Being a 'not-quite-Buddhist theist'

James Dominic Rooney*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

    Abstract

    Buddhism is a tradition that set itself decidedly against theism, with the development of complex arguments against the existence of God. I propose that the metaphysical conclusions reached by some schools in the Mahayana tradition present a vision of reality that, with some apparently small modification, would ground an argument for the existence of God. This argument involves explanation in terms of natures rather than causal agency. Yet I conclude not only that the Buddhist becomes a theist in embracing such explanations as legitimate, but also ipso facto abandons their metaphysical project and ceases to be a Buddhist.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)787-800
    Number of pages14
    JournalReligious Studies
    Volume58
    Issue number4
    Early online date20 Oct 2021
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Dec 2022

    Scopus Subject Areas

    • Philosophy
    • Religious studies

    User-Defined Keywords

    • Buddhism
    • God
    • Huayan
    • causality
    • pantheism

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