Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions(CISMOR)Doshisha University

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Public Lectures

Lecture (Open for the public)

Monotheism and Polytheism: Towards A New Dialogue of Civilization

Date: 2004/10/30
Place: Lecture Room 21 in Meitokukan, Imadegawa Campus, Doshisha University
Lecture:
Prof. Nakazawa Shinichi (Chuo Univ.) "Monotheism and Polytheism: An Enigma of Global Economy"

Prof. Kohara Katsuhiro (Doshisha Univ.) "A Response from Polytheism to the criticism of Monotheism"
In the world of scholars and journalists in Japan, especially after the September 11 terrorist attacks, we can find numerous papers on monotheism and polytheism. A number of people have criticized the problems of monotheism from the viewpoint of Buddhism and polytheism, and positively advocated the potential of polytheism in the contemporary world. However, choosing either monotheism or polytheism will not solve any problems. It is necessary to consider the relationship between these two religious categories and their problems from the perspective of current civilization theory.

Moreover, believers and non-believers alike are interested in disputes in the monotheistic world and possible ways to solve them. Under the current trend of so-called globalization, many problems exist that require all of us to understand and search for insights into monotheism. It is possible to say that it is an urgent issue to discover a sense of values that can be shared, and to build a stable foundation in this confusing world order, which is typified by continually occurring terrorist attacks.

In this lecture meeting we want to summarize the relationships between monotheism and polytheism from the academic point of view, and raise questions to enlighten future discussions, while satisfying general academic interests.