Persons as Religious Classics: Comparative Ethics and the Theology of Bridge Concepts

• Published in: Journal of the American Academy of Religion Vol. 78; no. 3; pp. 687 - 720
• Main Author: Clairmont, David A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 01.09.2010; American Academy of Religion, Oxford University Press; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Belief & doubt; Buddhism; Ceremonial objects; Christian ethics; Comparative method; Comparative studies; Descriptive ethics; Ethics; General subjects. History of religions. Religious anthropology; History and sciences of religions; Morality; Religion; Religious ethics; Religious practices; Studies in religion; Theology; Theology; Religious commitment; Ethics; Analogy; Comparative Religions; Agnosticism
• ISSN: 0002-7189; 1477-4585
• DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfq052

This paper examines the effect of scholars’ religious commitments on how they specify their object of study and select a method appropriate to its investigation. Using recent work on the notion of “bridge concepts” and “the analogical imagination” in the comparative study of religious ethics as a case study, this paper proposes persons in the process of intellectual and moral struggle with their own traditions as important and potentially fruitful objects for comparative studies of religion. Such a refocusing on the perennial appearance of persons navigating the troublesome yet profound histories of their religious communities offers important opportunities for cultivating openness, humility, and respect between the academic study of religion and those working critically from within traditions.