Concepts of God: Images of the Divine in the Five Religious Traditions - Paperback

by Keith Ward (Author)

Is there a universal concept of God? Do all the great faiths of the world share a vision of the same supreme reality? In an attempt to answer these questions, Keith Ward considers the doctrine of an ultimate reality within five world religions - Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and Christianity. He studies closely the works of definitive, orthodox writers from each tradition - Sankara, Ramanuja, Asvaghosa, Maimonides, Al-Ghazzali and Aquinas - to build up a series of 'images' of God, a common core of belief. Ward discovers that while the great religious traditions of the world retain their differences, there are convergences of thought at the deepest level, with a broad similarity of structure in concepts of God. He concludes that a recognition of these beliefs, as well as encouraging a clearer acceptance of the mystery of the divine, might also lead to an increase in understanding and tolerance of other faiths, to the enrichment of one's own.

Author Biography

Keith Ward is Regus Professor of Divinity at Oxford University and a Canon of Christ Church. Among his influential books are God, Chance and Necessity, his exploration of the compatibility of a scientific worldview and the existence of a creator God, which was published to widespread critical acclaim in 1996. Also published by Oneworld are Ward's God, Faith and the New Millennium and In Defence of the Soul.