The Oneness of God and the Diversity of Religions: A Hindu Perspective

Lecture by Anantanand Rambachan, Ph.D.
Thursday, November 3, 2016, 4:15 PM
Quad 264, Saint John's University  

Much like the sacred scriptures of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, sacred texts of Hinduism speak of God as the indivisible and uncreated One from which all else is created. According to Hindu theologian Anantanand Rambachan, "our affirmation of the oneness of God is as important as our particular understandings of God." In this lecture, Professor Rambachan will explain why he and many other Hindus, while affirming the oneness of God, also affirm religious diversity as a divine good for human beings. 

Anantanand Rambachan is a professor of religion, philosophy and Asian studies at St. Olaf College in Minnesota, where he has been teaching since 1985. He earned M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom and has been deeply involved in interreligious dialogue, especially Hindu-Christian dialogue, for several decades. He has lectured in many countries and is an active participant in the dialogue program of the World Council of Churches and in consultations of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican. In April 2008, Professor Rambachan, at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, delivered the distinguished Lambeth Lecture at Lambeth Palace, London. His books include Accomplishing the Accomplished: The Vedas as a Source of Valid Knowledge in Sankara (1991), Gitamrtam: The Essential Teachings of the Bhagavadgita (1993), The Limits of Scripture: Vivkananda's Reinterpretation of the Vedas (1994), The Hindu Vision (1999), The Advaita Worldview: God, World and Humanity (2006), and A Hindu Theology of Liberation (2014), and he has numerous articles published in scholarly journals as well as a series of commentaries on the Ramayana. The British Broadcasting Corporation transmitted 25 of his lectures around the world and he has twice delivered the invocation address at the White House Celebration of the Hindu festival of Diwali.