Otherness-Reception and Self-Rediscovery in the Dialogue and Comparative Study of Christianity and Buddhism
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 June 2025 | Viewed by 9759
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The focus of this issue is on otherness-reception and self-rediscovery in the dialogue and comparative study of Christianity and Buddhism. With the comparative study and dialogue of the two world religions ongoing, their individual dogmas, doctrines, rituals, ethics, spirituality and practices are fully examined; therefore, a new perspective can be gained from the other to deepen self-understanding and appreciate their otherness. However, these theoretical viewpoints have never been organized into a single volume.
The scope of this Special Issue would be the various forms of dialogue and comparison between Christianity and Buddhism in light of the theory of ‘the other’, and would include both historical and contemporary data.
Its purpose is to enrich the scholarly understanding of the modern value and distinctive essence of the two religions, and give impetus to the development of the theory of inter-religious dialogue. It will include detailed examinations of essential concepts or values in the two religions’ traditions, including their deepened self-understanding and otherness-appreciation, and could mix together philosophical and theological ideas.
There is currently a gap in the literature regarding the perspective of ‘otherness’ in the dialogue and comparison between Christianity and Buddhism. Most work, including journals that address the wider topic, are of historical and literary focus and examine the central doctrines, concepts, rites, experiences, ethics and values of both traditions, as relates to the lives, works and thoughts of Christian theologians and Buddhist masters, and discuss specific contemporary topics from their traditional resources. In this Special Issue, we research the dialogue and comparison between Christianity and Buddhism from the theoretical perspective of the self and the other, which not only exposes the similarities and differences between the two religions, but also deepens their self-understanding by means of the mirror provided by the other. Meanwhile, as exclusivism is rejected, their own essence can be shown more better than before. Therefore, the theory of the self and the other benefits their own insights and makes them mutually consummate.
Prof. Dr. Shiying Zhang
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- Christianity
- Buddhism
- comparative study
- inter-faith dialogue
- theologian
- master
- cultural difference
- divinity
- reality
- morality
- self-understanding
- otherness-reception
- benefit
- consummate
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