Divine Love
Perspectives from the World's Religious Traditions
The contributors to Divine Love cover a broad spectrum of world religions, comparing and contrasting approaches among Christians of several denominations, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and adherents of traditional African religions. Each chapter focuses on the definition and conceptual boundaries of divine love; its expression and experience; its instrumentality and salience; how it can become distorted, and how it has been made manifest or restored by great historic exemplars of altruism, compassion, and unlimited love.
The ultimate aim for many of the world’s major faith traditions is to love and be loved by God—to live in connection with the Divine, in union with the Beloved, in reconciliation with the Ultimate. Religious scholars Jeff Levin and Stephen G. Post have termed this connection “divine love.” In their new collection of the same name, they have invited eight of the world’s preeminent religious scholars to share their perspectives on the what, how, and why of divine love.From this diverse gathering of perspectives emerges evidence that to love and to be loved by God, to enter into a mutual and covenantal relationship with the Divine, may well offer solutions to many of the current crises around the world. Only a loving relationship with the Source of being within the context of the great faith and wisdom traditions of the world can fully inform and motivate the acts of love, unity, justice, compassion, kindness, and mercy for all beings that are so desperately required to counter the toxic influences in the world.
Contributors: William C. Chittick, Vigen Guroian, Ruben L. F. Habito, William K. Mahony, John S. Mbiti, Jacob Neusner, Clark H. Pinnock, and David Tracy.
'Divine Love is an outstanding collection of wonderful essays. Here accomplished religious writers from many faith traditions share their knowledge and insight. Take and read.'
—Sidney Callahan, PhD, author of Created for Joy: A Christian View of Suffering'This powerful collection investigates the core of the world's great religious traditions. It is the idea of divine love—love from the divine, inspiring love for the divine, invoking a horizontal love between humans, and creating a connectedness throughout all creation. These essays not only beautifully define divine love in each of the world religions—a gift in itself—but show why it is the answer to the crises of modern life, an answer that secularism, fundamentalism, and the new therapeutic religions cannot themselves convey. This is an excellent book for both the classroom and the individual inquirer. It is an informative and inspiring read.'
—Don Browning, University of Chicago, and author of Reviving Christian Humanism
'Jeff Levin and Stephen Post are the editors of this scholarly collection of eight essays by a group of respected religious scholars on the who, what, when, and where of divine love.'
—Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Dr. Jeff Levin is a university professor of epidemiology and population health, professor of medical humanities, and director of the religion and population health program at Baylor University. He has written over one hundred and fifty scholarly publications on religion's instrumental functions for health and well-being, including the book God, Faith, and Health.
Dr. Stephen G. Post is a professor of preventive medicine and director of the center for medical humanities, compassionate care, and bioethics at Stony Brook University, and president of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love (www.unlimitedloveinstitute.com). He is the author or editor of over twenty books, including the bestselling Why Good Things Happen to Good People.
Foreword / ix
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Acknowledgments / xiii
Introduction: Divine Love in the World’s Religious Traditions / 3
Jeff Levin
1: “If God Did Not Love Me, God Would Not Have Made Me!”: Exploring Divine Love in African Religion / 23
John S. Mbiti
2: “In the Beginning, Love Entered That One”: Divine Love from a Perspective Informed by Vedic Hindu Thought / 56
William K. Mahony
3: Divine Love in Classical Judaism / 80
Jacob Neusner
4: Wisdom into Compassion: Buddhism in Practice / 108
Ruben L. F. Habito
5: God as Infinite Love: A Roman Catholic Perspective / 131
David Tracy
6: Divine and Human Love in Islam / 163
William C. Chittick
7: The Humanity of Divine Love: The Divinity of Human Love / 201
Vigen Guroian
8: I Love, Therefore I Am: A Relational and Charismatic Model of Love / 219
Clark H. Pinnock
Conclusion: Divine Love and Human Dignity / 237
Stephen G. Post
Contributors / 255
Index / 261
