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Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > General > Interfaith relations
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.
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.
Religion and religious nationalism have long played a central
role in many ethnic and national conflicts, and the importance of
religion to national identity means that territorial disputes can
often focus on the contestation of holy places and sacred
territory. Looking at the case of Israel and Palestine, this book
highlights the nexus between religion and politics through the
process of classifying holy places, giving them meaning and
interpreting their standing in religious and civil law, within
governmental policy, and within international and local
communities.
Written by a team of renowned scholars from within and outside
the region, this book follows on from Holy Places in the
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Confrontation and Co-existence to
provide an insightful look into the politics of religion and space.
Examining Jerusalem 's holy basin from a variety of perspectives
and disciplines, it provides unique insights into the way Jewish,
Christian and Muslim authorities, scholars and jurists regard
sacred space and the processes, grass roots and official, by which
spaces become holy in the eyes of particular communities. Filling
an important gap in the literature on Middle East peacemaking, the
book will be of interest to scholars and students of the Middle
East conflict, conflict resolution, political science, urban
studies and history of religion.
The great religious orders of Christianity - the Benedictines, the
Dominicans, the Franciscans and the Jesuits - are well known for
their monasteries, their learning, and their missions arouind the
world. But in the Middle Ages, to some extent surviving to this
day, there was another kind of religious order, one whose members'
profession was to bear arms in defence of Christendom. From humble
beginnings in the early 12th century, caring for the sick in the
Holy Land and protecting pilgrims, the military religious orders
spread out across Europe. Not only did they fight for the Holy
Places, they helped push back Islam in Spain and what is now
Portugal, and spread Christianity to the lands across the Baltic,
then still pagan. The Knights of St John, the Knights Templar, the
Knights of Santiago and of Calatrava, the Teutonic Knights and
others played a fearsome, sometimes brutal and often neglected role
in the history of Christianity. The wars, which they fought in the
name of Christ, helped shape the world as we know it
In this work, the author argues that the focus on religious
fundamentalism in ethnic conflict has obscured the ambiguous role
of "mainstream" Western religion. The book examines the
relationship between the religious and secular spheres at a time of
rapid transition in South Africa and Northern Ireland. It analyzes
the role of mainstream Protestantism as a site of struggle between
competing world views. The book explains why this contest limits
the potential of the church as a force for reconciliation.
Jews often consider Hinduism to be Avoda Zara, idolatry, due to its
worship of images and multiple gods. Closer study of Hinduism and
of recent Jewish attitudes to it suggests the problem is far more
complex. In the process of considering Hinduism's status as Avoda
Zara, this book revisits the fundamental definitions of Avoda Zara
and asks how we use the category. By appealing to the history of
Judaism's view of Christianity, author Alon Goshen-Gottstein seeks
to define what Avoda Zara is and how one might recognize the same
God in different religions, despite legal definitions. Through a
series of leading questions, the discussion moves from a blanket
view of Hinduism as idolatry to a recognition that all religions
have aspects that are idolatrous and non-idolatrous.
Goshen-Gottstein explains how the category of idolatry itself must
be viewed with more nuance. Introducing this nuance, he asserts,
leads one away from a globalized view of an entire tradition in
these terms.
Hinduism has become a vital 'other' for Judaism over the past
decades. The book surveys the history of the relationship from
historical to contemporary times, from travellers to religious
leadership. It explores the potential enrichment for Jewish
theology and spirituality, as well as the challenges for Jewish
identity.
Reluctant Witnesses: Jews and the Christian Imagination is an
analysis of the ancient Christian myth that casts Jews as a
'witness-people', and this myth's presence in contemporary
religious discourse. It treats diverse products of the Christian
imagination, including systematic theology, works of fiction, and
popular writings on biblical prophecy. The book demonstrates that
the witness-people myth, which was first articulated by Augustine
and which determined official attitudes towards Jews in medieval
Christendom, remains a powerful force in the Christian imagination.
This book explores how Nostra Aetate, the Declaration on the
Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions of the Second
Vatican Council, can influence inter-religious dialogue and
understanding in the modern world. Although influential in
religious, academic, and scholarly circles, it is relatively
unknown outside these areas. The contributors remedy that deficit
by highlighting the declaration's difficult historical and social
context and the Church's evolving relationship with non-Christians.
Contentious topics are examined such as the link between the Jewish
people and the land and state of Israel, that questions the
Catholic understanding of the relativity of national borders and
identity, and the challenges posed to the Church's relationship
with Islam by its prioritization of human rights and religious
freedom for Christians and minorities in certain Muslim regimes.
Given its scope, it is an ideal resource for graduate students and
researchers in the fields of political science, international
relations, religion, and minority studies.
Originally published in 1939. After the death of Muhammad his
community was ruled by three caliphs who kept their capital as
Medina, the City of the Prophet. Under the rule of the caliphs
those who did not confess the Muslim faith were under certain
restrictions both in public and private life. This volume examines
the social, cultural, religious and economic aspects of this period
and includes chapters on: Government Service; Churches and
Monasteries; Christian Arabs, Jews and Magians; Dress; Financial
Persecution, Medicine and Literature and Taxation.
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