Hegel versus ’Inter-Faith Dialogue’: A General Theory of True Xenophilia

274 Pages·2015·3.013 MB·English

by  Andrew Shanks

‘ ’
HEGEL VERSUS INTER-FAITH DIALOGUE
The term ‘inter-faith’ is a recent innovation in English that has
gained significant traction in the discussion of religious diversity.
This volume argues that the concept of faiths in the plural is deeply
problematic forChristian theology and proposes a Hegelian alterna-
tive to the conventional bureaucratic notion of inter-faith dialogue.
Hegelpioneeredthesystematicstudyofcomparativereligion.Inline
withHegelianprinciple,AndrewShanksidentifiesfaithasaninflec-
tionofthewilltowardsperfecttruth-as-openness.Inrelationtoother
religious traditions, this must involve the practice of a maximum
xenophilia,orlovefortheunfamiliar,understoodasacoreChristian
virtue. Shanks’s neo-Hegelian theory recognises the potential for
God’sworkinallreligioustraditions,seeingthemassomanydivine
experiments, or gambles, with human nature. This timely book
discusses a wide range of inter-religious encounters and will be an
essentialresourceforstudiesincomparativetheologyandphilosophy
ofreligion.
Andrew Shanks is an honorary canon of Manchester Cathedral.
He has written ten books on philosophical theology, most recently
Hegel and Religious Faith: Divided Brain, Atoning Spirit (2011) and
ANeo-Hegelian Theology: The Godof Greatest Hospitality (2014).

‘
HEGEL VERSUS INTER-FAITH
’
DIALOGUE
A General Theory of True Xenophilia
ANDREW SHANKS
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Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-1-107-09736-0(Hardback)
1. Hegel,GeorgWilhelmFriedrich,1770–1831. 2. Christianity–Philosophy–History–19thcentury.
3. Religion–Philosophy–History–19thcentury. 4. Christianityandotherreligions. I. Title.
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Dedicated, with gratitude,
to the good people
of Manchester Cathedral
So many seas soaked into sand,
so much sand prayed hard into stone,
’
so many hours wept away in the sea shells
melody,
so much of being abandoned to death
fi
in the pearly eyes of the sh,
so many morning trumpets in coral,
so many star-patterns in crystal,
’
so much burgeoning glee in the gulls throat,
so many threads of homesick desire
criss-crossing the night-net of the stars,
so much fertile soil
all for the root of the word:
–
You
behind all the tumbling screens
of the mysteries:
–
You
‘ ’
Nelly Sachs, Wieviele Meere im Sande verlaufen,
1957
from Und Niemand Weiss Weiter ( )

Contents
Introduction: The Basic Opposition between Faith and ‘Faiths’ page 1
part i the criterion of atonement 13
1 Faith: The Primordial Ambiguity of
the New Testament Notion 15
Paul 15
John 26
2 What Hegel Brings 37
HegelandLessing:SystematicXenophilia 37
TheThreeCanonsofTrue‘Folk-Religion’ 46
Hegel’sStudyofComparativeReligion 62
part ii god’s experiments 67
3 ‘Religion’: Outlines of a Typology 69
The‘AxialPeriod’ 69
AGeneralTheory 79
4 Intra-Political Religion 83
5 Pre-Political Religion 91
Yajñavalkya 91
TheBuddha 96
Sāmkhya-YogaandEpicureanism 102
6 Anti-Political Religion 106
‘Abrahamic’Monotheism 106
TheOriginalEarthquake:Amos 108
Hosea’sResponse 112
AfterHosea:‘TheHistoryofIsrael’andDeutero-Isaiah 114
FromAmostoJesus 126
vii
viii Contents
part iii abrahamic variations 129
7 The Hazard of Faith 131
GodGambles 131
AndThenFaithEntersintoThatGamble 135
Pascal’sArgument 136
James’sArgument 142
ImprovinguponJames’sVersion 145
8 ‘Holy Anarchy’ 150
DissidentCourage:RisksandRemedies 150
‘WatchOut,BeGlad,GetReadytoBeChanged...’ 151
TheReversalof‘First’and‘Last’ 154
ChurchasTransmissionStrategy 156
HolyAnarchy/SacredLicence 162
Obsession,Infestation,Riot,Feast 164
9 Jesus and Hallaj 167
‘First-PersonTheology’/‘Second-PersonTheology’ 167
TheMartyrdomofal-Hallaj 169
Hallaj’sWriting 176
TheTestimonyofLouisMassignon 180
OtherVerdictsonHallaj 186
ProvidentialTriangulation 191
10 Holy Spirit/Shekhinah 193
‘Third-PersonTheology’ 193
Tikkun:TheRepairingof‘God’ 196
God-in-Exile 200
BeyondConsolation 204
ThePoeticVisionofIsaacLuria 209
GnosticRadicalismwithoutGnosticExclusivism 214
11 After Hegel: The Evolution of Christendom 220
TheXenophileCreed 220
Stress-testsofFaith 222
TheSecondReformation 230
AParadoxicalHope 237
Notes 242
Index 261