Kristin Johnston Largen is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. An ordained Lutheran pastor, she is currently the editor of Dialog, a Lutheran journal of theology. Largen calls this book a work of comparative theology designed to make the most out of a rigorous examination of Jesus and Krishna as babies/young children and then as adults.
She rightly believes that this kind of interreligious dialogue can be especially beneficial and enlightening for Christians. By stretching the often rigid and closed-down ideas and ideals of orthodox faith, believers might just develop a greater respect for Hindu wisdom and a deeper appreciation of Jesus.
Krishna is the most powerful god in the Hindu pantheon of divine beings. Largen gives a thorough overview of his life and character but for this review, we can only emphasize how his devotees celebrate his playfulness. In contrast, you will not find this term used in any descriptions of Jesus in the Bible or in the teaching of the Christian tradition. In the story of Krishna, play is an expression of the divine nature. Imagine a god who takes delight in goofing around and finds joy in simply being incarnate in the world. For Hindus, this playfulness elicits within them a loving devotion that is intense and lasting.
The birth narratives of the Bible and the infancy narratives of the apocryphal gospels depict a passive baby and a young Jesus whose humanity is slighted in favor of his divinity. Largen points out how the infancy narratives open new doors to our thinking about God. She even suggests that Christians start to find ways to delight in the play of God and Jesus as a "god with emotion."
The author goes on to look at the adulthood of Krishna and Jesus and their work of salvation. In a chapter on "Rethinking the Incarnation," Largen suggests the depiction of Krishna as lover can inform the ways in which we see God's love for us and the wild possibility that we might see within human erotic passion intimations of Divine Love for us. Three cheers for Baby Krishna and Infant Christ, a robust theological work that salutes the spiritual ramifications of play.
