23/08/2024
My new book, hot off the press, is now available. 'In Wisdom and in Passion: Comparing and Contrasting Buddha and Christ.' I can post if you are in Australia. $52 (including post) (contact through here or email [email protected] (subject line 'Buddha-Christ book) or if overseas you can buy through the publisher, 'Wipf and Stock.'
Reviews follow.
In Wisdom and in Passion: Comparing and Contrasting Buddha and Christ
Author: John Queripel
'How very heartening it is to find a highly intelligent Christian minister examining his own faith and religious tradition beside the world of Buddhism. With a deftly handled survey of their respective developments, John Queripel has plumbed the depths of each tradition to find every good reason why Christian and Buddhist thinkers can engage in worthwhile dialogue, and while Queripel wisely discerns the divergent outlooks, and remains strong in his own Christian commitment, he brilliantly persuades that Christians and Buddhists need each other to address our fractured world.' Garry W. Trompf. Professor emeritus in the History of Ideas, University of Sydney.
'This book is extremely informative, thought provoking and enlightening. It is hard to out down, and the author should be commended for his insights and details of history. I highly recommend this book to you.' Anne Pattel-Gray. Professor of Indigenous Studies, University of Divinity
'This is a book that goes a long way to build worthwhile, constructive and purposeful relations between two major religions. It does this from a well-informed and constructive perspective that doesn’t diminish the differences while promoting the common ground. Nothing but good can come from this discourse despite huge challenges.
The historical evolution of the two faiths demonstrates ‘not a cultural borrowing but more so a community of religious experience arising from common human experience’. (William Jones, 1960)
Queripel uses historical narrative well. He acknowledges that the field is full of speculation and imagination and draws on credible arguments about the spread and influence of both faiths. The reader is given a huge amount of evidence on which to draw their own conclusions.
For more than two millennia, both faiths have been intricately woven into local cultures, politics and power plays. They have influenced and been influenced by events and people. The author shows how Buddhism has been able to sustain itself with changes in scientific cosmology whilst Christianity has struggled to adjust.
There is much to be cautious about when engaging in interfaith dialogue. Queripel highlights scores of cautionary notes and warns against common assumptions. He makes the point that we need to keep in mind the varied practice and belief within Buddhism while differences in Christianity are largely confined to practice. The scriptures and doctrines of Buddhism vary greatly while Christian scriptures have a fair amount of uniformity.
Gotama became Buddha, Jesus became Christ, neither by their own choosing. With the creation of their persona came myth, metaphor and legend and this has made constructing a coherent biography very difficult in both cases.
There are source documents of varying authenticity for both characters, but Queripel has, through intense exploration, made the exercise wonderfully interesting. He also manages to show how the integrity in their teaching reaches a high plain that efforts to practice social justice has found hard to emulate.
This is probably the most comprehensive coverage of the teachings of both Jesus and Buddha that I have found in a single text. It is significant that the author has gone much further than others and taken both faiths into the common era, offering alternative ways of telling their stories which makes this a great read for progressive thinkers.
The various dimensions of faith practice and belief are dealt with comprehensively and ultimately presenting a strong case for the way in which both Buddha and Jesus speak to us and our deep human needs. He sees they need to be held in creative tension as they speak differently to us but both inspire us to change our lives and our world.
I recommend this great piece of writing and thinking.'
Dr Paul Inglis. Lecturer in Education (retired) Queensland University of Technology. Convenor Uniting Church Forum.
