The Place of William Johnston, SJ, in the Jesuit Map
This article describes William Johnston's (1925-2010) ideas and works as a summary of a wider study about him. The volume of Fr. Johnston's production is quite large, with an astonishingly large international audience and popularity. At the same time, to make oneself a comprehensive view a...
| Published in: | Buddhist Christian studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Hawaii Press
2022
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| In: |
Buddhist Christian studies
Year: 2022, Volume: 42, Pages: 121-132 |
| Further subjects: | B
Perennialism
B Dialogue B Buddhism B Jesuit B Essentialism B Mysticism B Catholicism B True self B Buddhist-Christian B Constructivism |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article describes William Johnston's (1925-2010) ideas and works as a summary of a wider study about him. The volume of Fr. Johnston's production is quite large, with an astonishingly large international audience and popularity. At the same time, to make oneself a comprehensive view about his thoughts or to place him in the Jesuit map, it is hard to find more than book reviews and short articles about his writings., Irish-born Fr. Johnston was a widely known figure in the field of Buddhist-Christian dialogue. He was able to adopt some of the current trends of the spiritual and religious meditative movements, and represented a form of Christianity that was open to Buddhism, especially in the 70s., He made a lifelong journey to teach prayer and to update the mystical theology with the help of modern religious and psychological trends for the future times. In this article, I describe his main works and his way of being in dialogue with Buddhism. According to him, the goal of man, the true self, was a common denominator between religions. The role of Christ and Christianity among religions was central to him, for all religions mediate implicitly the Christ-reality. Mysticism was his way to see reality, although he himself was no mystic. His solutions to critical theological issues are shallow in places, which indicate an interest elsewhere. I conclude with comments on his label as perennialist. |
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| ISSN: | 1527-9472 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Buddhist Christian studies
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