About the Author

Diana L. Eck is professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, and author of A New Religious America. She was involved in the interfaith dialogue program of the World Council of Churches for fifteen years.

Reviews

“In a splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God, Eck encourages an increased religious literacy that she suggests will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity.”
—Publishers Weekly

“There cannot be a wiser or more authoritative guide to this challenging world of diverse spirituality than Diana Eck.”
—Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God

“Eck has put the structure and content of her beliefs on the line while opening herself to encounter deep places of living, vibrant faith in other religious traditions. Her Christian faith commitment is apparent, as is her dedication to dialogue, and she has managed deftly to balance the two, presenting a nuanced discussion of the richness that can be gained from such authentic encounters both here and abroad.”
—Parabola

“Although Encountering God is the work of a scholar and is throughout informed by scholarship, its intended audience is anyone who has ever entertained spiritual and religious questions.”
—Boston Phoenix

“With this account of her life journey, Eck will be incorporated in the list of twentieth-century interpreters who have facilitated the conversations of men and women dedicated to the interior life.”
—Booklist

“This book is not simply a personal diary. It is also both an urgent call for interreligious dialogue and a theological argument for that pluralism underlying such dialogue.”
—Religious Studies Review

Eck, a leader in interfaith dialogue movements and professor of comparative religion at Harvard, here scans the current religious landscape, reshaped by recent immigrants to the U.S., and examines ``the challenge that religious diversity poses to people of faith in every religious tradition.'' Her personal Christian grounding in Methodism, begun in Bozeman, Mont., has been enhanced by Eastern spirituality, particularly her encounters with Hinduism during her studies and travels in India. ``Today these two places, Bozeman and Banaras, both convey the spiritual meaning of home to me.'' In examining the differences among religious cultures, Eck continually places the Christian believer in relationship with those who follow Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim and Native American religious practices. In a splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God, Eck encourages an increased religious literacy that she suggests will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity. (Aug.)

"In a splendid exposition of non-Christian approaches to God, Eck encourages an increased religious literacy that she suggests will contribute richness and diversity to our national identity."
-Publishers Weekly

"There cannot be a wiser or more authoritative guide to this challenging world of diverse spirituality than Diana Eck."
-Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God

"Eck has put the structure and content of her beliefs on the line while opening herself to encounter deep places of living, vibrant faith in other religious traditions. Her Christian faith commitment is apparent, as is her dedication to dialogue, and she has managed deftly to balance the two, presenting a nuanced discussion of the richness that can be gained from such authentic encounters both here and abroad."
-Parabola

"Although Encountering God is the work of a scholar and is throughout informed by scholarship, its intended audience is anyone who has ever entertained spiritual and religious questions."
-Boston Phoenix

"With this account of her life journey, Eck will be incorporated in the list of twentieth-century interpreters who have facilitated the conversations of men and women dedicated to the interior life."
-Booklist

"This book is not simply a personal diary. It is also both an urgent call for interreligious dialogue and a theological argument for that pluralism underlying such dialogue."
-Religious Studies Review