This study investigates how a comparison between the Catholic theologian Edward Schillebeeckx's controversial reading of Thomist philosophy and the Tibetan Buddhist Gendun Chopel's challenge to the standard Geluk teaching of Tsongkhapa's Madhyamaka philosophy might assist in rethinking conceptions of religious knowledge. Utilizing a wide variety of methodical approaches to establish an imaginary dialogue between these two thinkers, this comparison remains embodied in the thought and praxis of actual individuals, and yet still firmly embedded within the conversations and trajectories of their broader religious traditions.
Religious Epistemology through Schillebeeckx and Tibetan Buddhism: Reimagining Authority Amidst Modern Uncertainty, Jason M. VonWachenfeldt, T&T Clark, Hardcover, 264 pp, $120.00

Jason M. VonWachenfeldt is the Henry and Janie Woods Junior Chair in the Religion and Philosophy Department at the Lawrenceville School, USA.

Dr Frederiek Depoortere is a Postdoctoral Fellow of the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) at the Faculty of Theology, K.U.Leuven (Belgium) and a member of the research group 'Theology in a Postmodern Context'.

Stephan van Erp is Professor of Fundamental Theology at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven, Belgium

CONTENTS: Religious Epistemology through Schillebeeckx and Tibetan Buddhism
Acknowledgments	vi
Introduction THE PROBLEM OF OBJECTIVE "TRUTH" AND THE THREAT OF RELATIVISM FOR RELIGIOUS PRACTITIONERS IN THE MODERN WORLD	1
Chapter 1 COMPARATIVE THEOLOGY, RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY, AND THE QUESTION OF ULTIMATE TRUTH	5
Chapter 2 THE "BRIDGE CONCEPT" AND MATERIALS	23
Chapter 3 THE ROLES OF INDIVIDUAL INTELLECT AND THE COLLECTIVE INTELLIGENCE OF THE COMMUNITY IN KNOWLEDGE FORMATION	67
Chapter 4 THE ROLE OF THE HISTORICAL FOUNDERS OF RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS IN SHAPING AND CONVEYING RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, MEANING, AND TRUTH FOR CONTEMPORARY BELIEVERS	111
Chapter 5 THE ROLE AND AUTHORITY OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN THE APOPHATIC KNOWLEDGE OF ULTIMATE REALITY	163
Conclusion POSSIBLE MADHYAMAKA IMPLICATIONS FOR CATHOLIC THEOLOGY	215
Bibliography	241
Index	247