This book explores "A Common Word Between Us and You," a high-level ongoing Christian-Muslim dialogue process. The Common Word process was commenced by leading Islamic scholars and intellectuals as outreach in response to the Pope's much criticized Regensburg address of 2007, and brings to the fore, in the interest of developing a meaningful peace, how the Islamic and Christian communities representing well over half of the world's population might agree on love of God and love of neighbor as common beliefs.

In the last two decades, interfaith marriage has emerged as one of the primary cultural realities of North American religious life. While the numbers of interfaith marriages continue their pattern of steady growth, so does the demand for practical, supportive, non-judgmental advice to help ease the emotional pain and bewilderment so often experienced by the parents of interfaith couples. The parents are often the least prepared to cope with the wide range of spiritual, emotional, and family issues interfaith marriages inevitably provoke, yet few books address the concerns, fears, and anxieties of parents of children entering such marriages. Most parents want their children to be happy, to find loving, supportive, nurturing, sensitive and caring marital partners. But they also very often have an unspoken and unacknowledged need to see their own values and beliefs perpetuated into the next generation and beyond. Thus, confronting the stark reality of interfaith marriage raises deep-seated feelings of guilt, failure, loss and pain for the millions of parents whose children are making those marital choices every day. This book is a practical guide for parents whose children intermarry. It draws upon Rabbi Reuben's personal experiences officiating at over a thousand interfaith weddings. The author imparts the lessons he has learned for helping parents create loving, supportive, and successful relationships with their own children, their new son- or daughter-in-law, and their new interfaith in-laws, without compromising the integrity of their own dearly-held beliefs and faith. In addition, he incorporates anecdotal experiences of parents who have shared their own formulas for successfullycoping with the day-to-day issues of maintaining the best relationship with their children. And he includes stories from same-sex unions as well. Written for people of various faiths across the religious spectrum, this book is a valuable source of information, guidance, and support. It speaks directly to parents, with concrete practical suggestions about how to maintain the best possible relationship with their children--and be a positive influence upon their grandchildren.

This volume presents international perspectives on interreligious dialogue, with a particular focus on how this can be found or understood within biblical texts. The volume is in four parts covering both the Old and New Testaments (and related Greco Roman texts) as well as the history of reception and issues of hermeneutics. Issues of the relationships between religious cultures are assessed both in antiquity and modernity In Part 1 (Old Testament) contributions range from the discussion of the bible and plurality of theologies in church life (Erhard Gerstenberger) to the challenge of multi-culturalism (Cornelis Van Dam). Part 2 (New Testament and Greco-Roman Texts) considers such things as Pagan, Jewish and Christian historiography (Armin Baum) and the different beliefs it is possible to discern in the Ephesian community (Tor Vegge). Part 3 provides issues from the history of reception - including the role of Jesus in Islam (Craig A. Evans). The volume is completed by a hermeneutical reflection by Joze Krasovec, which draws the threads of dialogue together and questions how we can best examine the bible in a modern, international, multicultural society.

This is an analytical and reflective look at the contribution that Christian-Muslim partnerships can make to community cohesion.In "Religious Cohesion in Times of Conflict" Andrew Holden presents the results and analysis of the key findings of a sociological investigation which seeks to establish the contribution that Christian-Muslim partnerships can make to community cohesion.Beginning with a historical and sociological overview of faith relations, a description of the empirical methodology and a discussion of the evolution of Christian-Muslim partnerships, Andrew Holden goes on to highlight how the fieldwork data demonstrates the challenges of uniting young people in segregated towns and cities. He considers the implications of the findings for education policy, examining some of the ways in which schools and colleges can promote faith cohesion, and further addresses the issue of faith leadership, considering how the changing faith landscape affects the work of Christian and Muslim clerics.He concludes by considering possible ways forward for Christian-Muslim relations both in Britain and in the international context and for the development of new partnerships between faith and secular organizations.

This Reader brings together nearly 80 extracts from major works by Christians and Muslims that reflect their reciprocal knowledge and attitudes. It spans the period from the early 7th century, when Islam originated, to 1500. The general introduction provides a historical and geographical summary of Christian-Muslim encounters in the period and a short account of the religious, intellectual and social circumstances in which encounters took place and works were written. Topics from the Christian perspective include: condemnations of the Qur'an as a fake and Muhammad as a fraud, depictions of Islam as a sign of the final judgement, and proofs that it was a Christian heresy. On the Muslim side they include: demonstrations of the Bible as corrupt, proofs that Christian doctrines were illogical, comments on the inferior status of Christians, and accounts of Christian and Muslim scholars in collaboration together. Each of the six parts contains the following pedagogical features: -A short introduction -An introduction to each passage and author -Notes explaining terms that readers might not have previously encountered

The Buddhist view of inter-religious dialogue is significantly different from, say, that of Christianity. In Christianity Jesus Christ, being the only incarnation in the history, has an inexplicable uniqueness. It must be maintained even in the inter-faith dialogue. By contrast, in Buddhism Guatama Buddha is not the only Buddha, but one of many Buddhas. His uniqueness is realized in the fact that he is the first Buddha in human history. Furthermore, the Buddhist teaching of dependent co-origination and emptiness not only provides a dynamic common basis for various religions, but also will suggest a creative cooperation amongst world religions. The book clarifies such a Buddhist view and inter-religious dialogue from various perspectives.

This is a revisionary study of Muslims living under Christian rule during the Spanish 'reconquest'. It looks beyond the obvious religious distinctions and delves into the subtleties of identity in the thirteenth-century Crown of Aragon, uncovering a social dynamic in which sectarian differences comprise only one of the many factors in the causal complex of political, economic and cultural reactions. Beginning with the final stage of independent Muslim rule in the Ebro valley region, the book traces the transformation of Islamic society into mudejar society under Christian domination. This was a case of social evolution in which Muslims, far from being passive victims of foreign colonisation, took an active part in shaping their institutions and experiences as subjects of the Infidel. Using a diverse range of methodological approaches, this book challenges widely held assumptions concerning Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle Ages, and minority-majority relations in general.

Like many women in the Church, Joy Loewen didn't fully understand Muslim women or their roles in the Muslim culture and religion. In fact, she was afraid of them and not particularly interested in befriending them. But with prayer, wisdom, and a lot of love, Joy overcame these obstacles, found that she actually liked them, and that many of these women are irresistibly attracted to the love of Jesus. For the last thirty years she has used this knowledge to build authentic connections with Muslim women, reaching out to them in a sensitive, effective way.
In this practical and very personal book, Joy shares not only her insights into befriending Muslim women, but many helpful stories from her own experiences. Her goal is to help readers "move from fear to love and compassion" so that they, too, can love as Christ does. Woman to Woman is essential reading for Christian leaders, ministries, and any layperson who wants to grow in love for and understanding of Muslims.

Faith stories explains systems of cultural value that are articulated through faith. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups for adults and arts workshops for their children, Anna Hickey-Moody examines belonging, attachment, faith, belief and 'what really matters' in diverse areas in England and Australia. Her research finds surprising similarities in how people are connected to daily life through faith, and how others postpone their involvement in the everyday with the hope of being rewarded after death. Children bring together their religious worlds with imagined solutions to everyday problems. Indeed, in their artwork they save the planet from threats of war, climate change and recuperate their geographically divided families, suggesting that other worlds are possible. Their parent's faith shows this too. In such increasingly divided times, work like this is needed now more than ever. -- .

Without question, inter-religious relations are crucial in the contemporary age. While most dialogue works on past and contemporary matters, this volume takes on the relations among the Abrahamic religions and looks forward, toward the possibility of real and lasting dialogue. The book centers upon inter-faith issues. It identifies problems that stand in the way of fostering healthy dialogues both within particular religious traditions and between faiths. The volume's contributors strive for a realization of already existing common ground between religions. They engagingly explore how inter-religious dialogue can be re-energized for a new century.

Practical theology has outgrown its traditional pastoral paradigm. The articles in this handbook recognize that faith, spirituality, and lived religion, within and beyond institutional communities, refer to realms of cultures, ritual practices, and symbolic orders, whose boundaries are not clearly defined and whose contents are shifting. The International Handbook of Practical Theology offers insightful transcultural conceptions of religion and religious matters gathered from various cultures and traditions of faith. The first section presents 'concepts of religion'. Chapters have to do with considerations of the conceptualizing of religion in the fields of 'anthropology', 'community', 'family', 'institution', 'law', 'media', and 'politics' among others. The second section is dedicated to case studies of 'religious practices' from the perspective of their actors. The third section presents major theoretical discourses that explore the globally significant diversity and multiplicity of religion. Altogether, sixty-one authors from different parts of the world encourage a rethinking of religious practice in an expanded, transcultural, globalized, and postcolonial world.