The Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School has received a $45,000 grant from the Luce Foundation for a three-year series of lectures and events in comparative theology.
Comparative theology is distinguished by the dynamics of studying a tradition other than one's own in light of one's own religious and theological starting points, and thereafter critiquing and reconsidering one's own tradition, its religious and cultural presuppositions, in light of what has been learned from the other. It might most economically be defined as "faith seeking understanding, interreligiously." As such, this basic discipline of theology has re-emerged with fresh energy in today's global and interreligious context, and now flourishes in many academic settings in North America, Europe, and globally.
One of the CSWR's highly successful programs has been the Annual Comparative Theology Lecture. Two lectures were given during the 2013-14 academic year, in part made possible by an earlier grant from the Luce Foundation. Robert Morrison of Bowdoin College presented on November 7, 2013, "What Can the Christian Category of Natural Theology Tell Us About Islam?", and Wesley J. Wildman of Boston University spoke April 10, 2014, on "Comparative Natural Theology."
With the grant from the Luce Foundation, the next years will witness additional lectures and events at the Center, with particular relationship to our doctoral programs in theology and the study of religions. The programming made possible by the Luce Foundation grant will engage younger as well as senior comparative theologians, bringing distinguished scholars to campus while also engaging the research energies and interests of Divinity School and university faculty already involved in theological and comparative research and teaching.
The first scheduled event for 2015 will occur on Thursday, February 26, at 5:15 pm. John Berthrong of Boston University will lecture on the theme "Comparative Theology and the Religions of China." The projected program for 2015 will also include, in addition to further lectures in the fall of 2015, some conversations at Harvard on the intersection of comparative theology, comparative religion, and theology more broadly conceived.
The Center's Director, Francis X. Clooney, S.J., said: "We are very grateful to Luce for this grant. It is a catalyst enabling us to do better what we already have underway, and yet also to engage in new initiatives that will keep the Center at the forefront of comparative and theological studies in this interreligious era."