This book documents the ultramodern rise of the multifaith movement, as mulitfaith initiatives have been increasingly deployed as cosmopolitan solutions to counter global risks such as terrorism and climate change at the turn of the 21st century. These projects aim to enhance common security, particularly in Western societies following the events of September 11, 2001 and the July 2005 London bombings, where multifaith engagement has been promoted as a strategy to counter violent extremism. The author draws on interviews with 56 leading figures in the field of multifaith relations, including Paul Knitter, Eboo Patel, Marcus Braybrooke, Katherine Marshall, John Voll and Krista Tippett.

Identifying the principle aims of the multifaith movement, the analysis explores the benefits and challenges of multifaith engagement, as well as the effectiveness of multifaith initiatives in countering the process of radicalization. Building on notions of cosmopolitanism, the work proposes a new theoretical framework termed Netpeace, which recognizes the interconnectedness of global problems and their solutions. In doing so, it acknowledges the capacity of multi-actor peacebuilding networks, including religious and state actors, to address the pressing dilemmas of our times. The primary intention of the book is to assist in the formation of new models of activism and governance, founded on a politics of understanding modeled by the multifaith movement."

This important book poses the question of whether Christian proclamation can be made ethically safe for the Jewish neighbour. Boesel assesses two major approaches to a Christian theology of Judaism - those exemplified by Rosemary Radford Ruether and Karl Barth. This book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of systematics, ethics, and homiletics at the intersection of Jewish-Christian relations.

The ways in which religious communities interact with one another is an increasing focus of scholarly research and teaching. Issues of interreligious engagement, inclusive of dialogue more specifically and relations more generally, attract widespread interest and concern. In a religiously pluralist world, how different communities get along with each other is not just an academic question; it is very much a focus of socio-political and wider community attention. The study of religions and religion in the 21st century world must necessarily take account of relations within and between religions, whether this is approached from a theological, historical, political, or any other disciplinary point of view. Understanding Interreligious Relations is a reference work of relevance to students and scholars as well as of interest to a wider informed public. It comprises two main parts. The first provides expositions and critical discussions of the ways in which 'the other' has been construed and addressed from within the major religious traditions. The second presents analyses and discussions of key issues and topics in which interreligious relations are an integral constituent. The editors have assembled an authoritative and scholarly work that discusses perspectives on the religious 'other' and interreligious relations that are typical of the major religious traditions; together with substantial original chapters from a cross-section of emerging and established scholars on main debates and issues in the wider field of interreligious relations.

Political theology has traditionally explored the legitimization of political authority on the basis of divine revelation and of natural reason informed by religious authority, texts, and traditions. New challenges emerging in the postwar era gave rise to ongoing debate about the place of religion in public life, in the United States and in other established democracies, and this debate has dramatically reshaped the way scholars, policymakers, and religious leaders think about political theology. Political Theology for a Plural Age provides historic and contemporary understandings of political engagement in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, engaging political theologies not merely as a set of theoretical concepts but as religious beliefs and principles that motivate specific political action. The essays in this volume, written by leading thinkers and practitioners within each tradition and their secular counterparts, examine a number of core issues at the intersection of religion and politics. They contest the definition of political theology, establish a common discourse across the three Abrahamic traditions, and closely examine how globalization, secularization, and pluralism affect the construction and plausibility of political theologies. Finally, the essays offer insight into how political theologies might adapt to the shared global challenges of the twenty-first century.

This collection of seven essays offers wide-ranging and in-depth studies of locations sacred to Muslims, of the histories of these sites (real or imagined), and of the ways in which Muslims and members of other religions have interacted peaceably in sacred times and spaces. The volume begins with a discussion by David Damrel of the official, hostile, Muslim attitude toward practices at shrines in South Asia. Lance Laird then presents a case study of a shrine holy to Palestinian Christians, who identify its patron as St. George, as well as to Palestinian Muslims, who believe that its patron is al Khadr. Ethel Sara Wolper illustrates how al Khadr's patronage was used also to show Muslim connections to Christian sites in Anatolia, and JoAnn Gross's essay explores oral and written traditions linking shrines in Tajikistan to traditional Muslim locations and figures. A chapter by the late Thomas Sizgorich examines how Christian and Muslim authors used monastic settings to reimagine the relationship between the two religions, and Alexandra Cuffel offers a study of attitudes towards the mixing of religious groups in religious festivals in eleventh- to sixteenth-century Egypt. Finally, Eric Ross shows how the Layenne Sufi order incorporates a singular combination of Christian and Muslim figures and festivals in its history and practices. Muslims and Others in Sacred Space will be an invaluable resource to anyone interested in the complex meanings of sacred sites in Muslim history.

Just Wars, Holy Wars, and Jihads explores the development of ideas of morally justified or legitimate war in Western and Islamic civilizations. Historically, these ideas have been grouped under three labels: just war, holy war, and jihad. A large body of literature exists exploring the development of just war and holy war concepts in the West and of jihad in Islam. Yet, to date, no book has investigated in depth the historical interaction between Western notions of just or holy war and Muslim definitions of jihad. This book is a major contribution to the comparative study of the ethics of war and peace in the West and Islam. Its twenty chapters explore two broad questions: 1. What historical evidence exists that Christian and Jewish writers on just war and holy war and Muslim writers on jihad knew of the other tradition? 2. What is the evidence in treatises, chronicles, speeches, ballads, and other historical records, or in practice, that either tradition influenced the other? The book surveys the period from the rise of Islam in the early seventh century to the present day. Part One surveys the impact of the early Islamic conquests upon Byzantine, Syriac, and Muslim thinking on justified war. Part Two probes developments during the Crusades. Part Three focuses on the early modern period in Europe and the Ottoman Empire, followed by analysis of the era of European imperialism in Part Four. Part Five brings the discussion into the present period, with chapters analyzing the impact of international law and terrorism on conceptions of just war and jihad.

This work is not addressed only to scholars of Judaism or theologians, but also, and primarily, to all Jews and non-Jews who would like to share the thoughts and struggles of a person who loves Torah and Halakhah, who is committed to helping make room for and celebrate the religious and cultural diversity present in the modern world, and who believes that a commitment to Israel and to Jewish particularity must be organically connected to the rabbinic teaching, Beloved are all human beings created in the image of God. from the Introduction

With clarity, passion, and outstanding scholarship, David Hartman addresses the spiritual and theological questions that face all Jews and all people today. From the perspective of traditional Judaism, he helps us understand the varieties of twentieth-century Jewish practice and shows that commitment to both Jewish tradition and to pluralism can create bridges of understanding between people of different religious convictions.

Too often religion seems to fuel more hatred than love, more conflict than collaboration. The authors of Getting to the Heart of Interfaitha rabbi, a pastor, and a sheikhhave developed a unique friendship that provides a rich understanding about the road to interfaith spirituality. These three "interfaith amigos," as they have called themselves on their Interfaith Talk Radio show, embody a revolutionary spirit of healing. As they share their stories of how their friendship grew, they speak openly about the difficult matters, and the need to do the inner spiritual work, in order to go beyond tolerance and intellectual understanding to a vital, inclusive spirituality. From their deep commitment and lived experience, they present ways we can work together to transcend the differences that have divided us historically.

The book offers many insights and encouragements for individuals and groups who want to tap into the promise of interfaith dialoguethat if we get to know each other, we will be able not only to open to the beauty and wisdom of each other's traditions, but also to find spiritual healing for our deeply wounded human family. The book includes suggestions for "where do we go from here" and additional readings, discussion questions and actions, and group-usage suggestions for lay people and clergy groups.

Robert McKim's goal in On Religious Diversity is to distinguish and examine a number of possible responses to the knowledge of other religious traditions that are available to all of us today. He argues that the issues raised will be very pressing throughout the century we have just begun. There is no escaping the fact that the presence of competing traditions now confronts each of the traditions in a new and forceful way. More than ever there is a widespread if inchoate recognition of genuine religious sensibilities in others and of genuine religious seriousness that looks familiar. How might the awareness that there are so many traditions affect a member of a particular religious tradition? What attitudes should be taken to the beliefs and salvific prospects of members of other traditions? McKim examines various proposed answers to these questions. He argues that these are generally best thought of as guidelines that in turn admit of considerable further specification. What look like well-defined and discrete positions dissolve somewhat under scrutiny, revealing significantly different possibilities. And what look like clear distinctions are sometimes better understood as a matter of degree. McKim suggests where best to look for the most plausible answers, paying particular attention to the religiously ambiguous nature of our circumstances.

This text is the product of dialogue between a group of leading British Muslim and Christian scholars concerned about the alleged danger to the West of Islamic fundamentalism. It analyzes the ethical and legal principles, rooted in both traditions, underlying any use of armed force in the modern world. After chapters on the history, theology and laws of war as seen from both sides, the book applies its conclusions to firstly, the 1990-91 Gulf War and secondly, the Bosnian conflict. It concludes that Huntington's "Clash of Civilizations" thesis is a myth.

How can the world's many religions overcome ideological differences and come together to promote understanding, justice and peace? In this groundbreaking volume, James L. Heft and fifteen other leading scholars of the world's major religions show how to answer this crucial question.
Structured as a scholarly dialogue, Catholicism and Interreligious Dialogue contains essays by five Catholic scholars who have committed to extensive study of and dialogue with another world religion. Each scholar presents an assessment of the present state of interreligious dialogue between the Catholic Church and practitioners of a a particular faith, including Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism. These assessments are followed by critical responses from two scholars of the tradition under discussion, as well as concluding comments from the Catholic scholar who offered the assessment.

A new paradigm for relations between religions, one of acceptance and collaboration, requires not only a willingness to move beyond a tradition of hostility and competition but also significant theological rethinking. Within Jewish Orthodoxy there have been very few voices that have advanced and justified a vision of other faiths in this light: to this day, the reigning paradigm is one of practical collaboration while avoiding theologically based engagement or reflection. Two of the most important Orthodox Jewish voices advocating change have been those of Irving Yitz Greenberg and Jonathan Sacks. This book presents the theological, moral, and social views of these two leading rabbis. It focuses on the significance of covenant for both, and how they adapt this concept to enable the development of a Jewish view of other religions. In considering how they may have influenced each other, it also studies the limitations and internal contradictions that characterize their work as they attempt to point the way forward, in a spirit of dialogue, to continuing theological reflection on Judaism’s approach to world religions.

This book engages thinkers from different religious and humanist traditions in response to Pope Francis's pronouncements on interreligious dialogue. The contributors write from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Humanism. Each author elaborates on how the pope's openness to dialogue and invitation to practical collaboration on global concerns represents a significant achievement as the world faces an uncertain future. The theological tension within the Catholic double commitment to evangelization on the one hand, and dialogue on the other, remains unresolved for most writers, but this does not prevent them from praising the strong invitation to dialogue-especially with the focus on justice, peace, and ecological sustainability.

Join interfaith commentator Eboo Patel as he explores what it means to be "literate" about other faiths, how interfaith cooperation "works" and why, the skills needed for interfaith cooperation and the significant role that our institutions, including colleges and faith communities, can play in this process. This resources contains all he material needed by class participants and the group facilitator. SOLD SEPARATELY. Embracing Interfaith Cooperation DVD. This resource features five 10-15 minute presentations by Eboo Patel, each of which is followed by video of Patel interacting with a small, diverse group of adults and young adults as they respond and discuss interfaith issues. Eboo Patel believes religion is a bridge of cooperation rather than a barrier of division. Inspired by his faith as a Muslim, his Indian heritage and his American citizen ship, he speaks to his vision of interfaith harmony at places like he Clinton Global Initiative, The Nobel Peace Prize Forum, as well as college and universality campuses across the country. He is a regular contributor to the Washington Post, USA Todayand he Huffington Post."

Encounters between people of diverse religious faiths and worldviews are becoming more common in an increasingly globalized and mobile world. Research has not, however, kept pace by investigating how people talk about their faith with others who believe differently. This monograph addresses that deficit by taking an emergent path, combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to investigate and understand multilingual speakers' discursive behaviors in multiparty interreligious dialogues. Using 33 hours of recordings from conversations across seven research sites, Sauer Bredvik investigates how speakers' multilanguaging practices interact with other indexical and referential signs (unfilled pauses, disfluency, pragmatic markers) to affect how constitute messages are understood. By combining corpus-assisted discourse analysis with emic data taken from observation and 11 hours of participant interviews, one is able to identify distinct patterns of use between these metalinguistic indicators and a dialogue outcome. Readers will gain an understanding of how people of various linguistic and faith backgrounds use all their semiotic resources to display hospitality and respect for the Other in multilingual, multifaith settings.

The Vatican II Council of 1965 signaled a new era in the relationship of the Jewish and Christian faiths. Determined to free the Church of the anti-Jewish polemic which led to such widespread suffering of the innocent, Catholic authorities completely revised their conceptions of Jews and Judaism. Soon, many mainstream Protestant churches also issued a series of official statements that affirm the eternal nature of God's ancient covenant with Israel. An entirely new category of theology emerged as part of the developing Jewish-Christian dialogue, and gradually Jewish theologians began to respond. Opening The Covenant represents a significant advance in Jewish thinking about Christianity. Michael Kogan delves deeply into the theologies of the two faiths to locate precise points of difference and convergence. He sees Christianity as the breaking open of the original Covenant to include gentile peoples. God has brought this about, says Kogan, through the work of Jesus and his interpreters. If Christianity is a divinely inspired movement, then Judaism must reevaluate its truth-claims. This will in no way compromise the truth of Judaism itself but will cause Jews to understand their own faith more fully by locating it in the larger context of God's universal redemptive plan. Kogan calls for each tradition to receive the wisdom of the other as a means of self-understanding. Once each faith is freed to find God's purpose in the other, the way will be open to a liberating pluralism in which Jews and Christians come to see each other as Israelite siblings sharing a universal role as God's witnesses, the builders of God's Kingdom on earth. Neither faith can do this world-redemptive work alone. Kogan argues that an affirmation of one's own religion can still provide space for the truth of the "other," and presents a theory of multiple revelations of truth flowing from the one God of all.

Celebrating Biblical and Jewish holidays is most characteristic of the Messianic Jewish movement, and it arouses much interest among Gentile Christians. This practice arose in the struggle of Hebrew Christians in the 19th century against "Christian assimilation". From the 1970s onwards, a new generation of Messianic Jews identified strongly with their people's socio-cultural heritage, including the practice of Sabbath, Pesach and other Jewish holidays. A thorough analysis of calendars, reinterpretations, observances and motives shows that this is a novel, Christian-Judaic practice. Why and how do Gentile Christians adopt it? To return to "Jewish roots"? What does this term stand for? As the author takes up these questions, he shows that this is rather a contextualisation of the Gospel.

In Germany at the turn of the century, Buddhism transformed from an obscure topic, of interest to only a few misfit scholars, into a cultural phenomenon. Many of the foremost authors of the period were profoundly influenced by this rapid rise of Buddhism-among them, some of the best-known names in the German-Jewish canon. Sebastian Musch excavates this neglected dimension of German-Jewish identity, drawing on philosophical treatises, novels, essays, diaries, and letters to trace the history of Jewish-Buddhist encounters up to the start of the Second World War. Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Leo Baeck, Theodor Lessing, Jakob Wassermann, Walter Hasenclever, and Lion Feuchtwanger are featured alongside other, lesser known figures like Paul Cohen-Portheim and Walter Tausk. As Musch shows, when these thinkers wrote about Buddhism, they were also negotiating their own Jewishness.

Since the middle of the last century, the emergence and development of fields as diverse as artificial intelligence, evolutionary science, cognitive linguistics, and neuroscience have led to a greater understanding of the ways in which humans think. One of the major discoveries involves what researchers refer to as conceptual mapping. According to theories of conceptual mapping, human thought is profoundly shaped by the ability to make connections. Simply put, human thinking is metaphorical all the way down. This insight has revolutionized the way in which scientists and philosophers think about the mind/body problem, the formation and function of language, and even the development of scientific progress itself. Until recently however, this research has gone largely unnoticed within Christian theology. But this revolution in understanding human cognition calls for broader and richer engagement with theology and religious studies: How does this new insight into human meaning-making bear on our understanding of religious meaning-making? And how might Christian theology interpret and respond to this new understanding of the development of human thought? This edited volume offers an introduction to conceptual mapping that is accessible to those with no previous knowledge of the field, and demonstrates the substantial resources this interdisciplinary research has for thinking about a variety of theological questions. The book begins with a chapter introducing the reader to the basics of conceptual mapping. The remaining chapters apply these insights to a variety of theological topics including anthropology, sacramental theology, biblical studies, ecumenical theology, and ethics.

The subject of Christian-Muslim relations in the Middle East and indeed in the West attracts much academic and media attention. Nowhere is this more the case than in Egypt, which has the largest Christian community in the Middle East, estimated at 6-10 per cent of the national population. Henrik Lindberg Hansen analyzes this relationship, offering an examination of the nature and role of religious dialogue in Egyptian society and politics. Analysing the three main religious organizations and institutions in Egypt (namely the Azhar University, the Muslim Brotherhood and the Coptic Orthodox Church) as well as a range of smaller dialogue initiatives (such as those of CEOSS, the Anglican and Catholic Churches and youth organisations), Hansen argues that religious dialogue involves a close examination of societal relations, and how these are understood and approached. The books includes analysis of the occasions of violence against and dialogue initiatives involving Christian communities in 2011 and the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood from power in 2013, and thus provides a wide-ranging exploration of the importance of religion in Egyptian society and everyday encounters with a religious other. The book is consequently vital for practitioners as well as researchers dealing with religious minorities in the Middle East and interfaith dialogue in a wider context.