The Atonement Creating Unions
An Exploration in Inter-Religious Theology
Foreword by Marius C. Felderhof
Imprint: Pickwick Publications
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Does the atonement have any spiritual significance? This book is a bold and imaginative endeavor to make atonement theology rational, in a fresh way, in our interreligious world.
Seeking connections between Christian and Hindu thinking in order to create hermeneutical bridges, Godfrey Kesari aims to open up creative ways of reimagining the doctrine of the atonement, which is so central to the Christian message. Kesari retains the particularity of the unique events embracing the life, suffering, and death of Christ while linking clearly to the more universal considerations that are encountered within Visistadvaitic Hinduism. These explorations in turn contribute to a new way of seeing the Christian revelation.
This is a ground-breaking work that attempts to find a way of treating and defending the centrality and theological significance of the atonement with contextual relevance.
Godfrey Kesari is the Vicar of the Holy Innocents Parish Church, Southwater, UK.
“Rev. Dr. Kesari has skillfully interrogated and innovatively reworked western atonement theologies to be of service to our age of World Christianity. Harvesting theological insights from Hinduism, this book configures a more spacious theology of the cross. Kesari creatively and persuasively constructs interreligious pathways for a more context-specific and yet globally relevant atonement theology.”
—Sathianathan Clarke, Bishop Sundo Kim Chair of World Christianity, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington D. C.
“Atonement, as a concept, has taken on a life of its own and become part of the Christian jargon. It is to the writer’s credit that he tackles this from multiple angles . . . and has unshackled it from confining accretions and ideological posturing. This has enabled it to inhabit a more generous and liberating space, a space where alienation is overcome and union and relationships across all divides at all levels are restored, as true atonement is achieved.”
—J. Jayakiran Sebastian, Dean and H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures, United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg, Philadelphia
“In this remarkable book Kesari offers a vocabulary for a dialogue between Christianity and Visistadvaitic Hinduism. Yet in doing so he prompts us all—whether we engage in interfaith dialogue or not—to articulate afresh, in and for our respective cultural contexts, what we believe the atonement to be about.”
—Guido de Graaff, Director of Studies and Tutor for Christian Doctrine and Ethics, St. Augustine’s College of Theology
“Godfrey Kesari has written an important and engaging book that is deserving of our attention. This is a serious and sustained piece of comparative theology that reflects his profound, existential commitment to the atonement and desire to understand it more deeply through dialogue with Visitadvaitic Hinduism. What is more, through this process an understanding of the atonement is articulated that may speak more powerfully to the contemporary global context than existing models. This is comparative theology—faith seeking interreligious understanding—at its best.
—Stephen Roberts, former Senior Lecturer in Modern Theology, University of Chichester
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