Altruism in World Religions

Herausgeber: Neusner, Suzanne; Chilton, Bruce

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

Exploring a range of philosophical and religious thought from Greco-Roman "philia" to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, from Hinduism in India to Buddhism and the religions of China and Japan, the authors find that altruism becomes problematic when applied to religious studies because it is, in fact, a concept absent from religion. Chapters on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam reveal that followers of these religions cannot genuinely perform self-sacrificing acts because God has promised to reward every good deed. Moreover, the separation between the self and the other that self-sacrifice necessarily implies, runs counter to Buddhist thought, which makes no such distinction. By challenging our assumptions about the act of self-sacrifice as it relates to religious teachings, the authors show altruism to be more of a secular than religious notion. At the same time, their findings highlight how charitable acts operate with the values and structures of the religions studied.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Georgetown University Press
• Seitenzahl: 216
• Erscheinungstermin: 8. November 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 213mm x 140mm x 20mm
• Gewicht: 262g
• ISBN-13: 9781589010659
• ISBN-10: 1589010655
• Artikelnr.: 21617514

Autorenporträt

Jacob Neusner is research professor of theology and senior fellow at the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He is the editor of God's Rule: The Politics of World Religions and is the author of several books on Judaism. Bruce Chilton is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He is the author of several books including Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography and Rabbi Paul: An Intimate Biography.