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A Theology of Gratitude

A Theology of Gratitude

A Theology of Gratitude

Christian and Muslim Perspectives
Mona Siddiqui, University of Edinburgh
Nathanael Vette, University of Edinburgh
December 2022
Hardback
9781009198400
£85.00
GBP
Hardback
USD
eBook

    How, from a theological standpoint, should we make sense of gratitude? This rich interdisciplinary volume is the first concertedly to explore theologies of gratitude from both Christian and Muslim perspectives. While the available literature has tended to rhapsodize gratitude to God and others as both a virtue and an obligation, this book by contrast offers something new by detailing ways in which gratitude is complicated by inequality: even to the point of becoming a vice. Gratitude now emerges as something more than a virtue and other than merely transactional. It can be a burden, bringing about indebtedness and an imbalance of power; but it may also be a resonant source of reconciliation and belonging. Topics discussed cover the personal and political dimensions of gratitude, including such issues as justice, multiculturalism, racism, imperialism, grief, memory and hope. The book assembles, from different traditions, some of the leading theologians of our times.

    • Allows for comparison and engaged dialogue between voices from remarkably different theological and scholarly positions
    • The first book critically and concertedly to consider gratitude as something more than a virtue in both the Christian and Muslim traditions
    • Offers stimulating chapters by many prominent and celebrated theological thinkers: including Rowan Williams, Miroslav Volf, Tom Greggs and Mona Siddiqui

    Reviews & endorsements

    'Accessible, engaging, and informative… With its concentration on the attitudes and practices of gratitude, the book deals with an important theme strangely neglected in theological writing. A particular strength is its interaction with recent psychological studies of gratitude; these are drawn into conversation with the historical traditions of both Christianity and Islam. The volume includes several distinguished scholars from both sides of the Atlantic, and its audience will include students of Christian and Islamic thought – especially those interested in recent comparative theology.' David Fergusson, University of Cambridge

    'This pioneering comparative study in Christian and Muslim understandings of gratitude sets out to reconceptualise something often seen as a self-evident virtue into both 'a burden and a blessing' in human and societal relationships. The topic is one underexplored in the theological traditions of either religion beyond its fundamental role in the human relationship with the divine. The book makes an important and original contribution to comparative theology in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and also to the wider humanities – especially in their dialogue with the social sciences.' William F. Storrar, Director, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton

    'Accessible, engaging, and informative… With its concentration on the attitudes and practices of gratitude, the book deals with an important theme strangely neglected in theological writing.' David Fergusson, University of Cambridge

    'The book makes an important and original contribution to comparative theology in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and also to the wider humanities – especially in their dialogue with the social sciences.' William F. Storrar, Director, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton

    'Accessible, engaging, and informative.' David Fergusson, University of Cambridge

    'The book makes an important and original contribution to comparative theology in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, and also to the wider humanities.' William F. Storrar, Director, Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton

    '[T]he book is a useful contribution to knowledge in this field, and I would unreservedly recommend it to those interested in exploring different theological perspectives on gratitude.' Martin Awaana Wullobayi, Islamochristiana

    See more reviews

    Product details

    December 2022
    Hardback
    9781009198400
    256 pages
    235 × 158 × 17 mm
    0.49kg
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Part I. Gratitude and God
    • 1. Joyful recognition: debt, duty, and gratitude to God Miroslav Volf and Ryan McAnnally-Linz
    • 2. Islam and the Praxis of gratitude: Shukr from divine orientations to the structures of the social Martin Nguyen
    • 3. Gratitude in creation and in grace: One Protestant approach to the question of whether gratitude is a burden or a hope Tom Greggs
    • 4. When does a virtue become a vice? Gratitude as panacea and poison in Sufi ethics Atif Khalil
    • Part II. Gratitude and Humanity
    • 5. Gratitude: a virtue as vast as life itself? Robert Emmons
    • 6. Saying thank you in the checkout line, or, taking Thomas to Starbucks, or, gratitude in a money economy Peter J. Leithart
    • 7. The privilege of gratitude? Linn Marie Tonstad
    • 8. Gratitude, finitude, and divine providence: living thankfully in Schleiermacher and al-Ghazali Joshua Ralston
    • Part III. Gratitude and Society:
    • 9. From resentment to gratitude: an essay on multiculturalism Mona Siddiqui
    • 10. Being black in Britain: a space for gratitude? Anthony Reddie
    • 11. 'Ungrateful Jews': the Roman empire and early Christian anti-Semitism Nathanael Vette
    • 12. Paying tribute: Cornel West's prophetic gratitude as social movement building and self-transcendence Joshua Forstenzer.
      Contributors
    • Miroslav Volf, Ryan McAnnally-Linz, Martin Nguyen, Tom Greggs, Atif Khalil, Robert Emmons, Peter J. Leithart, Linn Marie Tonstad, Joshua Ralston, Mona Siddiqui, Anthony Reddie, Nathanael Vett, Joshua Forstenzer