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Books > Religion & Spirituality > General > Interfaith relations
The true story of a successful Hindu priest whose world was changed
by an unexpected encounter with the love of Jesus Christ.
After the Communist victory in China's civil war, Taiwan, then
governed by the KMT (or Nationalist Party), became a focal point
for both Buddhist and Christian activity in the Chinese world.
Focusing on some of the most influential monastics of the time,
this study considers Buddhist responses to Christianity during its
subsequent period of growth on the island. Drawing on Buddhist and
Christian publications, it shows that interfaith competition, and
political context, are important in shaping religious identity and
driving the religious engagement with modernity. Buddhist Responses
to Christianity in Postwar Taiwan: Awakening the World will be of
interest to historians of Buddhism, Chinese religion and Taiwanese
society, and to those with an interest in interfaith dialogue more
generally.
The first Christians to meet Muslims were not Latin-speaking
Christians from the western Mediterranean or Greek-speaking
Christians from Constantinople but rather Christians from northern
Mesopotamia who spoke the Aramaic dialect of Syriac. Living under
Muslim rule from the seventh century to the present, Syriac
Christians wrote the first and most extensive accounts of Islam,
describing a complicated set of religious and cultural exchanges
not reducible to the solely antagonistic. Through its critical
introductions and new translations of this invaluable historical
material, When Christians First Met Muslims allows scholars,
students, and the general public to explore the earliest
interactions between what eventually became the world's two largest
religions, shedding new light on Islamic history and
Christian-Muslim relations.
Despite the present-day democratic government's commitment to human
rights, socio-cultural and religious clashes still pose a threat to
Nigeria. As a panacea a split according to ethnic and religious
boundaries has been suggested; on the other hand upholding the
different strands might spell greater benefits for the country's
development. The basic assumption of both views is that ethnic and
religious pluralism have led to conflicts, but that they are
fuelled by politics, inequitable distribution of economic goods and
the negative forces of globalization. In this project, examining
these conflicts and the efforts made to resolve them, particular
attention will be paid to dialogue and reconciliation. The key
practice suggested is convivence: a symbiosis of interactive and
interpenetrative approaches, based on intercultural and
interreligious hermeneutical perspectives.
Holy sites are often at the center of intense contestation between
different groups regarding a wide variety of issues, including
ownership, access, usage rights, permissible religious conduct, and
many others. They are often the source of intractable long-standing
conflicts and extreme violence. These difficulties are exemplified
by the five sites profiled in Governing the Sacred : Devils Tower
National Monument (Wyoming, US), Babri Masjid/Ram Janmabhoomi
(Uttar-Pradesh, India), the Western Wall (Jerusalem), the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), and the Temple Mount/Haram
esh-Sharif (Jerusalem). Telling the fascinating stories of these
high-profile contested sites, the authors develop and critically
explore five different models of governing such sites:
"non-interference," "separation and division," "preference,"
"status-quo," and "closure." Each model relies on different sets of
considerations; central among them are trade-offs between religious
liberty and social order. This novel typology aims to assist
democratic governments in their attempt to secure public order and
mutual toleration among opposed groups in contested sacred sites.
Jews, Christians, and Muslims supposedly share a common
religious heritage in the patriarch Abraham, and the idea that he
should serve only as a source of unity among the three traditions
has become widespread in both scholarly and popular circles. But in
"Inheriting Abraham," Jon Levenson reveals how the increasingly
conventional notion of the three equally "Abrahamic" religions
derives from a dangerous misunderstanding of key biblical and
Qur'anic texts, fails to do full justice to any of the traditions,
and is often biased against Judaism in subtle and pernicious
ways.
The concept of "vocation" or "calling" is a distinctively Christian
concern, grounded in the long-held belief that we find our meaning,
purpose, and fulfillment in God. But what about religions other
than Christianity? What does it mean for someone from another faith
tradition to understand calling or vocation? In this book
contributors with expertise in Catholic and Protestant
Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism and
Daoism, and secular humanism explore the idea of calling in these
various faith traditions. The contributors each search their
respective tradition's sacred texts, key figures, practices, and
concepts for wisdom on the meaning of vocation. By seeking
comparative insights from diverse faith traditions, say Kathleen
Cahalan and Douglas Schuurman, we can all increase and improve our
efforts to build a better, more humane world.
In the online world, people argue about anything and everything -
religion is no exception. Stephen Pihlaja investigates how several
prominent social media figures present views about religion in an
environment where their positions are challenged. The analysis
shows how conflict creates a space for users to share, explain, and
develop their opinions and beliefs, by making appeals to both a
core audience of like-minded viewers and a broader audience of
viewers who are potentially interested in the claims, ambivalent,
or openly hostile. The book argues that in the back-and-forth of
these arguments, the positions that users take in response to the
arguments of others have consequences for how religious talk
develops, and potentially for how people understand and practice
their beliefs in the twenty-first century. Based on original
empirical research, it addresses long-debated questions in
sociolinguistics and discourse analysis regarding the role of
language in building solidarity, defining identity and establishing
genres and registers of interaction.
Christianity started in Jerusalem. For many centuries it was
concentrated in the West, in Europe and North America. But in the
past century the church expanded rapidly across Africa, Latin
America, and Asia. Thus Christianity's geographic center of density
is now in the West African country of Mali-in Timbuktu. What led to
the church's vibrant growth throughout the Global South? Brian
Stiller identifies five key factors that have shaped the church,
from a renewed openness to the move of the Holy Spirit to the
empowerment of indigenous leadership. While in some areas
Christianity is embattled and threatened, in many places it is
flourishing as never before. Discover the surprising story of the
global advance of the gospel. And be encouraged that Jesus' witness
continues to the ends of the earth.
Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile examines the changes in
Jewish-Christian relations in the Iberian kingdom of Castile during
the pivotal period of the reconquest and the hundred years that
followed the end of its most active phase (eleventh to
mid-fourteenth century). The study's focus on the Christian
heartland north of the Duero River, known as Old Castile, allows
for a detailed investigation of the Jews' changing relations with
the area's main power players-the monarchy, the church, and the
towns. In a departure from previous assessments, Soifer Irish shows
that the institutional and legal norms of toleration for the Jewish
minority were forged not along the military frontier with Islam,
but in the north of Castile. She argues that the Jews' relationship
with the Castilian monarchy was by far the most significant factor
that influenced their situation in the kingdom, but also
demonstrates that this relationship was inherently problematic.
Although during the early centuries of Christian expansion the
Jewish communities benefited from a strong royal power, after about
1250 helping maintain it proved to be costly to the Jewish
communities in economic and human terms. Soifer Irish demonstrates
that while some Castilian clergymen were vehemently anti-Jewish,
the Castilian Church as a whole never developed a coordinated
strategy on the Jews, or even showed much interest in the issue.
The opposite is true about the townsmen, whose relations with their
Jewish neighbors vacillated between cooperation and conflict. In
the late thirteenth century, the Crown's heavy-handed tactics in
enforcing the collection of outstanding debts to Jewish
moneylenders led to the breakdown in the negotiations between the
Jewish and Christian communities, creating a fertile ground for the
formation of an anti-Jewish discourse in Castilian towns. Soifer
Irish also examines the Jews' attitudes toward the various powers
in the Christian society and shows that they were active players in
the kingdom's politics. Jews and Christians in Medieval Castile
breaks new ground in helping us understand more fully the tensions,
and commonalities, between groups of different faiths in the late
medieval period.
What is the role of scripture in illuminating the lives of the
faithful today? In this book, three experts in Judaism,
Christianity and Islam respectively discuss and debate this
question, by exploring the core messages of the Torah, Bible and
Qu'ran. Taking a deeper look at the wide range of theological,
political and social issues that divide (and sometimes unite) their
religions, they reveal how inspiration and guidance can be drawn
not only on life's big questions such as sin and the afterlife, but
also on societal issues including war, suffering, marriage and
justice.
Earth, Empire and Sacred Text examines the Muslim-Christian
theology of creation and humanity, aiming to construct a dialogue
to enable both faiths to work together to preserve our planet, to
bring justice to its most needy inhabitants, and to contribute to
peace-building. Earth, Empire and Sacred Text opens with an
analysis of the influential shift from the Cartesian view of the
autonomous, disembodied self to a self defined in discourse,
community and culture. The "career" of Q. 2:30 (Adam's God-mandated
trusteeship) is then traced, from Islamic commentaries of the
classical period to writings of Muslim scholars in the modern and
postmodern periods. This is examined alongside the concept of human
trusteeship under God in Christian and Jewish writers. The book
concludes by highlighting the essential elements for a
Muslim-Christian theology of human trusteeship.
"A wonderful, rich, and fascinating book, and a great read. Biale
explores the meanings of blood within Jewish and Christian cultures
from the blood of the sacrifices of the book of Leviticus to the
blood of the Eucharist to the blood of medieval blood libels and
the place of blood in Nazi ideology. Biale shows that blood
symbolism stands at the center of the divide between Judaism and
Christianity. This book will be the point of departure for all
future studies of the subject."--Shaye J.D. Cohen, Harvard
University
"I know of no other work that, through numerous insights and useful
distinctions, so alerts us to and comprehensively documents the
ongoing constitutive role of Christian and anti-Semitic perceptions
of Jewish existence and the interactions between them. Whereas much
contemporary historiography has become so specialized that
historians have surrendered the larger picture, David Biale's
panoramic perspective reveals the great value and interest of this
work."--Steven E. Aschheim, author of "Beyond the Border: The
German-Jewish Legacy Abroad"
The influence of Ibn 'Arabi, the 12th century Andalusian mystic
philosopher extended beyond the Muslim world from Spain, to China,
to Indonesia. Interest in Ibn 'Arabi in the west has grown over the
last century. "Ibn Arabi and the Contemporary West" examines
'Arabi's teachings through the work of the Beshara Trust and the
Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society. The study investigates how the
Beshara School has used Ibn 'Arabi's teachings in assisting a range
of students from around the world towards personal, spiritual
development and how the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society has evolved
into an international organisation with increasing influence in
both the West and the Muslim world.
A study of three hundred years of medieval Franciscan history that
focuses on martyrdom While hagiographies tell of Christian martyrs
who have died in an astonishing number of ways and places, slain by
members of many different groups, martyrdom in a Franciscan context
generally meant death at Muslim hands; indeed, in Franciscan
discourse, "death by Saracen" came to rival or even surpass other
definitions of what made a martyr. The centrality of Islam to
Franciscan conceptions of martyrdom becomes even more
apparent—and problematic—when we realize that many of the
martyr narratives were largely invented. Franciscan authors were
free to choose the antagonist they wanted, Christopher MacEvitt
observes, and they almost always chose Muslims. However, martyrdom
in Franciscan accounts rarely leads to conversion of the infidel,
nor is it accompanied, as is so often the case in earlier
hagiographical accounts, by any miraculous manifestation. If the
importance of preaching to infidels was written into the official
Franciscan Rule of Order, the Order did not demonstrate much
interest in conversion, and the primary efforts of friars in Muslim
lands were devoted to preaching not to the native populations but
to the Latin Christians—mercenaries, merchants, and
captives—living there. Franciscan attitudes toward conversion and
martyrdom changed dramatically in the beginning of the fourteenth
century, however, when accounts of the martyrdom of four
Franciscans said to have died while preaching in India were
written. The speed with which the accounts of their martyrdom
spread had less to do with the world beyond Christendom than with
ecclesiastical affairs within, MacEvitt contends. The Martyrdom of
the Franciscans shows how, for Franciscans, martyrdom accounts
could at once offer veiled critique of papal policies toward the
Order, a substitute for the rigorous pursuit of poverty, and a
symbolic way to overcome Islam by denying Muslims the solace of
conversion.
In 1965 the Second Vatican Council declared that God loves the
Jews. Before that, the Church had taught for centuries that Jews
were cursed by God and, in the 1940s, mostly kept silent as Jews
were slaughtered by the Nazis. How did an institution whose wisdom
is said to be unchanging undertake one of the most enormous, yet
undiscussed, ideological swings in modern history? The radical
shift of Vatican II grew out of a buried history, a theological
struggle in Central Europe in the years just before the Holocaust,
when a small group of Catholic converts (especially former Jew
Johannes Oesterreicher and former Protestant Karl Thieme) fought to
keep Nazi racism from entering their newfound church. Through
decades of engagement, extending from debates in academic journals,
to popular education, to lobbying in the corridors of the Vatican,
this unlikely duo overcame the most problematic aspect of Catholic
history. Their success came not through appeals to morality but
rather from a rediscovery of neglected portions of scripture. From
Enemy to Brother illuminates the baffling silence of the Catholic
Church during the Holocaust, showing how the ancient teaching of
deicide - according to which the Jews were condemned to suffer
until they turned to Christ - constituted the Church's only
language to talk about the Jews. As he explores the process of
theological change, John Connelly moves from the speechless Vatican
to those Catholics who endeavored to find a new language to speak
to the Jews on the eve of, and in the shadow of, the Holocaust.
From the fall of Constantinople in 1453 until the eighteenth
century, many Western European writers viewed the Ottoman Empire
with almost obsessive interest. Typically they reacted to it with
fear and distrust; and such feelings were reinforced by the deep
hostility of Western Christendom towards Islam. Yet there was also
much curiosity about the social and political system on which the
huge power of the sultans was based. In the sixteenth century,
especially, when Ottoman territorial expansion was rapid and
Ottoman institutions seemed particularly robust, there was even
open admiration. In this path-breaking book Noel Malcolm ranges
through these vital centuries of East-West interaction, studying
all the ways in which thinkers in the West interpreted the Ottoman
Empire as a political phenomenon - and Islam as a political
religion. Useful Enemies shows how the concept of 'oriental
despotism' began as an attempt to turn the tables on a very
positive analysis of Ottoman state power, and how, as it developed,
it interacted with Western debates about monarchy and government.
Noel Malcolm also shows how a negative portrayal of Islam as a
religion devised for political purposes was assimilated by radical
writers, who extended the criticism to all religions, including
Christianity itself. Examining the works of many famous thinkers
(including Machiavelli, Bodin, and Montesquieu) and many less
well-known ones, Useful Enemies illuminates the long-term
development of Western ideas about the Ottomans, and about Islam.
Noel Malcolm shows how these ideas became intertwined with internal
Western debates about power, religion, society, and war.
Discussions of Islam and the Ottoman Empire were thus bound up with
mainstream thinking in the West on a wide range of important
topics. These Eastern enemies were not just there to be denounced.
They were there to be made use of, in arguments which contributed
significantly to the development of Western political thought.
Christianity is not only a global but also an intercultural
phenomenon. The diversity of world Christianity is evident not
merely outside our borders but even within our own neighborhoods.
Over the past half century theologians and missiologists have
addressed this reality by developing local and contextual
theologies and by exploring issues like contextualization,
inculturation, and translation. In recent years these various
trajectories have coalesced into a new field called intercultural
theology. Bringing together missiology, religious studies, social
science research, and Christian theology, the field of
intercultural theology is a fresh attempt to rethink the discipline
of theology in light of the diversity and pluriformity of
Christianity today. Henning Wrogemann, one of the leading
missiologists and scholars of religion in Europe, has written the
most comprehensive textbook on the subject of Christianity and
culture today. In three volumes his Intercultural Theology provides
an exhaustive account of the history, theory, and practice of
Christian mission. Volume one introduces the concepts of culture
and context, volume two surveys theologies of mission both past and
present, and volume three explores theologies of religion and
interreligious relationships. In this first volume on intercultural
hermeneutics, Wrogemann introduces the term "intercultural
theology" and investigates what it means to understand another
cultural context. In addition to surveying different hermeneutical
theories and concepts of culture, he assesses how intercultural
understanding has taken place throughout the history of Christian
mission. Wrogemann also provides an extensive discussion of
contextual theologies with a special focus on African theologies.
Intercultural Theology is an indispensable resource for all
people—especially students, pastors, and scholars—that explores
the defining issues of Christian identity and practice in the
context of an increasingly intercultural and interreligious world.
Missiological Engagements charts interdisciplinary and innovative
trajectories in the history, theology, and practice of Christian
mission, featuring contributions by leading thinkers from both the
Euro-American West and the majority world whose missiological
scholarship bridges church, academy, and society.
The state of Goa on India's southwest coast was once the capital of
the Portuguese-Catholic empire in Asia. When Vasco Da Gama arrived
in India in 1498, he mistook Hindus for Christians, but Jesuit
missionaries soon declared war on the alleged idolatry of the
Hindus. Today, Hindus and Catholics assert their own religious
identities, but Hindu village gods and Catholic patron saints
attract worship from members of both religious communities. Through
fresh readings of early Portuguese sources and long-term
ethnographic fieldwork, this study traces the history of
Hindu-Catholic syncretism in Goa and reveals the complex role of
religion at the intersection of colonialism and modernity.
Realize a greater truth with this uplifting guide to mysticism *
Explores the power of a universal spirituality and its nine
practical elements: moral capacity, solidarity with all life, deep
nonviolence, mature self-knowledge, humility, selfless service,
simplicity of life, daily practice, and serving as a prophetic
witness in the causes of justice, peace and protecting creation *
Demonstrates that the final goal of authentic spirituality is
realizing our true nature as mystics Drawing on his extraordinary
experience as an interreligious monk and mystic, Brother Wayne
Teasdale reveals in The Mystic Heart what he calls
interspirituality, a genuine and comprehensive sprituality that
draws on the mystical core of the world's greatest traditions. From
this spiritual vantage, he shows that what so often forms the basis
for conflict can really be a meeting place of understanding and
commonality. In their meeting, as he shows, a greater truth is
realized.
It is generally accepted that Jews and evangelical Christians have
little in common. Yet special alliances developed between the two
groups in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Evangelicals
viewed Jews as both the rightful heirs of Israel and as a group who
failed to recognize their true savior. Consequently, they set out
to influence the course of Jewish life by attempting to evangelize
Jews and to facilitate their return to Palestine. Their
double-edged perception caused unprecedented political, cultural,
and theological meeting points that have revolutionized
Christian-Jewish relationships. An Unusual Relationship explores
the beliefs and political agendas that evangelicals have created in
order to affect the future of the Jews. Additionally, it analyses
Jewish opinions and reactions to those efforts, as well as those of
other religious groups, such as Arab Christians. This volume offers
a fascinating, comprehensive analysis of the roots, manifestations,
and consequences of evangelical interest in the Jews, and the
alternatives they provide to conventional historical
Christian-Jewish interactions. It also provides a compelling
understanding of Middle Eastern politics through a new lens.
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