Table of Contents

Foreword Peter L. Berger Preface Robert Cummings Neville Acknowledgments Introduction Robert Cummings Neville with Wesley J. Wildman 1. On Comparing Religious Ideas Robert Cummings Neville with Wesley J. Wildman 2. Chinese Religion Livia Kohn 3. Beginningless Ignorance: A Buddhist View of the Human Condition Malcolm David Eckel with John J. Thatamanil 4. To Be Heard and Done, But Never Quite Seen: The Human Condition According to the Vivekacudamani Francis X. Clooney, S.J., with Hugh R. Nicholson 5. Religious Dimensions of the Human Condition in Judaism: Wrestling with God in an Imperfect World Anthony J. Saldarini with Joseph A. Kanofsky 6. Embodiment and Redemption: The Human Condition in Ancient Christianity Paula Fredriksen with Tina Shepardson 7. The Human Condition in Islam: Shari'a and Obligation S. Nomanul Haq 8. Comparative Hypotheses: Cosmological Categories for the Human Condition Robert Cummings Neville with Wesley J. Wildman 9. Comparative Hypotheses: Personal and Social Categories for the Human Condition Robert Cummings Neville Appendix A: On the Process of the Project During the First Year Wesley J. Wildman Appendix B: Suggestions for Further Reading Contributors Index of Names Index of Subjects

About the Author

Robert Cummings Neville is Professor of Philosophy, Religion, and Theology at Boston University, and Dean of the School of Theology. He has written many books, including most recently, Behind the Masks of God: An Essay Toward Comparative Theology; Normative Cultures; The Truth of Broken Symbols; and Boston Confucianism: Portable Tradition in the Late-Modern World , all published by SUNY Press.