Ebook
The interdependence of boundary questions and the experience of cognitive dissonance reveal that knowledge in all fields of inquiry is always incomplete and tentative. The issues are particularly acute for Christian theological reflection. Ingram illustrates the importance of boundary questions and cognitive dissonance as a means of creatively transforming contemporary Christian theological reflection through dialogue with the natural sciences and the world's religions, particularly Buddhism, filtered through the lenses of Whiteheadian process philosophy.
"In a religiously plural world, theologians have been struggling
to recognize this pluralism as they do their theological work. It
happens less often that historians of religion articulate their
theology out of their work and their findings. In this book,
directly, clearly, and boldly, Paul Ingram does so, sometimes
breaking new ground in the process."
-John B. Cobb Jr
Professor Emeritus
Claremont School of Theology
"Paul Ingram is one of relatively few Christian systematic
theologians to synthesize reflections from his work in
interreligious dialogue (especially the Buddhist-Christian
exchange) and from his study of the ongoing exchange between
philosophically oriented natural scientists and scientifically
minded Christian philosophers/theologians. The present book
represents the latest stage in his thinking on these matters. As
Ingram himself comments, the experience of cognitive dissonance in
comparing and contrasting quite different points of view on
foundational issues may be often quite unsettling, but it seems to
be the only way to keep growing intellectually, morally, and
spiritually."
-Joseph A. Bracken, SJ
Emeritus Professor of Theology
Xavier University
"In Theological Reflections at the Boundaries, Paul Ingram
challenges his readers to ask of themselves, 'Who do you say that I
am?' in relation to the questions of Christian identity in a global
society of religious pluralism, in a world increasingly defined by
science and technology, and in a deep manner in terms of what it
really means to be a human being. Most of all, though, he does this
by asking himself this question, and by so doing, shares his
journey and points the way."
-Mark Unno
Associate Professor of East Asian Religions
University of Oregon
Paul O. Ingram is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of Wrestling with God (Cascade Books, 2006) and The Process of Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (Cascade Books, 2009).