The Human Icon: A Comparative Study of Hindu and Orthodox Christian Beliefs

by Christine Mangala Frost

Despite the history that divides them, Hinduism and Orthodox Christianity have much in common. In The Human Icon, Christine Mangala Frost explores how both religions seek to realise the divine potential of every human being, and the differences in their approach. Frost, who has experienced both the extraordinary riches and the all-too-human failings of Hinduism and Orthodox Christianity from the inside, is perfectly placed to examine the convergences and divergences between the two faiths. Inspired by a desire to clear up the misunderstandings that exist between the two, The Human Icon is a study in how two faiths, superficially dissimilar, can nevertheless find meeting points everywhere. The powerful intellectual and spiritual patristic traditions of Orthodox Christianity offer a rare tool for revitalising too-often stalled dialogue with Hinduism and present the chance for a broader and more diverse understanding of the oldest religion in the world. Tracing the long history of Orthodox Christianity in India, from the Thomas Christians of ancient times to the distinctive theology of Paulos Mar Gregorios and the Kottayam School, Frost explores the impact of Hindu thought on Indian Christianity and considers the potential for confluence. With a breadth of interest that spans Hindu bhakti, Orthodox devotional theology, Vedānta and theosis, as well as meditational Yoga and hesychastic prayer, Frost offers a fresh perspective on how the devotees of both faiths approach the ideal of divinisation, and presents a thoughtful, modern methodology for a dialogue of life.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER
What It Means to Inhabit a Hindu World
Part Hinduism or Hinduisms?
Part Sacred Texts and Sacred Traditions
Part The Role of the Bhagavadgītā in the Modern Hindu World
Part God, Gods, Goddesses, and Temples
CHAPTER
Orthodox Christianity in A Dialogue of Life
Part The Thomas Christians
Part A Dialogue of Life
Part The ‘Kottayam School’ of Theology
CHAPTER
The Quest for the Divinisation (‘Tat tvam asi’) in Vedānta and Deification (Theosis) in Orthodox Christianity
Part Divinisation (‘Tat tvam asi’) in Vedānta and Deification (Theosis)
Part Non-Dualism (Advaita), or Monism
Part Rāmānuja (c. 1077-1157 CE) and ‘Qualified Non-Dualism’ (Viśiştādvaita)
Part Madhva (c. 1238-1317 CE) and ‘Dualism’ (dvaita)
Part An Appraisal of Theistic Vedānta
CHAPTER
The Quest for the Divine in the Bhakti God, ‘the Lover of Mankind’
Part What is Bhakti? Why is it Considered by Hindus to be Essential to Any Quest for the Divine?
Part What Are the Possible Areas of Convergence between Hindu Bhakti and Orthodox Devotional Theology?
Part What Are the Areas of Questionable Convergence and of Significant Divergence between Hindu Bhakti and Orthodox Devotional Theology?
Part How Might Hindu-Christian Dialogue Regarding the Bhakti Tradition Progress?
Parallel Concerns within the Hindu Bhakti and Christian Traditions Where Dialogue May Assist
CHAPTER
The Problem of Suffering and Karma and the Cross
Part What is Karma? What is the Attraction of Karma?
Part Biblical Perspectives on Suffering and Evil
Part Questions of Convergence and Divergence
Part The Great The Cross
CHAPTER
Yoga and The Body and the ‘Body of Christ’
Part What is Yoga? How Far, If At All, Could Christians Endorse It?
Part Meditational Yoga and Hesychastic A Comparative Analysis
Part The ‘Prophetic Polemics’ of St Gregory Palamas’ The Triads and Their Relevance to Discussions of Yoga
CHAPTER
‘Signs and Wonders’: Orthodox Spiritual Elders and Hindu Holy Men
Part Signs and The Biblical Perspective
Part ‘The Golden Chain’: Saints and ‘Holy Men’ in the Orthodox Tradition
Part Hindu ‘Holy Men’
Part The Mutual Christians and Hindus in Conversation
EPILOGUE
Select Bibliography
Index

Genres: Christianity, Christian

368 pages, Paperback

Published June 7, 2017

Reviews

[Archpriest Gregory Hallam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr Frost has capably achieved a gargantuan task in shining a light on the spirituality of Orthodox Christianity for a Hindu audience and likewise illuminating the richness and depth of Hinduism for her own Orthodox Christian community. This has been achieved precisely because she has a foot in both worlds with insights that transcend the possible disjunctions of language, concepts and practice that exist on the surface between the two faiths. Raised as a Hindu but becoming an Orthodox Christian in later life, she speaks from within both religious traditions with an authenticity that is personally tested and encyclopaedic in scope.
In this book, Dr Frost has not simply described the major themes of each religion, comparatively and in parallel. That would have presented a relatively straight forward task. She has gone further and much deeper by identifying possible points of contact, even overlap and congruence, between corresponding themes and insights from both faiths. This has been achieved while at the same time identifying with clear sightedness possible irreducible differences that need to be acknowledged in inter-faith dialogue.
Her realism in addressing these elements of both convergence and divergence is never compromised by any personal intrusive commitments, yet her own blessings in both faiths clearly shine through. She is a critical observer who strives to be fair to both religions both on their own grounds and in dialogue. A reader of this book will be enlightened and encouraged by the possibilities that lie ahead for mutual enhancement and understanding between Orthodox Christians and Hindus alike.