Transtheism: Difference between revisions
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{{Wiktionary|transtheistic}} |
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'''Transtheistic''' is a term coined by philosopher [[Paul Tillich]] or Indologist [[Heinrich Zimmer]], referring to a system of thought or [[religious philosophy]] which is neither [[theism|theistic]], nor [[atheism|atheistic]].<ref>in published writings, the term appears in 1952 for Tillich and in 1953 for Zimmer. Since the two men were personally acquainted, it is impossible to say which of them coined the term. Note that the term ''transtheism'' is avoided by both.</ref> But is beyond being a theism or atheism. |
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Zimmer applies the term to the theological system of [[Jainism]], which is theistic in the limited sense that the gods exist, but become immaterial as they are transcended by ''[[moksa (Jainism)|moksha]]'' (that is, a system which is not [[non-theistic]], but in which the gods are not the highest spiritual instance). Zimmer (1953, p. 182) uses the term to describe the position of the [[Tirthankara]]s having passed "beyond the godly governors of the natural order". |
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The term has more recently also been applied to [[Buddhism]],<ref>Antonio Rigopoulos, The Life and Teachings of Sai Baba of Shirdi (1993), p. 372; J. L. (Ed) Houlden, Jesus: The Complete Guide (2005), p. 390</ref> [[Advaita Vedanta]]<ref>Steven T. Katz, Mysticism and Sacred Scripture, Oxford University Press (2000), p. 177 ; Pulasth Soobah. Roodurmun, Kanshi Ram, Bhāmatī and Vivaraṇa Schools of Advaita Vedānta, Motilal Banarsidass (2002), p. 172</ref> and the [[Bhakti]] movement.<ref>Werner Karel, Love Divine: Studies in Bhakti and Devotional Mysticism (1993), p. 153</ref> |
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Nathan Katz in ''Buddhist and Western Philosophy'' (1981, p. 446) points out that the term "transpolytheistic" would be more accurate, since it entails that the polytheistic [[deity|gods]] are not denied or rejected even after the development of a notion of [[Brahman|the Absolute]] that transcends them, but criticizes the classification as characterizing the mainstream by the periphery: "like categorizing Roman Catholicism as a good example of non-Nestorianism". The term is indeed informed by the fact that the corresponding development in the West, the development of [[monotheism]], did not "transcend" polytheism, but abolish it, while in the mainstream of the [[Indian religions]], the notion of "gods" ([[deva (Hinduism)|deva]]) was never elevated to the status of [[Brahman]], but adopted roles comparable to Western [[angel]]s. "Transtheism", according to the criticism of Katz, is then an artifact of [[comparative religion]]. |
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[[Paul Tillich]] uses ''transtheistic'' in ''The Courage to Be'' (1952), as an aspect of [[Stoicism]]. Tillich stated that Stoicism and [[Neo-Stoicism]] |
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<blockquote>are the way in which some of the noblest figures in later antiquity and their followers in modern times have answered the problem of existence and conquered the anxieties of fate and death. Stoicism in this sense is a basic religious attitude, whether it appears in theistic, atheistic, or transtheistic forms.<ref>''Writings on Religion'', Walter de Gruyter (1988), p. 145.</ref></blockquote> |
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Like Zimmer trying to express a religious notion that is neither theistic nor atheistic. However, the theism that is being transcended in Stoicism according to Tillich is not polytheism as in Jainism, but [[monotheism]], pursuing an ideal of human [[courage]] which has emancipated itself from God. |
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<blockquote> |
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The courage to take meaninglessness into itself presupposes a relation to the ground of being which we have called "absolute faith." It is without a special content, yet it is not without content. The content of absolute faith is the "god above God." Absolute faith and its consequence, the courage that takes the radical doubt, the doubt about God, into itself, transcends the theistic idea of God.<ref>Paul Tillich. Theism Transcended (Yale: CT 1952) 185-190, in the Courage to Be, in the Essential Tillich: an anthology of the writings of Paul Tillich, ed. F. Forrester Church (Macmillan: NY 1987) 187-190</ref> |
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</blockquote> |
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[[Martin Buber]] criticized Tillich's "transtheistic position" as a reduction of God to the impersonal "necessary being" of [[Thomas Aquinas]].<ref>David Novak, Buber and Tillich, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Vol. 29, 1992 (reprinted in: Talking With Christians: Musings of A Jewish Theologian, 2005)</ref> |
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==See also== |
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* [[Antitheism]] |
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* [[Atheism]] |
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* [[Jain cosmology]] |
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* [[Nonduality]] |
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* [[Nontheism]] |
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* [[Nontheistic religions]] |
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* [[Pantheism]] |
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* [[Post-monotheism]] |
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* [[Post-theism]] |
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* [[Transcendence (religious)]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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* Ruth Reyna, Dictionary of Oriental Philosophy, Munshiram Manoharlal (1984). |
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* Heinrich Robert Zimmer, ''Philosophies of India'', ed. [[Joseph Campbell]] (1953). |
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{{Theism}} |
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{{belief systems}} |
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[[Category:Theology]] |
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[[Category:Nontheism]] |
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[[Category:Transtheism| ]] |
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[[Category:Jain philosophy]] |
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[[es:Transteísmo]] |
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[[lad:Transteismo]] |
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[[ru:Транстеизм]] |
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[[vi:Siêu thần]] |
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Revision as of 20:58, 17 December 2011
is not real.