A. J. Appasamy and his Reading of R?m?nuja: A Comparative Study in Divine Embodiment

by Brian Philip Dunn

Overview

In this work, Brian Philip Dunn focuses on the embodiment theology of the South Indian theologian, A. J. Appasamy (1891-1975). Appasamy developed what he called a 'bhakti' (devotional) approach to Christian theology, bringing his own primary text, the Gospel of John, into comparative interaction with the writings of the Hindu philosopher and theologian, R?m?nuja. Dunn's exposition here is of Appasamy's distinctive adaptation of R?m?nuja's 'Body of God' analogy and its application to a bhakti reading of John's Gospel. He argues throughout for the need to locate and understand theological language as embedded and embodied within the narrative and praxis of tradition and, for Appasamy and R?m?nuja, in their respective Anglican and ?rivai??ava settings. Responding to Appasamy, Dunn proposes that the primary Johannine referent for divine embodiment is the temple and considers recent scholarship on Johannine 'temple Christology' in light of ?rivai??ava conceptions of the temple and the temple deity. He then offers a constructive reading of the text as a temple procession, a heuristic device that can be newly considered in both comparative and devotional contexts today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780192508966
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	12/01/2016
Series:	Oxford Theology and Religion Monographs
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	553 KB

About the Author

Brian Philip Dunn is an Independent Scholar.

Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to Ayadurai Jesudason Appasamy
2. 1 Comparative Method: Theology, Religion, or Tradition?
3. Pūrvapakṣa: 1922—1932 - Logos Christology
4. 1 Uttarapakṣa: 1933—1950 - Spirit Christology
5. 1 Recovering Rāmānuja's tradition
6. Siddhānta: A Johannine temple Christology

Editorial Reviews

"Brian Dunn's rich and perceptive study of Appasamy, which is capped by the author's own constructive exegetical and theological work, should cause comparative and Christian theologians to reexamine the thought of the intellectual pioneer." — Arun W. Jones , Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies

From the Publisher