Paul F. Knitter

Paul Francis Knitter (born 1939) was the Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary, New York City.[2] He continues as the Emeritus Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture.[3] He was formerly Emeritus Professor of Theology at Xavier University in Cincinnati.[4] Since publishing his book, No Other Name? (1985), Knitter has been widely known for his religious pluralism. Along with his friend and colleague, the Protestant philosopher of religion John Hick, Knitter came under criticism from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, later known as Pope Benedict XVI.

Paul F. Knitter
Born
Paul Francis Knitter

(1939-02-25) February 25, 1939
Chicago, Illinois, US
Spouse(s)Cathy Cornell (m. c. 1984)[1]
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineTheology
Institutions
Main interestsReligious pluralism

In 1984 he was one of 97 theologians and religious persons who signed A Catholic Statement on Pluralism and Abortion, calling for pluralism and discussion within the Catholic Church regarding the church's position on abortion.[5]

Early life and education

Knitter was born on February 25, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois. He holds a licentiate from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome (1966), as well as a doctorate from the University of Marburg, Germany (1972).

Works

Thesis
  • Knitter, Paul F. (1974). Towards a Protestant Theology of Religions (PhD). Marburger Theologische Studien. 11. Marburg: N.G. Elwert. ISBN 9783770804856. OCLC 611481104.

Books

Critiques from within Paul Knitter's native Catholic tradition

In reference to Paul Knitter's Jesus and the Other Names (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 1996), Catherine Cornille, when addressing Knitter's claim that Jesus is not the "only" savior, comments: "Not only are the religious views of different traditions at times directly opposed or mutually exclusive, but the very claim of ultimacy of one religion necessarily precludes the truth of the claims of others."[6]

In reference to Knitter's Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2009), [Rev.] James L. Fredericks declares: "Nowhere are we given to believe that there are some respects in which Buddhists and Christians are simply baffling to one another because their religious visions are incompatible. I also worry that the more Buddhism is enlisted into service of Christian faith as an ancilla theologiae [handmaid to theology], the less it seems like Buddhism."[7]

In reference to Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian, Robert Magliola asserts, in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion (JAAR)[8] that Paul Knitter "is not Catholic enough because he is not Buddhist enough and vice versa." Quoting [Rev.] Francis Xavier Clooney, S.J.'s statement, in Clooney's Jesuit Postmodern (2006, p. 165) that comparisons "seem not to fit into a single, coherent view," Magliola points out that Knitter's proposed "one universal Spirit" perpetuates the outdated modernist notion of "equable holism" or "openness" (the "modern idol") rather than the "jagged, asymmetrical" nature of reality.[9]

In reference to Knitter's contribution as co-author in Paul Knitter and Roger Haight, [S.J.], Jesus and Buddha: Friends in Conversation (Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis, 2015), [Rev.] Joseph A. Bracken, S.J., in Catholic Books Review (2016), asserts, countering both Knitter and Haight, that "in ethical reflection one should begin with the recognition of the Otherness of the Other" rather than with "the sustained meditation by the self on one's moral responsibility for others": see review here

In reference to Knitter's contribution as co-author of Jesus and Buddha: Friends in Conversation, Robert Magliola, in his review-article in Dilatato Corde,[10] online journal of the Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique / Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (www.dimmid.org), argues against Knitter's "double-belonging" (to both Mahayana and Christianity) in the following way:

Mahayana Buddhism affirms the Two truths doctrine, mundane truth and Ultimate truth, are mystically identical, i.e., "form is emptiness and emptiness is form." Catholic Christianity, for its part has teachings such as . . . the presence of God in all things via "essence, presence, and power," but matter and form are never regarded as absolutely identical. Thus, in regard to the Ultimate, Mahayanist affirmation of the absolute identity (via the Dharmakāya) and Catholic rejection of the absolute identity (at any level or degree) are two tenets that irreducibly contradict each other. See Magliola's review here

See also

References

  1. Knitter, Paul F. (2009). Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian. London: Oneworld (published 2013). p. xvi. ISBN 978-1-78074-248-9.
  2. "Paul F. Knitter". Union Theological Seminary. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved January 20, 2010.
  3. "Faculty Emeriti/ae". Union Theological Seminary. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  4. "Paul F. Knitter Biographical Summary". Friends Theological College. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 20 January 2010.
  5. Keller, Rosemary Skinner; Ruether, Rosemary Radford; Cantlon, Marie (2006). Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America. 3. Indiana University Press. pp. 1104–1106. ISBN 978-0-253-34688-9.
  6. Catherine Cornille, The im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue, New York, NY: Crossroad Publishing, 2008, p.87.
  7. J. Fredericks' pertaining review entitled "The Lotus Position," Commonweal Magazine, April 5th, 2010.
  8. R. Magliola's pertaining review in JAAR, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Dec., 2010), pp. 1215-1218.
  9. P. 1218.
  10. Vol. VI, No. 2 (July-Dec., 2016).
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