Constructing Reality in Comparative Theology

by Paul S. Chung

Book cover: Constructing Reality in Comparative Theology

Extent: 248 pages

Publisher: James Clarke & Co

Subjects: Religious Studies

Language: English

Paperback (No longer our product)

(January 2023)

ISBN: 9780227177693

Price: $37.00

In stock

Hardback (No longer our product)

(September 2022)

ISBN: 9780227177716

Price: $115.00

In stock

PDF (No longer our product)

(September 2022)

ISBN: 9780227177723

Price: $28.00

A fruitful interweaving of different theological traditions across Christianity, Buddhism and Islam.


Through an examination of Christian interaction with other religions, Paul S. Chung constructs a theology of comparative religion. In the course of this construction, he employs the work of Ernst Troeltsch, Robert Bellah, and Karl Barth, while offering case studies of transformative interaction between Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. Chung’s interdisciplinary approach opens up avenues for the inter-religious understanding and melding, for instance exploring the development of a Protestant Islam. Throughout, he provides new conceptions of the religions involved and the realities they assert.

Paul S. Chung (Dr Habil.) specialises in theology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and in sociology of religion at the University of California, Berkeley, CA. He is Distinguished Professor of Public Theology at HanShin University, South Korea, and has been nominated to be distinguished professor at Lutheran Theological Seminary at Chicago. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Historians’ Debate – Public Theology website and teaches in Berkeley.

  • By (author) Paul S. Chung

"This book offers a wide-ranging, expansive exploration of comparative theology, informed by a social scientific perspective, with the goal of emphasizing the practical role religions can play in promoting a more just and peaceful society. In today's context, which has been negatively impacted by capitalism and partisanship, it brings a much-needed message of possibility." Revd Dr Kristin Johnston Largen, President, Wartburg Theological Seminary "Paul Chung makes an important contribution to comparative theology, extending it beyond textual comparison by way of a sociological hermeneutic framework that considers broader political, economic, and cultural factors. Informed by his own tradition's emphasis on reconciliation and a theologia crucis, he enriches the comparative project of reading together by attending to the ways texts are embodied in the social and ethical realities we construct for ourselves." Lois Malcolm, The Olin and Amanda Fjelstad Reigstad Chair of Systematic Theology, Luther Seminary
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