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Cultivating Gardens of God
A Paradigm Shift in Faith
Edited by Ananta Kumar Giri
This book deals with the theme of Kingdom of God in religion, politics and spirituality and strives to rethink and reconstitute it is as Gardens of God.
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About This Book
In self, society, religion and politics we are used to the language and discourse of Kingdom of God. But in this God is presented as an omnipotent king who is also angry at slight deviation. We get glimpses of such powerful and angry God in Old Testament as well as in many other religious traditions of the world. In such a discourse and portrayal of God, we fail to realize that God is mercy, rahim, karuna and compassion. God is our ever-awakened nurturer and He and She is continuously walking and meditating with us with mercy as well as firm challenges for self-development, mutual realizations and responsible cosmic engagement and participation.
The vision and discourse of Kingdom of God have many a time been confinedwithin a logic of power where we are prone to valorize God’s power in order to valorize our own power on Earth, especially the logic of sovereignty at the level of self and society, rather than realize God’s mercy. This has led to varieties of discourses of political theology in which we are much more preoccupied with power of God rather than God’s mercy. God here is also a powerful patriarch. Political theology from Thomas Hobbes to Carl Schmidt has been linked to violence in religion and politics as well. In this book, we explore the challenges of rethinking and transforming the existing and conventional discourse of Kingdom of God to Gardens of God.
Reviews
Cultivating Gardens of God is a remarkable book. Its themes are urgent: the healing of our earthly home is a matter of justice, love, and community – and this care must be enacted in an inter-religiously aware manner that shows how we are all one family. This earthly garden of God must be cleaned and restored, the ground refreshed, seeds planted and well-watered – and then we must humbly watch and wait for God and nature to create new life and nourishment. If we respect and care for the world around us, the miracle of life occurs again and again, a divine gift that we must receive in gratitude and share with all in need. Ananta Kumar Giri is to be commended for conjuring this imaginative spiritual theme, and for gathering so diverse a community of scholars and practitioners to reflect with him on what is happening and what must be done if the earth is to flourish as God intended from the beginning. — Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard University, Boston, USA
This is a remarkable collection of essays, like a bouquet of exquisite flowers, each vibrant with beauty and wisdom. We need this clear insight from the world’s religions more than ever. We are deeply indebted to Ananta Kumar Giri and all the contributors. — Mary Evelyn Tucker, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, Yale University, New Heaven, USA
Author Information
Ananta Kumar Giri is a professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, India.
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Table of Contents
Foreword; Preface; Gardens of God: An Introduction and an Invitation; Part One: The Visions of Gardens of God; Part Two: From Kingdom of God to Gardens of God; Part Three: From Kingdom of God to Gardens of God
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