Dharmakirtian scholars in the world since the last conference, so that the readers can discover the present state of affairs in the field of Buddhist epistemology and logic. Some papers are concerned with the epistemological topics, such as the notion of perceptibility, and others with the purely logical problems like an empty subject. Some deal with the Buddhist theory of language called apoha in comparison with the views of Nagarjuna, Bhartrhari and others, while others are devoted to the ontological questions, such as how to determine the causal relationship. Several papers discuss Dharmakirti in the light of criticism made by Jaina, Nyaya or Minamsa philosophers. And finally the most remarkable feature of the present volume is the increase of number of contributions devoted to the study of Tibetan tradition of Buddhist epistemology and logic which has been developed under the great influence of Dharmakirti.
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The Legacy of the Tubingen School: The Relevance of Nineteenth-Century Theology for the Twenty-First Century
Donald J. Dietrich, Michael J. Himes, and John E. Thiel
John Thiel is a contributing author, "The Universal in the Particular: Johann Sebastian Drey on the Hermeneutics of Tradition," Chapter 3, pp. 56-74.
The Catholic Tubingen school was the most creative and influential movement within Catholic theology in the 19th century. The first generation of theologians who worked within its tradition- especially Drey, Mohler, and Kuhn, entered into serious conversation with the major currents of post-Kantian philosophy and gave Catholic thought a new direction which has continued to influence theology in the decades since. This volume introduces readers to several main themes in the enduring influence of the Tubingen school.
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Postmodernity: Christian Identity in a Fragmented Age (Guides to Theological Inquiry)
Paul F. Lakeland
More than a guidebook to the postmodernity debate, Lakeland's volume clarifies the impulses and critical impetus behind the cultural, intellectual, and scientific expressions of postmodern thought. He goes on to identify the import and issues it presents for religion and for areas of Christian theology. Concentrating on God, Church, and Christ, Lakeland outlines the church's mission to the postmodern world, including a constructive theological apologetics.
