Beyond immanence : a buddhological observing of grace

Abstract

In this thesis I engage with the imaginative constructions of the world as offered by Buddhism and Christianity. I do this from a theologian's perspective, with grace as the focal lens. In dialogue with Buddhists the theologian is challenged to understand how a complete worldview develops that does not require God as its legitimating and central concept. This fact sets Buddhism apart from most other religious systems, in which belief in a divinity or divinities is common. This is not to say that Buddhism is atheistic, only that it is irrelevant to it whether such a supreme being exists or not; the argument is that spending time trying to work out the answer to the question of whether God exists or not would drive one to madness. Quite apart from this. Buddhism understands that our quotidian lives are lived in ignorance: we live deluded even as to what we are. The theologian understands that it is a contradiction in terms not to seek to know (better) the being credited with creating all that is, not excluding Buddhists. Must the theologian, then, as some suggest, 'pass over' to the Buddhist understanding of life in order to understand from within this system that does not need God? I argue that this is not necessary.