God at Play

The new millennium has witnessed the maturing of Hindu-Christian studies in depth and breadth. Gone are the days when one felt compelled to add necessary primers to every part of the endeavor, assuming the reader's naïveté or incredulity at every turn of what might seem an idiosyncratic pairing. In this collection, Daniel Soars skillfully assembles distinguished scholars to examine līlā, or divine play, from multiple vantages. God at Play: Līlā in Hindu and Christian Traditions is emblematic of what scholarly Hindu-Christian studies can be: constructive, erudite, serious, revelatory, and, yes, even playful. The volume stands, then, as a milestone in the development of the field in its theological mode, and we are all the richer for it.---Kerry San Chirico, author of Between Hindu and Christian: Khrist Bhaktas, Catholics, and the Negotiation of Devotion in Banaras This is a crucial work for those interested in plumbing the depths of creative activity, both human and divine, in the multifaceted traditions of Christianity and Hinduism. The scholarship here is wide-ranging and insightful, and it will ensure that līlā in Hindu theology can no longer be translated simply as ""play"" without further qualification. Daniel Soars is to be commended for conveying so important a contribution for a closer understanding of two world faiths.---Julius Lipner, Professor Emeritus of Hinduism and the Comparative Study of Religion, University of Cambridge, and Emeritus Fellow of the British Academy.