Hindu Monotheism V (MT20)

Location: Online meeting
Speaker: Prof. Gavin Flood
Date: December 3, 2020
Time: 2:00pm-3:00pm

Hindu monotheism may at first sound like an oxymoron. One thing that seems to characterize Hinduism is its plurality of gods. Yet many Hindus will claim that this plurality expresses a single deity, that all the gods are aspects of one transcendent being. These three lectures will examine the emergence of the idea of a single deity being the source of all others and of the universe itself. The lectures will chart the rise of theism and specifically the idea of monotheism in the history of Hindu traditions through textual sources. Furthermore the lectures will begin to raise theological questions about the nature of such a deity and its contemporary relevance, if any.