Jacob Kinnard
Why Comparing Religions Matters

August 15 - 21 

At the public meeting one day all the questions concerned life beyond the grave.

The Master laughed, but maintained a gentle silence.

His closest followers pressed him to know why he wouldn’t comment. The Master remarked, “Have you noticed that it is precisely those who do not know what to do with this life that want another that will last forever.”

One of the followers persisted, “Is there life after death or not?”

“Is there life before death? That is the question,” replied the Master.

Stories from Buddhism like this one contain challenging wisdom as do the many wisdom tales from Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. The sacred texts of each religion have sustained, guided, and challenged generation upon generation of people all over the world.

And, sadly, religious differences have divided families, communities, and nations. For millennia, wars have been fought in the name of religion. Hindus have destroyed mosques; militant Sunni Muslims have attacked Shi’a Muslims – and vice-versa; Sri Lankan Buddhists and Hindu Tamils have been killing each other for decades. And, of course, Christians have been warring among themselves and with other religions for centuries too.

Jacob Kinnard is ideally suited to help us understand why comparing religion does matter. And the topic is as pressing now and it always has been. How do we go about learning another religion without "translating" it into our own? How do we understand not just what is similar, but also what is different? Why does attention to difference matter?

If we would be instruments of peace, understanding common ground and key differences is indispensable. We welcome Jacob Kinnard to Ring Lake Ranch. – Carl Koch, Director

Jacob N. Kinnard is an expert in Indian Buddhism and in the comparative study of religion. He is Associate Professor of Comparative Religious Thought at the Illiff School of Theology. He teaches and lectures on a wide range of topics, including a variety of themes and topics in Indian religions, theoretical and methodological issues in the larger study of religion, comparative pilgrimage, religion and violence, and interreligious dialogue. He earned both his PhD and his MA from the University of Chicago, and a BA from Bowdoin College.

Dr. Kinnard is the author of Imaging Wisdom: Seeing and Knowing in the Art of Indian Buddhism (RoutledgeCurzon 1999) and The Emergence of Buddhism (Greenwood, 2006), and co-editor of Constituting Communities: Theravada Traditions in South and Southeast Asia (SUNY 2003). He has published articles on topics in Indian religions in journals such as History of Religions, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, The Eastern Buddhist, and the Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, as well as chapters in a wide range of edited volumes and encyclopedias. He is the editor of the Religion, Culture, and History series for Oxford University Press/American Academy of Religion and is a member of the Publication Committee of the AAR.

To hear Jacob Kinnard speak, look for the video link on his web page at: www.iliff.edu/index/learn/your-faculty/jacob-n-kinnard.

More about Jacob Kinnard

Jacob Kinnard’s latest book –

The Emergence Of Buddhism
(Series - Greenwood Guides To Historic Events Of The Ancient World )

In the 6th century B.C.E., a young prince named Siddhartha Gotama set out on an ascetic quest to alleviate human suffering. In the middle ground between opulence and self-denial, he discovered a path to enlightenment and self awareness--and he dedicated his life to sharing that discovery. The man called Buddha, the "Awakened One," traveled as an itinerant monk, imparting principles of enlightenment throughout India and what is now southern Nepal.

He was not worshipped as a god, but became teacher and model to ascetics, royalty, and townsfolk alike. In the 2,500 years that followed, through the spread of Buddha's teachings and the monastic communities that upheld them, the world's "oldest missionary religion" has grown so that it now boasts over 350 million followers worldwide. The story of Buddhism unfolds through a series of narrative chapters, dealing with the Brahmanical cosmology from which Buddhism emerged, the stories and myths surrounding Buddha's birth, Buddha's path to enlightenment, and the eventual spread of his teachings throughout India and the world.

Kinnard's clear telling of the tale helps students understand such complex concepts as the natural law of cause and effect (karma), the birth/life/death/rebirth cycle (samsara), the ever-changing state of suffering (dukkha), and salvation, the absence of all states (nirvana). Primary documents, illustrations, glossary and biographical sketches illuminate the extraordinary life and legacy of the man called Buddha.