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Without Buddha I Could Not Be A Christian (2009)

by Paul F. Knitter(Favorite Author)
4.2 of 5 Votes: 3
ISBN
1851686738 (ISBN13: 9781851686735)
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English
genre
publisher
Oneworld Publications
review 1: Knitter holds the Paul Tillich chair in theology at Union Theological Seminary, but thankfully this book doesn't "open a can of theology" on the reader. He has been personally active in working against the Reagan-supported Contras in Nicaragua and in attending peace conferences involving Israelis and Palestinians. He has personally confronted death squads and had friends disappeared. He has spent an evening conversing with nuns and then watched them pick up their AK-47s because it was their turn to patrol the town perimeter. He is unflinchingly honest about what he can and can't believe in traditional Christianity, and he asks (and tries to answer) very hard questions. He has noted the "ego-viruses" that infect many do-gooders: "the need for recognition, for success, for c... moreontrol, for superiority." He has seen too many revolutions produce worse than they were trying to correct: as one Salvadoran said to him, "It was better when it was worse." And he notes sorrowfully that the slogan "If you want peace, work for justice" may sound nice, but he fears that working for justice could necessarily require violence. Are you willing to go there? Maybe peace, not justice, should come first; but he adds that "you can't give what you haven't got." If you aren't peaceful yourself, your striving for peace for others will fail. Which is why, along with a number of other reasons, he has turned to Buddhism as a practice to find inner peace first. This is only scratching the surface of a single chapter in this book, which is otherwise the clearest description of Buddhism and the best analysis of what is so hard for us to believe in Christian dogma that I have ever read.
review 2: sudah lama pengen buku yang seperti ini.tapi baru dapet ebooknya yang dijual murah.[teknologi informasi telah membikin murah mediumnya, sementara contentnya yang berharga itu terdistribusi tanpa berkurang mutunya.]buddhism menarik saya karena teman-teman saya yang menganutnya hidupnya pantas diteladani. baik di sini maupun di jepang sana. juga perjumpaan saya dengan mahatera pannavaro di sela-sela pembukaan pameran sahabatnya. mereka golongan orang baik-baik. segi-segi tertentu ajaran buddha juga sudah banyak dijalani oleh para imam katolik maupun pendeta kristen. kontribusinya besar sekali dalam menjalani hidup beriman secara otentik. tidak melulu jadi pengikut pasif.buku ini lebih jauh lagi. ditulis oleh seorang teolog yang aktif dalam dialog antar iman dan mengaku menulis ini untuk kepentingan pribadi, kita bisa mengikuti pergulatannya dalam memahami buddhism.kehendak untuk memahami pihak lain, cara berpikir lain, pandangan lain, tentu akan membuat pengalaman iman kita sendiri jadi kaya dan otentik. iman yang otentik itu bertanggung jawab, karena dirumuskan sendiri bersama sejarah pribadi kita. unik.saya baru mulai baca dan berharap ada pengayaan batin dari refleksi atas kesaksian paul knitter ini. less
Reviews (see all)
nisha
At times an interesting read, at times like reading someone's very academic journal.
Joe
I am finding this hard going...and I really really want to like it. Sigh.
joelli
Wonderful book, I wrote about it in Parabola Magazine.
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