Much has been written on the relationship between violence and religious militancy, but there has been less research on constructive methods of confronting religious violence. This book represents an innovative attempt to integrate the study of religion with the study of conflict resolution. Marc Gopin offers an analysis of contemporary religious violence as a reaction to the pressures of modernity and the increasing economic integration of the world. He contends that religion is one of the most salient phenomena that will cause massive violence in the next century. He also argues, however, that religion can play a critical role in constructing a global community of shared moral commitments and vision - a community that can limit conflict to its nonviolent, constructive variety.

What are the roots of the Jewish-Arab conflict? How has it developed, and why does it still exist? In this intriguing investigation, Yosef Gorney contends that the ideological principles of Zionism were a decisive influence throughout the period when Jewish settlement began in Palestine and the foundations were laid for the re-establishment of Israeli sovereignty. He begins by identifying four basic attitudes of the Jewish settlers and Zionist leaders toward the Arab population before the First World War, and then shows how these attitudes persisted or changed in the face of subsequent political events--the Balfour declaration, the tension of the thirties, the Second World War, and the holocaust. Tracing in each period the delicate synthesis between politics and ideology, the book reveals the consistency of ideological principles in Zionist attitudes towards the Arabs, despite rapid changes in their political and historical context.

A revisionist reading of early anti-Judaism, in which the author challenges the prevailing opinion and offers a richer picture than ever before of the Jews and Christians of antiquity.

'A very important contribution to the clarifying of the complexity of the relaionships between Jews, Christians, and pagans in Greco-Roman culture.' Rosemary Radford Ruether, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Il profeta islamico Maometto diede avvio a un programma teologico in forma teocratica. Poiche il Corano, in molti modi, si rivolge ai cristiani e agli ebrei e li invita a fare dichiarazioni, una risposta propriamente teologica e legittima e necessaria. Tenendo conto delle attuali ricerche scientifiche sull'Islam, questo libro tratta le fonti del Corano, le fondamentali caratteristiche del suo rapporto con l'ebraismo e la sua percezione di Gesu. Cio conduce ad una valutazione realistica dell'Islam e ad impulsi per una rinnovata autocomprensione cristiana. Il quarto capitolo presenta le affermazioni largamente sconosciute del filosofo ebreo Franz Rosenzweig e del teologo Joseph Ratzinger/Benedetto XVI sull'Islam che sono un aiuto decisivo per l'orientamento al di la della sottomissione.

Seitdem John Hick durch seine pluralistische Position den Weg fur eine Annaherung der Religionen geschaffen hat, haben seine Werke viel Aufmerksamkeit von Anhangern und Kritikern erfahren. Dieses Werk setzt sich kritisch mit dem Lebenswerk Hicks auseinander, und vergleicht die Argumente fur seine Ansicht mit denen von Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Alvin Plantinga und Karl Rahner. Der Autor legt die Pramissen der vier Positionen offen, und macht deutlich, warum trotz aller berechtigten Kritik die pluralistische Position die plausibelste Antwort auf die Frage liefert, wieso es mehrere Religionen gibt, wenn laut dem NT (nur) Jesus Christus der Weg, die Wahrheit und das Leben ist.

Der islamische Prophet Muhammad ist einst mit einem theologischen Programm in theokratischer Gestalt angetreten. Da der Koran Christen und Juden vielfach anspricht und zu Stellungnahmen auffordert, ist eine theologische Antwort legitim und notwendig. Der vorliegende Band behandelt unter Einbeziehung aktueller islamwissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisse die Quellen des Korans, die Grundzuge seines Verhaltnisses zum Judentum und sein Jesusbild. Daraus ergeben sich sowohl eine realistische Bewertung des Islam als auch Impulse fur ein christliches Selbstverstandnis. Das 4. Kapitel stellt die weithin unbekannten Sichtweisen des judischen Philosophen Franz Rosenzweig und des Theologen Joseph Ratzinger/Benedikt XVI. auf den Islam hin vor - als entscheidende Orientierungshilfe jenseits von Unterwerfung.

Das geistliche Spiel des Mittelalters erfuhr wahrend der Reformationszeit massgebliche Veranderungen. Dennoch lebten Teile der mittelalterlichen Spieltradition auch in den geistlichen Dramen protestantischer Dramatiker fort, indem sie reflektierten Transformationsprozessen unterworfen wurden, die semantische Verschiebungen, Adaptionen und Modifikationen mit sich brachten. Die komparatistische und interdisziplinare Studie von Maximiliane Johanna Antonia Gurth beleuchtet vielfaltige Erscheinungsformen, Aspekte und Kontexte dieser Transformationen im protestantischen Drama des 16. Jahrhunderts und zeigt, wie die theologischen Bruche, inter- und binnenkonfessionelle Konflikte, aber auch transkonfessionelle Gemeinsamkeiten, uber interkonfessionelle Austauschprozesse immer wieder neu verhandelt wurden. Die Autorin untersucht und analysiert den Einfluss diskursiver und gesellschaftlicher Kontexte auf die konkrete Realisierung von Interkonfessionalitat im protestantischen Drama und entwirft einen neu perspektivierten Blick auf die kommunikative Interaktion der Konfessionen in der Reformationszeit.

In the latest discussion on the relations between religions, it has often been argued that monotheism necessarily leads to intolerance and exclusivism. A religion which claims to worship "the one and only true God" is inevitably forced to reject every religious behaviour and practices of "the Other". But is this really the case? This volume contains contributions which discuss the major question: What are the instruments and the strategies used in different religious settings where interreligious encounter is part of daily life? Most of the contributions concentrate on the challenges of theology in the context of India. A special focus will be on approaches for interreligious coexistence derived from Biblical or Systematic Theology.

This collection takes a new approach to understanding religious plurality in the Iberian Peninsula and its Mediterranean and northern European contexts. Focusing on polemics-works that attack or refute the beliefs of religious Others-this volume aims to challenge the problematic characterization of Iberian Jews, Muslims, and Christians as homogeneous groups. From the high Middle Ages to the end of the seventeenth century, Christian efforts to convert groups of Jews and Muslims, Muslim efforts to convert Christians and Jews, and the defensive efforts of these communities to keep their members within the faiths led to the production of numerous polemics. This volume brings together a wide variety of case studies that expose how the current historiographical focus on the three religious communities as allegedly homogeneous groups obscures the diversity within the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities as well as the growing ranks of skeptics and outright unbelievers. Featuring contributions from a range of academic disciplines, this paradigm-shifting book sheds new light on the cultural and intellectual dynamics of the conflicts that marked relations among these religious communities in the Iberian Peninsula and beyond. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Antoni Biosca i Bas, Thomas E. Burman, Monica Colominas Aparicio, John Dagenais, Oscar de la Cruz, Borja Franco Llopis, Linda G. Jones, Daniel J. Lasker, Davide Scotto, Teresa Soto, Ryan Szpiech, Pieter Sjoerd van Koningsveld, and Carsten Wilke.

In Teaching Interreligious Encounters, editors Marc A. Pugliese and Alexander Y. Hwang have gathered together a multidisciplinary and international group of scholar-teachers to explore the pedagogical issues that occur at the intersection of different religious traditions. This volume is both a theoretical and practical guide for new teachers as well as seasoned scholars. It breaks the pedagogy of interreligious encounters down into five distinct components. In the first part, essays explore the theory of teaching these encounters; in the second, essays discuss course design. The parts that follow engage practical ideas for teaching textual analysis, practice, and real-world application. Despite their disciplinary, contextual, and methodological diversity, these essays share a common vision for the learning goals and outcomes of teaching interreligious encounters. This is a much needed resource for any teacher participating in these conversations.

In modern multi-faith societies, religious diversity not only affects religious organisations and communities, but indeed every aspect of life. From celebrating cultural events, to considering how the police should interact with members of the public from different faith communities, this book highlights the ways in which all members of society can engage constructively with diversity. This ground-breaking book draws on the work at the St Philip's Centre in Leicester and presents a collection of case studies to show how people from a variety of religious backgrounds and ethical convictions have learnt to coexist peacefully. Without shying away from the conflicts and challenges that have occurred, the book focuses on the lessons learnt and offers real examples of how to promote positive interfaith relationships. This is an excellent resource for anyone wishing to understand the issues of religion and belief that may arise at local and national levels, and develop appropriate attitudes and actions for peaceful resolution.

'A major publishing event, not only in Buddhist studies but also for those working in the area of interfaith encounter and theology of religions.' Japanese Journal of Religious Studies In today's globalized world, religious diversity has become one of the strongest challenges to the self-understanding of any major religious tradition, provoking two interdependent questions. How does it see itself in the light of others? And, how does it see others in the light of its own teachings? While the Abrahamic religions are often accused of a predominantly intolerant and exclusivistic attitude to the religious 'other', Eastern religions-and Buddhism in particular-enjoy the reputation of being naturally tolerant, absorbing, and even pluralistic towards competing faiths. Some thinkers (from David Hume to Jan Assmann) understood religious intolerance as an inevitable property of monotheism, supposedly absent in the case of non-theistic or polytheistic religions. More recent research, however, has suggested that this impression, part of a whole cluster of Western cliches, is false. Buddhism is-and has been-as much convinced of its own superiority as any other faith, and has also been involved in various inter-religious tensions and violent conflicts. The ways, however, in which Buddhists have thought about the religious 'other', and practically dealt with it, display peculiar features, which do indeed differ profoundly from what we find in the Abrahamic faiths. Yet today, Buddhism must address the question whether it can arrive at a genuine appreciation of religious diversity, and recognize other religions as different but nevertheless equally valid. This new four-volume collection from Routledge's acclaimed Critical Concepts in Religious Studies series enables users to make sense of this and other dizzying questions. It brings together the best thinking on Buddhism's relationship with other faiths and provides a one-stop collection of classic and contemporary contributions to facilitate ready access to the most influential and important scholarship. Fully indexed and with a general and volume introductions, newly written by the editor, which carefully locate the collected materials in their historical and intellectual context, Buddhism and Religious Diversity is an essential work of reference. It is destined to be valued by specialists and scholars working in related areas as a vital research tool.

El Filioque es una de las cuestiones mas largas y complejas de la historia del dogma cristiano. Se cuenta todavia entre las causas de la division entre catolicos y ortodoxos. En 1995, a peticion de Juan Pablo II, el Pontificio Consejo para la promocion de la Unidad de los Cristianos publico un breve texto que expresa la comprension catolica del problema. Entre sus diversas implicaciones, el documento, conocido como Clarificacion romana, se centra en los aspectos dogmaticos, que expone a partir de una amplia base de referencias patristicas. El presente estudio analiza la Clarificacion en dos partes. La primera presenta los precedentes historicos y magisteriales del texto, su genesis y sus fuentes, y ofrece una sintesis de las reacciones ecumenicas que siguieron a su publicacion. Como via para un entendimiento, la segunda parte del texto propone una consideracion detenida de las fuentes patristicas, orientales y occidentales. En ella se presentan los principales pasajes sobre el origen del Espiritu Santo y su relacion con el Hijo, contextualizados en el pensamiento trinitario de cada Padre. En funcion de el se valora el uso que ha realizado la Clarificacion de sus fuentes.

Der vorliegende Band der Reihe New German-American Studies eroertert anhand der Lebensgeschichte des geburtigen Westfalen August Rauschenbusch und unter Anwendung gangiger Methoden der deutsch-amerikanischen und transatlantischen Geschichtsschreibung das Schicksal eines deutschen Amerikaauswanderers im 19. Jahrhundert. August Rauschenbusch migrierte 1846 als protestantischer Missionar nach Missouri und hatte spater eine angesehene Stellung als Professor und Ausbilder von Predigern an einem deutschsprachigen theologischen Seminar im Staat New York inne. Der Verfasser ruckt durch seine Untersuchung der Biographie eines deutschen Theologen und Einzelauswanderers in den USA heute vergessene oder bisher weitgehend vernachlassigte Forschungsfelder deutsch-amerikanischer Geschichte wieder ins Bewusstsein.

Is the Christian church in Europe doomed to collapse under the weight of globalization, Western secularism, and a flood of Muslim immigrants? Is Europe on the brink of becoming "Eurabia"?
Though many pundits are predicting just such a scenario, God's Continent reveals the flaws in these arguments and offers a much more measured assessment of Europe's religious future. While frankly acknowledging current tensions, Philip Jenkins shows, for instance, that the overheated rhetoric about a Muslim-dominated Europe is based on politically convenient myths: that Europe is being imperiled by floods of Muslim immigrants, exploding Muslim birth-rates, and the demise of European Christianity. He points out that by no means are Muslims the only new immigrants in Europe. Christians from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe are also pouring into the Western countries, and bringing with them a vibrant and enthusiastic faith that is helping to transform the face of European Christianity. Jenkins agrees that both Christianity and Islam face real difficulties in surviving within Europe's secular culture. But instead of fading away, both have adapted, and are adapting. Yes, the churches are in decline, but there are also clear indications that Christian loyalty and devotion survive, even as institutions crumble.
The third book in an acclaimed trilogy that includes The Next Christendom and The New Faces of Christianity, God's Continent offers a realistic and historically grounded appraisal of the future of Christianity in a rapidly changing Europe.

"The reader is led through the centuries, and through the varieties of regional diversity, to a serious appreciation of the richness and importance of the subject."--Sheila McDonough, Concordia University, Montreal "This volume far surpasses others of its kind in quality and breadth. It examines the critical issues surrounding the legitimacy, efficacy and, in some scholars' views, the very possibility of dialogue."--Tamara Sonn, University of South Florida The authors of these essays examine the ways in which Muslims and Christians worldwide have encountered one another over 1,400 years and the ways in which they are engaged today, enlightening current interpolitical, intersocial, and intereconomic relationships. Covering geographical, historical, and methodological topics that range from medieval scripture to contemporary theological reflections and including contributions from both Muslims and Christians, the essays will interest scholars of Islamic history and political science, religious leaders, and the general public. Contributors: Mamud Ayoub, Willem A. Bijlefeld, Issa J. Boullata, John B. Carman, Kenneth Cragg, Hadia Dajani-Shakeel, Frederick Mathewson Denny, Johann Haafkens, Wadi Z. Haddad, Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, David A. Kerr, Donald P. Little, Roland E. Miller, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Jorgen S. Nielsen, Sulayman S. Nyang, James E. Royster, Daniel J. Sahas, Annemarie Schimmel, Olaf Schumann, Jan Slomp, Jane I. Smith, R. Marston Speight, Mark N. Swanson, Christian W. Troll, Harold S. Vogelaar, Jacques Waardenburg, and Antonie Wessels Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad is professor of Islamic history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Wadi Z. Haddad is professor of Islamic studies at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.

Despite the fact that "Nones"-people who do not identify with or belong to any religious tradition-are, by definition, impervious to generalization, there is a tendency for others to draw to mind a certain prototype when imagining them. It is often an unflattering or overly simplified portrait of a person whose spiritual life might be characterized by words like "individualist," "narcissistic," "uncommitted," "unbelieving," "consumeristic," "superficial," and otherwise less serious and meaningful than that of a person whose spiritual identity is anchored in formal membership in an institutional religious organization. As Elizabeth Drescher points out in Choosing Our Religion, Nones are described by negatives; they do not identify as belonging to a specific group, and are not affiliated with an institutional religion. However, there are now more self-identified Nones in this country than Mainline Protestants or Non-Denominational and Born Again Christians, a result of what is clearly a significant religious and spiritual shift in American culture. Breaking away from both the derisive accounts of this trend, as well as myriad studies focusing on data analysis of its social, cultural, and political impact, Drescher invites members of the fastest growing religious demographic in the US to speak for themselves. She asks them about how they came to their present spiritual outlook, how they understand the divine, what role spiritual sages and sacred texts play in their spiritual lives, what the meaning and purpose of the spiritual life might be, how community functions in spirituality, what practices enrich the spiritual life, what happens when we die, and other basic theological and spiritual questions. As she discovers, most Nones report having been raised in religious households, nearly two-thirds of them Christian; in fact, the majority of Nones are not atheists or agnostics, but believers and seekers most of whom adhere to nominally Christian beliefs and practices mixed liberally with resources from non-Christian traditions. Research for the book began with on an online survey about the beliefs, practices, and outlooks of religious Nones. Drescher then used the survey results as a guide for a series of focus groups and one-on-one interviews. In Choosing Our Religion, Nones will emerge as real people drawing on the resources available to them-diverse religious traditions, spiritual exploration, personal and communal experience-to shape a spiritual outlook and practice that they find meaningful and life-giving.

Recent studies have examined martyrdom as a means of constructing Christian identity, but until now none has focused on Stephen, the first Christian martyr. For the author of Luke-Acts, the stoning of Stephen-- even more than the death of Jesus-- underscores the perfidy of non-believing Jews, the extravagant mercy of Christians, and the inevitable rift that will develop between these two social groups. Stephen's dying prayer that his persecutors be forgiven-the prayer for which he is hailed in Christian tradition as the "perfect martyr" plays a crucial role in drawing an unprecedented distinction between Jewish and early Christian identities.
Shelly Matthews deftly situates Stephen's story within the emerging discourse of early Christian martyrdom. Though Stephen is widely acknowledged to be an actual historical figure, Matthews points to his name, his manner of death, and to other signs that his martyrdom was ideally suited to the rhetorical purposes of Acts and its author, Luke: to uphold Roman views of security and respectability, to show non-believing Jews to disadvantage, and to convey that Christianity was an exceptionally merciful religion. By drawing parallels between Acts and stories of the martyrdom of James, the brother of Jesus, Matthews challenges the coherent canonical narrative of Acts and questions common assumptions about the historicity of Stephen's martyrdom. She also offers a radical new reading of Stephen's last prayer, showing the complex and sometimes violent effects of its modern interpretations.
Perfect Martyr illuminates the Stephen story as never before, offering a deeply nuanced picture of violence, solidarity, and resistance among Jews and early Christians, a key to understanding the early development of a non-Jewish Christian identity, and an innovative reframing of one of the most significant stories in the Bible.

Christian theology has traditionally been very negative about Judaism. Richard Harries argues for a radical rethink in the light of the evil of the holocaust and offers fresh approaches to contentious issues such as forgiveness and the problem of suffering in the two religions. He maintains - controversially - that Christians should not be trying to convert Jews to Christianity. Rather, they should build on the great amount they have in common to work together for a better world.

Die Idee der europaischen Einheit hat im protestantischen Denken keine lange Tradition. UEber Jahrhunderte war der Protestantismus aufs engste mit der Staats- und Nationenwerdung in Europa verbunden gewesen, weshalb er lange Zeit fur europaische Vielfalt und Disparatheit, nicht aber fur eine wie auch immer geartete Einheit stand. Erst ab Ende der 1930er Jahre ist das Entstehen eines protestantischen Europadiskurses zu beobachten und zwar innerhalb der internationalen oekumenischen Bewegung. Dort, wo die Einheit der Kirchen uber die nationalen Grenzen hinweg angestrebt wurde, liess der drohende Krieg zwischen eben jenen Nationen ein europaisches Bewusstsein entstehen, und fuhrende Vertreter der OEkumene begannen, sich in die allgemeine Diskussion uber die Zukunft Europas einzuschalten. Von zentraler Bedeutung war dabei der niederlandische Theologe Willem Adolph Visser t Hooft, der den oekumenischen Protestantismus im 20. Jahrhundert wie kein Zweiter pragte. In der vorliegenden Studie untersucht Jan Schubert, wie sich seine Wahrnehmung Europas als einer politischen, kulturellen und gesellschaftlichen Einheit von den 1920er bis zu den 1960er Jahren entwickelte. Dabei vollzieht die Studie nach, welche Personen, Gruppierungen sowie welche geistigen, ideellen und theologischen Stroemungen ihn bei seiner Meinungsbildung bezuglich Europa beeinflusst haben. Auf diese Weise eroeffnet sie einen exemplarischen Einblick in die Entstehungsphase des protestantischen Europadiskurses, der in der historischen Forschung bislang weitgehend vernachlassigt wurde.