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Without Buddha I Could Not be a Christian Paperback – July 1, 2009

by Paul F. Knitter (Author)

4.5 428 ratings

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An honest, unflinching tale of re-finding one's faith, from one of the world's most famous theologians.

Honest and unflinching, "Without Buddha I Could not be a Christian" narrates how estreemed theologian, Paul F. Knitter overcame a crisis of faith by looking to Buddhism for inspiration. From prayer to how Christianity views life after death, Knitter argues that a Buddhist standpoint can encourage a more person-centred conception of Christianity, where individual religious experience comes first, and liturgy and tradition second. Moving and revolutionary, this book will inspire Christians everywhere.

Review

"Knitter's rich book should be a source of fascination and guidance for seekers of all sorts. One of the finest contemporary books on the encounter between religions in the heart and soul of a single thoughtful person." ― Library Journal

"This is a fascinating book … accessible to anyone in the pew, not without a touch of quiet humour … a book to be read and reflected upon." ― Journal of Theological Reflection

"This book is an excellent survey of the possibilities for Buddhist-Christian contact." ― Anglican Theological Review

"will be a life-saver for some and a scandal for others" "this book is wonderfully candid" ― The Christian Century

"The dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism is one of the most important conversations of our time, and Paul Knitter’s new book shows why. It offers much more than words: religion at its best transforms us, and herein we see its fruits. If you want to know how religions can help to revitalize each other, this is the place to start." ― David Loy - Besl Family Chair for Ethics/Religion and Society at Xavier University and author of Mon

"In this revealing retrospective, Knitter recounts very personally how his encounters with liberation theology and with other religions, especially Buddhism, challenged and transformed his Christian faith. This will be of interest to all who are concerned with religious diversity and social justice." ― Leo Lefebure - Professor of Theology, Georgetown University and author of The Buddha and the Christ

"Highly recommended as an example of how to do personally engaged, self-reflective theology in a religiously plural world." ― Rita Gross - Professor Emerita of Religion, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and author of Buddhis

"A moving story of one man’s quest for truth, this is also a ground-breaking work of inter-religious dialogue, comparative theology and social ethics... the rarest combination of theological acumen, humility and humor. A must read for anyone who wants to renew their faith and rediscover their humanity in intimate dialogue with the faiths of others." ― John Makransky - Associate Professor of Theology, Boston College and author of Awakening Through Lov

Review

"A moving story of one man's quest for truth, this is also a ground-breaking work of inter-religious dialogue, comparative theology and social ethics... the rarest combination of theological acumen, humility and humor. A must read for anyone who wants to renew their faith and rediscover their humanity in intimate dialogue with the faiths of others."

Review

"Highly recommended as an example of how to do personally engaged, self-reflective theology in a religiously plural world."

Review

"In this revealing retrospective, Knitter recounts very personally how his encounters with liberation theology and with other religions, especially Buddhism, challenged and transformed his Christian faith. This will be of interest to all who are concerned with religious diversity and social justice."

Book Description

"The dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism is one of the most important conversations of our time, and Paul Knitter's new book shows why. It offers much more than words: religion at its best transforms us, and herein we see its fruits. If you want to know how religions can help to revitalize each other, this is the place to start."

About the Author

Paul F. Knitter is Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, Union Theological Seminar, New York. A leading advocate of religious pluralism, he is author of over ten books on the subject.

Print length

217 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Oneworld Publications
Publication date

July 1, 2009
Dimensions

5.75 x 0.8 x 8.85 inches
ISBN-10

1851686738
ISBN-13

978-1851686735
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oneworld Publications; First Edition (July 1, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 217 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1851686738
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1851686735
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 0.8 x 8.85 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,879,288 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,404 in Buddhist Rituals & Practice (Books)
- #2,795 in Comparative Religion (Books)
- #11,934 in Meditation (Books)

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4.5 428 ratings

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Joseph G. Murray

Groundbreaking work in Christian theology, spirituality, and praxis

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2009

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Once in a rare while a book comes along which is filled with such profound theological insight, spiritual wisdom, and especially courage and humility, that one wants to rush out to buy a dozen copies to send to one's friends.
Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor of Theology, World Religions and Culture at Union Theological Seminary, studied theology at the Gregorian University and then under the renowned Jesuit Karl Rahner as a graduate student. For most of his adult life he has struggled with virtually all of the doctrines of Christianity. More accurately, he has struggled with their exposition and interpretation in our wordy, dualistic, Western terminology. He shares his struggles and questions with the reader, never imposing solutions but simply offering another perspective that he finds in the teachings of the Buddha.
Is there any thoughtful Christian who has not winced at the anthropomorphisms, inconsistencies, intelligibility, and outright contradictions that often permeate our God talk, liturgical services, and prayer life, not to mention credal declarations?
Knitter's questions are directed at the conceptual language we use about God's transcendence and immanence, the Trinity, the Incarnation, creation, evil, the afterlife, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, salvation, the afterlife, eternal damnation, God's will. There is scarcely a piece of our belief system, our spiritual and liturgical life, or our Christian praxis that does not come under scrutiny. This includes the contemporary aversion to silence in liturgy and spirituality (he would increment the Sacraments to include a Sacrament of Silence), the prayer of petition (God the Super-magician who is asked to upset the order of nature for my benefit), eternal damnation (impossible!), just war theory (an oxymoron).
These are not the rantings of a disillusioned Christian, but the thoughtful reflections of a theologian who would see our faith enlarged and enriched. He permits us to throw out the dirty bath water so that we can see and touch the baby again. You will finish this book (probably after a second reading) with a deepened sense of the divine, a renewed and enlightened Christian faith.
Finally and logically Knitter leads us to Christian praxis and a vision of the radical changes required if, as individuals and church, we would realize God's "Kindom," to use his pregnant neologism.
Knitter is no armchair theologian. Having come out of the liberation theology tradition, he has worked actively in Latin America in the cause of peace, justice, and reconciliation. Thus the concluding chapter of the book addresses a Christian praxis rooted in the example and teaching of Jesus (and the Buddha). It reminds us that, to use the Buddhist expression, "to make peace we must be peace." No reader can finish this book without concluding that Christianity and just war theory are simply incompatible.
Knitter looks to the day when we can read a book entitled "Without Jesus I could not be a Buddhist."

126 people found this helpful

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Larry G

Christianity re-visioned and revived

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2012

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Paul Knitter claims his intensive study of Buddhism has allowed him to clear up some messy areas of Christian theology and to make sense out of Christian doctrines that have grown stale.

Knitter abandons the notion of God as a person, but not the notion of God as personal. For him, God is more a verb than a noun, something akin to the Inter-Being described by Thich Nhat Hahn. For Knitter, God is the field in which we "live and move and have our being." God, also, is love; he is a Spirit that underlies relationships. Those who have no compassion for other beings have no idea what God is.

Knitter says Jesus grew into divinity, and, like the Buddha, he woke up. As children of God, Christians need to discover their divine nature. That's what it means to be saved. It is to be in Christ. Paul's letter to the Galatians says, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me." A saved person will have a spontaneous and enduring interest in and compassion for all of God's children, even his or her enemies. Noting that St. Paul called the Church the Mystical Body of Christ, Knitter re-visions the resurrected body of Christ as Spirit embodied in his followers, rather than as an animated corpse.

Knitter speaks of the Kingdom of God as something present now, but yet to come. Inspired by the Spirit we are making it happen in bits and pieces. Christians have an obligation to try to change the world for the better. One doesn't really know God or know what it is like to be-in-Christ unless one is acting for justice, defending and taking the side of marginalized people - the ones for whom the Christian God has a preferential option.

Knitter deals with many other stumbling blocks for intellectually honest Christians, intercessory prayer, for example: Why should we expect God to intervene, giving our families and friends special favors others don't get.

Knitter explains Buddhism, as it is lived today, with remarkable clarity and depth. He considers many of their positions more advanced that some Christian position, but he also says Christians do some things better; for example, they have a better understanding of both history and the need for intervention in the name of social justice.

13 people found this helpful

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Benjamin E. Murphy

Honest, clear and informative

Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2014

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Paul Knitter, a professional theologian, has written an accessible book about how, in his own life, he has combined elements of Buddhism and Christianity, and in so doing has adopted a hybrid religious identity, as both a Buddhist and a Christian. He does not argue that both traditions are the same - on the contrary, he starts from an understanding of their differences. When he began to study Buddhism, the discovery that Buddhists do not believe in God was, he says, like a brick wall, preventing him from making an easy assimilation of Buddhist beliefs. Over the course of the book, what emerges is not a vision of sameness, but complementarity. Buddhism emphasises the need to find inner peace if one is to go out and make peace in the world, Christianity the necessity of confronting structures of injustice.
As an academic, I sometimes wished for more footnotes. I was surprized by the connection Knitter found between the Buddhist conception of sunyata and the Christian concept of love, and would have appreciated being pointed in the right direction for more information. But if the book is not quite informative enough for an academic's liking, it should be easy enough to read for anyone who is interested in studying these issues for the first time. There may not be many people who will follow Knitter's path to Christian Buddhism-Buddhist Christian identity, but many Christians and Buddhists will learn from this book even, and perhaps especially, when they disagree.

39 people found this helpful

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Patrice

Life changing

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2023

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A book I will be revisiting regularly for the rest of my life

2 people found this helpful

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Nagibe de Melo Jorge Neto

Excelente livro!

Reviewed in Brazil on November 20, 2015

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Uma análise profunda e acessível do que perdemos na tradição cristã e que pode ser enriquecido e recuperado pelo diálogo com os budistas. Fantástica a análise acerca dos limites da linguagem para descrever o divino. Recomendo a leitura, sobretudo àqueles que se interessam pelo budismo e pelo diálogo interreligioso.

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Lara

Grounded and Clarifying Read

Reviewed in Canada on April 17, 2013

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Paul Knitter exposes his and what he believes other Christian's concerns about their their faith. His experience with and knowledge of Buddhism, its inherent perspectives and practices, secure him even more than before in his commitment to his Christian faith. This is a great read for anyone who is exploring and questioning their Christian roots, beliefs and practices as well those wanting to clarify how the Buddhist perspective might link to and support the Christian faith. For me, this easy to read but highly engaging book, although at time shocking for a Christian, provided peace of mind and helped to work with my on going dialogue with faith and practice.

7 people found this helpful

Rod

Very Important

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 22, 2013

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This is a very important book. It is also moving and powerful. Sometimes I wish Prof Knitter had had an easier journey: starting as a Roman Catholic when he did in the unreformed past (though the present isn't a lot of fun either) cannot have been easy for him. He is evidently a person of courage and supreme intelligence. He has needed those qualities as he has grappled first with theology as it was taught in the 60s and 70s, and then with clerical celibacy, wisely opting out and marrying his wife who has obviously been a great soul friend both to him and their children. Finally he has had to use both courage and intelligence in his encounter with Buddhism. This book is the fruit of all those encounters and meetings.

Although the book makes great demands upon the reader, I must confess that I felt a lot of sympathy with Prof Knitter. I have been an Anglican priest for more than 35 years though increasingly at odds with the whole business. At times this has resulted in considerable mental stress. Reading this book may take me (and you) onwards. Increasingly Prof Knitter found himself ill at ease with the Thomism he was taught by great men such as Lonergan and Rahner, though he retains enormous respect for both. He doesn't recount how he first encountered Buddhism but his involvement is clearly not been superficial at all. He has had to learn to pray again, under the influence of Zen. He has had to learn to think again, to feel again and his chapter on suffering is particularly moving, telling as it does of his in involvement in El Salvador.

There was a moment when my levels of frustration were rising considerably and I thought to myself why does he not just simply become a Buddhist, like his wife. But my frustration may have been my own story and I finished the book (for the first of many times) asking just what it might mean for me to look honestly at my inner life and ask where it is going. Happily there has been a particular resolution of this problem for Prof Knitter - can there be for us his readers?

It isn't always an easy book but as I said at the beginning I believe it is a very important one. In these days when evangelical fundamentalism has become so dominant within Christian circles I fear that few will read it but that few will be richly strengthened by it. Highly recommended.

40 people found this helpful

Mekon

Pressie for the wife

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 14, 2023

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My wife loved this book. Torn between being a Christian and liking Buddhist teachings this has changed and helped her views.

GerryC

Excellent Book

Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2012

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Love the format of this book. A former priest/theologion writes about issues he had problems with in the Roman Catholic tradition, looking at the issue from the R.C. perspective, then through the Buddist lens and then how the issue becomes more clear after looking at it through the Buddist lens. I really enjoyed this book and it has given new insights into the issues that Knitter explores.

5 people found this helpful

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