Episode 157: David Coolidge Returns to Discuss His Study of Hinduism

Parvez and Omar finally return after the longest hiatus in the show's history! They bring us up to speed with all the going-ons in their lives from new jobs, moves, kids graduating to new kids being born!

As the show returns so does the show's guest! David Coolidge returns to discuss his groundbreaking new book, Hindu Bhakti Through Muslim Eyes. The book places the Caitanya Vaiṣṇava tradition—devotion to Krishna—into conversation with Islam, tracing a rich millennium-long trajectory of Muslim reflection on Hindu theology and spirituality. The discussion balances between diving deep into the book while at the same time offering a layperson's perspective to the theology and basic tenants of the faith. The discussion is deeply enriched by David's ability to masterfully interweave analogs from his own Islamic theological, ethical, and liturgical commitments. This offers a unique perspective into Hinduism, a continuation of past Muslim studies of the Hindu tradition, and true inter-religious scholarship. The discussion ends with an examination of modern Hindutva politics and its relationship if any with the religious tradition of Hinduism.   

About David Coolidge

David earned his PhD from the Graduate Theological Union in 2023 and serves as Research Faculty at Bayan Islamic Graduate School.

David Coolidge was born in Chicago, and raised in Kenilworth, IL. He has a BA from Brown University and an MA from Princeton University. He converted to Islam in 1998.  From 2008-2013 he worked as a Muslim chaplain, first at Dartmouth College and then again at Brown. From 2014-2017 he taught an undergraduate course on Islamic law and ethics at New York University. 

Highly recommend folks go and listen to David's first appearance on the show where he discusses his unique and deeply moving journey to Islam as well as within the Islamic Tradition.