Religion in the Modern World

Keith Ward is Professor of Religious Studies at University of Roehampton. A Fellow of the British Academy, he was Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford and served as President of the World Congress of Faiths. He is the author of numerous books, most recently, Christ and the Cosmos (Cambridge, 2015) and The Christian Idea of God (Cambridge, 2017).

• Part I. The Problem of Religious Pluralism: 1. Emile Durkheim; 2. Myths and symbols; 3. Myth and history; 4. Historical development; Part II. The Perennial Philosophy: 5. Aldous Huxley; 6. Experience of the ineffable; 7. The perennialist critique of other religious views; 8. The void and pure mind; 9. The supreme good; 10. Frithjof Schuon; 11. Problems with esoteric view; 12. Huston Smith; 13. The principle of plenitude; 14. Perennialism and diversity; Part III. The Critical Turn: 15. Rudolf Bultmann; 16. Immanuel Kant; 17. The extension of moral concern; 18. Morality and religion; 19. Friedrich Schleiermarcher; 20. G. W. Friedrich Hegel; 21. The rise of pluralism; 22. Ernst Troeltsch; Part IV. The Pluralist Hypothesis: 23. John Hick; 24. Soteriological effectiveness; 25. Truth, experience and salvation; 26. Universal salvation; 27. Truth and religious language; 28. A case study: Christianity and Islam; 29. Cantwell Smith; Part V. Catholicism and Pluralism; 30. Karl Rahner; 31. Hans Kung; 32. Raimon Panikkar; 33. Paul Knitter; 34. Peter Phan; Part VI. Buddhism and Christianity in Dialogue: 35. A case study: Christianity and Buddhism; 36. Conclusion.

'… the clarity of the philosophical narrative Ward sketches in making this endorsement of religious pluralism is eminently noteworthy … In this moment of intense polarization, religious and otherwise, Ward's account functions as a welcome balm.' J. Khan, Choice