The Reverend Dr. Francis X. Clooney | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1950 (age 72–73) |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Theology |
| Institutions | |
| Main interests | Comparative theology |
Francis Xavier Clooney SJ FBA (born 1950) is an American Jesuit priest and scholar in the teachings of Hinduism. He is currently a professor at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge,Massachusetts. [1]
A native of Brooklyn,New York,he graduated from Regis High School in Manhattan and entered the novitiate of Society of Jesus in 1968 and was subsequently ordained in 1978. [2] Following that,he earned his bachelor's degree at Fordham University in the Bronx,New York.
After earning his doctorate in South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago in 1984,Clooney taught at Boston College until 2005,serving also as the Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (a recognised independent centre of the University of Oxford),when he became the Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School. In 2010,he became the Director of Harvard's Center for the Study of World Religions but is no longer in that role. [3] That same year he was named a Fellow of the British Academy. [4]
His primary areas of scholarship are theological commentarial writings in the Sanskrit and Tamil traditions of Hindu India,and the developing field of comparative theology,a discipline distinguished by attentiveness to the dynamics of theological learning deepened and enriched through the study of traditions other than one's own. [5] He has also written on the Jesuit missionary tradition,particularly in India,and the dynamics of dialogue in the contemporary world. [2]
Clooney sits on editorial boards,was the first president of the International Society for Hindu-Christian Studies and,from 1998 to 2004,was coordinator for interreligious dialogue for the Jesuits of the United States. Clooney has authored several articles and books,and served as the editor of the OCHS Hindu Studies book series for Routledge. His current projects include a study of yoga and Jesuit spirituality. [6]
In 2010,he was the recipient of Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology,awarded by the Association of Theological Schools. [7] In 2017,he was nominated as the winner of the John Courtney Murray Award. As of 2023,he still teaches courses in comparative religion at Harvard Divinity School but is planning his retirement. He is not currently taking any additional doctoral students. His courses are taught lecture style with a heavy emphasis on exegesis. His approach to comparative theology is textually based and confessional,and he defers making normative truth claims. [8]
Hindu Wisdom for All God’s Children is an introduction to comparative theology. It provides a brief history of his experience with Hinduism during Clooney's time spent teaching in Nepal. This book doesn’t initially require much previous knowledge of Hinduism or Indian culture to understand and therefore provides a good initial introduction to comparative theology and Clooney. It also shows what one can learn about God from the Hindu religious tradition by taking a look at various Hindu gods. Hindu Wisdom for All God's Children began first as a series of lectures given at John Carroll University in 1996 and was later developed into a book.
The book's introduction is significant to understanding Clooney's interest in eastern religions. As part of his early Jesuit training,Clooney was expected to teach high school. He chose to travel to Kathmandu,Nepal,and teach 9th-grade boys at St. Xavier’s High School. Looking for a way to teach moral values to his students,Clooney turned to the Bhagavad Gita . This was the first time that Clooney had studied the Bhagavad Gita. Similarly,he also used the stories of the Buddha's life and teachings to relate to the Nepali boys he was teaching.
In Hindu God,Christian God:How Reason Helps Break Down the Boundaries Between Religions,Clooney compares Christian theology and Hindu theology in four areas:the existence of God,what is the true God,divine embodiment,and the revelation of God. Clooney considers the similarities between Christianity and Hinduism's theological answers to these topics. Clooney then draws four major conclusions about God:the world is complex and there is a God who created the world,this God can be further identified by drawing reasonable conclusions about who God is and how He will likely act,God is not limited to the restrictiveness of a body but can choose to assume this limited form,and there is divine revelation. This book is helpful in seeing how Clooney's ideas about God develop through his studying of the theology of religions outside of Christianity. [9]
As a Jesuit, Clooney observes vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. He regularly celebrates Mass at a local parish in Sharon, Massachusetts. Most of his free time is spent writing and presenting his work in academic circles domestically and abroad. [10] [11]
Clooney became a vegetarian in 1974 as part of his spiritual practice. [10] [12] [13]
Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. The terms and epithets for deities within the diverse traditions of Hinduism vary, and include Deva, Devi, Ishvara, Ishvari, Bhagavān and Bhagavati.
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion such as ethics, metaphysics and the nature and forms of salvation. It also considers and compares the origins and similarities shared between the various religions of the world. Studying such material facilitates a broadened and more sophisticated understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred, numinous, spiritual and divine.
Shruti in Sanskrit means "that which is heard" and refers to the body of most authoritative, ancient religious texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism. Manusmriti states: Śrutistu vedo vijñeyaḥ meaning, "Know that Vedas are Śruti". Thus, it includes the four Vedas including its four types of embedded texts—the Samhitas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas and the Aranyakas.
Ramanuja, also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents of the Sri Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti movement.
Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.
The standard problem of evil found in monotheistic religions does not apply to almost all traditions of Hinduism because it does not posit an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent creator.
Raimon Panikkar Alemany, also known as Raimundo Panikkar and Raymond Panikkar, was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and a proponent of Interfaith dialogue. As a scholar, he specialized in comparative religion.
Harvey Gallagher Cox Jr. is an American theologian who served as the Hollis Professor of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School, until his retirement in October 2009. Cox's research and teaching focus on theological developments in world Christianity, including liberation theology and the role of Christianity in Latin America.
Keith Ward is an English philosopher and theologian. He is a fellow of the British Academy and a priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford, until 2003. Comparative theology and the relationship between science and religion are two of his main topics of interest.
In Hinduism, the concept of God varies in its diverse religio-philosophical traditions. Hinduism comprises a wide range of beliefs about God and divinity, such as henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, agnosticism, atheism, and nontheism.
Comparative theology is a relatively new discipline within theology, which holds together "comparative" and "theology" in creative tension. It represents a particular type of theological practice committed to deep interreligious learning ("comparative") while staying rooted in a particular religious tradition ("theology"). Moreover, while many of its proponents come from the Christian religious tradition, it can have as a starting point the theology of any religious tradition.
Sri Vaishnavism is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi, as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who are together revered in this tradition.
Anantanand Rambachan is a professor of religion at St. Olaf College.
Jon Douglas Levenson is an American Hebrew Bible scholar who is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.
Polytheism is the belief and worship in multiple deities or spirits, which are usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own religious sects and rituals. Polytheism is a type of theism. Within theism, it contrasts with monotheism, the belief in a singular God who is, in most cases, transcendent. In religions that accept polytheism, the different gods and goddesses may be representations of forces of nature or ancestral principles; they can be viewed either as autonomous or as aspects or emanations of a creator deity or transcendental absolute principle, which manifests immanently in nature. Polytheists do not always worship all the gods equally; they can be in monolatrists or kathenotheists, specializing in the worship of one particular deity only or at certain times (respectively).
Roger Haight is an American Jesuit theologian and former president of the Catholic Theological Society of America. He is regarded as a knowledgeable and pioneering theologian, whose experiences with censorship have led to widespread debate over how to handle controversial ideas in the Catholic church today.
Richard De Smet was a Belgian Jesuit priest, and missionary in India. As Indologist he became a renowned Sankara specialist.
The Calcutta School of Indology consists of a group of Jesuit missionary scholars based mostly in Calcutta and including William Wallace, SJ (1863–1922), Pierre Johanns (1882–1955), Georges Dandoy, Joseph Putz, Joseph Bayart, Robert Antoine, Camille Bulcke, Michael Ledrus, Pierre Fallon and Jan Feys. They were joined in their efforts by Animananda, a disciple of Upadhyaya.
William Wallace was an Anglican priest who later became a Roman Catholic priest, member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and Indologist.
The Teape Lectures were established at Cambridge University in 1955. They form the major activity of the Teape Trust, created from an endowment made posthumously by William Marshall Teape. The object of the trust is 'The advancement of education by the provision of lectures on the relationship between Christian and Hindu thought and subject thereto the study of Christian and Hindu religious thought and the promotion of Christian-Hindu relations'.
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Why Comparative Theology Works Interreligiously (2016) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
