Congratulations to the 2023 Winner

of the Frederick J. Streng Award for Excellence in Buddhist-Christian Studies

Peter feldmeier

Experiments in Buddhist-Christian Encounter

 (Orbis Books, 2019)

Well-versed in the metaphysical nuances of Buddhism and Christianity, Peter Feldmeier draws upon the writings of Christian figures like Meister Eckhart and St. John of the Cross to reflect upon Buddhist concepts and teachings like Buddha-Nature and the Zen Oxherding Pictures. He emphasizes the spirituality of both faiths and, rather than simply revealing alignments between the two, suggests how dialogue might change one's way of thinking about one's own faith.

At the 2023 SBCS meeting in conjunction with the AAR conference in San Antonio, Mark Uno honored Peter Feldmeier with the Streng award, commending the book especially for its nuance:  “Although I appreciate all the Buddhist-Christian scholarship about Pure Land, it often overlooks the different logical structure of Shin, which goes back to Nagarjuna and even earlier...”  [In contrast,] “Feldmeir represents Pure Land Buddhism, especially Shin, better than even Buddhist Studies scholars who specialize in Pure Land . . . Peter represents accurately the two largest streams of Buddhism worldwide - Chan Zen and Shin Pure Land... [and] Peter represents differences as just as significant as commonalities. That’s really important if you’re a Buddhist.” 

The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies is now receiving nominations for the 2024 Frederick Streng Book Award for Excellence in Buddhist-Christian Studies. Nominations must be received by March 1, 2024.
The criteria for nominating and making the award are:

1. The subject matter of the book should be inspired by and relevant to Buddhist-Christian relations, but subject matter is not narrowly limited to books on dialogue or to books that are half on Christianity and half on Buddhism.

2. The scholarship must be original and the writing clear. The book must make an important contribution to issues relevant to the context of Buddhist-Christian dialogue.

3. Books can be considered for nomination within five years of their publication date (i.e. the 2024 award must be for a book published in 2019 or later).

Nominations can be made by any person, by contacting Peter Feldmeier (peter.feldmeier@utoledo.edu). Nominations should include book volume title, author’s full name, publisher, year of publication, and a brief letter of support regarding the nomination. Also, full contact information should be included for the person making the nomination, including institutional affiliation (if applicable). Publishers of books must be willing to supply review copies to members of the committee for evaluation in order for the book to be considered. Questions should be directed to Peter Feldmeier via email.