Book Panel: Debating Transcendence: Creatio ex nihilo and Sheng Sheng (Fordham University Press, 2026)

This high-level roundtable convenes leading scholars of Confucianism, Christianity, and comparative theology to assess the methodological and constructive significance of Debating Transcendence: Creatio ex nihilo and Sheng Sheng (Fordham University Press, 2026). The panel examines whether classical Ruist thought offers a philosophically rigorous account of transcendence and how this reframes long-standing debates about Eurocentrism, religious diversity, and global theology. Engaging textual scholarship, constructive metaphysics, and critical theory, participants evaluate the book’s claims regarding generatio ex nihilo, immanent transcendence, and non-confessional theology. By bringing multiple disciplinary perspectives into sustained dialogue, the session models a new stage of Confucian comparative theology—one that is historically grounded, conceptually precise, and globally conversant. The roundtable contributes substantively to contemporary philosophy of religion and comparative religious studies while advancing future-oriented frameworks for transreligious understanding.