Religious Dimensions of Confucianism

Rodney L. Taylor is Professor of Religious Studies and Associate Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

• IntroductionI. Confucianism and the Political Order: Religion Poised in RiskII. Scripture and the Sage: On the Question of a Confucian ScriptureIII. The Sage as Saint: A Study in Religious CategoriesIV. The Centered Self: Confucian Religious AutobiographyV. Proposition and Praxis in Neo-Confucian SyncretismVI. The Sudden/Gradual Paradigm and Neo-Confucian Mind CultivationVII. Mediation and Ming Neo-OrthodoxyVIII. The Problem of Suffering: Christian and Confucian DimensionsIX. Modernity and Religion: A Contemporary Confucian ResponseNotes Glossary Bibliography Index

"This is a splendidly definitive study of the old question whether Confucianism is a 'religion.' Taylor's answer is a complex, subtly nuanced, but very positive Yes. After a methodological introduction, he raises the issue of the distinction between politics and religion in Chinese culture, and shows, by analysis of basic texts in Confucius and Mencius, that Confucianism is religious rather than political. The next two chapters are about the Confucian religious hero, the Sage, as founded in classic texts and in comparison with Western models, including that of the saint. The next four chapters deal with major religious themes, including the autobiographical recovery or making of a self, the relation of inner development to good works, the process of spiritual advancement, and the nature of meditation. The penultimate chapter compares Confucianism and Christianity on the problem of suffering, and the final chapter deals directly with a contemporary, theoretical, religious Confucianist in Japan." — Robert Cummings Neville