Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors: An Interreligious Encounter in Eighteenth-Century Vietnam

ISBN-13: 9780190677602 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 384 str.

Anh Q. Tran

Opis

Though a minority religion in Vietnam, Christianity has been a significant presence in the country since its arrival in the sixteenth-century. Anh Q. Tran offers the first English translation of the recently discovered 1752 manuscript scholar, this anonymously authored manuscript paints a rich picture of the three traditional Vietnamese religions: Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. The work explains and evaluates several religious beliefs, customs, and rituals of eighteenth-century Vietnam, many of which are still in practice today. In addition, it contains a trove of information on the challenges and struggles that Vietnamese Christian converts had to face in following the new faith.

Besides its great historical value for studies in Vietnamese religion, language, and culture, Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors raises complex issues concerning the encounter between Christianity and other religions: Christian missions, religious pluralism, and interreligious dialogue.

Recenzje

Anh Q. Tran's Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors is a significant contribution to the study of religion in early modern Vietnam. His translation and analysis of the Tam Giáo Ch(u V.ong offers an invaluable perspective on the dynamic between Catholicism and the religions it encountered in the Vietnamese realm. Tran's book, with its detailed historical contextualization, will become indispensable for understanding both Catholicism and Vietnam's rich existing religious landscape.

O autorze

Anh Q. Tran is Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. He is a co-editor and contributor of World Christianity: Perspectives and Insights.