Abstract
At a time when there is so much ‘God-talk’, I believe that a biblical understanding of anattā can deepen our understanding of what the term ‘God’ means. It is my contention that, if anattā is real, God is necessary; it is in relation to the Reality of God that the reality of anattā can be meaningful. Because man is anattā God is indispensable; because man is absolutely anattā God is absolutely necessary. The conditioned (samkhata) man has nothing to hope for unless there is an Unconditioned Reality (asamkhata). It is in relation to the Unconditioned (God) that the full depth and significance of anattā can be understood.
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13 Anattā and God
See T. V. R. Murthi, The Central Philosophy of Buddhism — A Study of the Madhyamika System (London: Allen and Unwin, 1955) pp. 229–30.
D. C. Wijewardana, Revolt in the Temple (Colombo Sinha Publications, 1953 ) P. 398.
H. Oldenberg, Buddha: His Life, His Doctrine, His Order tr. William Hoey from the German (London: Luzac, 1928) p. 283 (italics mine).
Quoted by William Hamilton, ‘The New Essence of Christianity’ in Toward a New Christianity: Readings in the Death of God Theology, ed. Thomas J. J. Altizer ( New York: Harcourt Brace and World, 1967 ) p. 269.
Alfred North Whitehead, Science and the Modern World ( New York: Macmillan, 1926 ) p. 275.
Harold K. Schilling, The New Consciousness in Science and Religion ( London: S.C.M. Press, 1973 ) p. 25.
Martin Buber, Between Man and Man, tr. R. G. Smith (London: Kegan Paul, 1947) PP. 147–8.
R. R. Karanjia, The Mind of Mr. Nehru, ( London: Allen and Unwin, 1960 ) pp. 32–6.
Theodore Roszak, The Making of a Counter Culture ( London: Faber, 1970 ).
John Macquarrie, God and Secularity (London: Lutterworth Press, 1868) p. 66.
See M. M. Thomas, Man and the Universe of Faiths (The Christian Literature Society, P.O. Box 501, Madras 600003, 1975) pp. 121 f.
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© 1979 Lynn A de Silva
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de Silva, L.A. (1979). Anattā and God. In: The Problem of the Self in Buddhism and Christianity. Library of Philosophy and Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03729-2_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-03729-2_13
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