The World Religions Anthology: Faith, Worldview, Spirituality provides students with a thoughtful and insightful overview of some of the religions of the world and helps them identify both the differences between them and the underlying themes and values that connect them. The anthology is organized into nine chapters, the first of which gives students a foundational understanding of what constitutes religion and how to approach the study of sacred texts. Additional chapters explore what are often referred to as Eastern religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Jainism. Students also learn about the Abrahamic religions, studying in turn Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Each chapter includes an introduction and post-reading questions to provide context and facilitate learning, reflection, and discussion. The World Religions Anthology is an exemplary anthology for foundational courses in world religions and the study of religious texts.

In A Comparative History of Catholic and As'ari Theologies of Truth and Salvation Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour analytically and critically compares the historical development of the Catholic theologies of truth and salvation with those of its Islamic counterpart, As'arism. The monograph moves the discussion from individual theologians to theological schools with a view to helping consolidate the young field of Comparative Theology. It serves two types of readers. First, the specialist who wants to dig deeper into the two traditions parallelly. Second, the generalist who may not have the time to become thoroughly familiar with every aspect of Christian-Muslim theologies. Both readers will come out with a holistic understanding of the development of Christian and Muslim theologies of truth and salvation; a holistic understanding that increases the appetite of the former and quenches that of the latter. Despite the holistic nature of the monograph, attention is duly paid to the specificities of each tradition in a deep and profound manner.

In Intimate Diversity Paul Smith explores theological implications of interreligious marriage. Taking a practical theology approach which begins with lived experience and works through a pastoral cycle involving interpretation, normative discussion and a pragmatic outcome, the book challenges the Church of England (or other denominations) fulfil three tasks: theological, pastoral and missional. Paul Smith accepts the reality of marriage that involves couples from different religious traditions and proposes ways of justifying such marriage based on normative Christian traditions. He takes a broadly missional approach, advocating the positive role that the Church of England can play in fostering good interreligious relations in society whilst offering sympathetic pastoral support of couples who marry across religious divides.

Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world, with 87.18 per cent of its 260 million population embracing the Islamic faith. However, Indonesia is neither an Islamic state nor a secular one. It adopts Pancasila as the state ideology but has a Ministry of Religious Affairs (MORA) overseeing six official religions. MORA has its genesis in Dutch colonial rule (1602-1942). It was strengthened during the Japanese occupation (1942-45) and then sustained by the post-independence Indonesia government (after 1945). The decision to keep MORA was to compensate those who had aspired for the enactment of the Jakarta Charter in the era of Sukarno but failed. This article examines how MORA has been managed under President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) from 2014 till the present. It highlights similarities and differences in Jokowi's control of the influential ministry compared to his predecessors. In 2014, even though Jokowi was elected on a reform agenda, he left MORA untouched. After the 2019 election, Jokowi appointed Fachrul Razi, a retired general as Minister of Religious Affairs, departing from the past practices of naming a religious scholar (ulama) or a religiously trained person (santri) to that position. This demonstrates a wish on the part of the President to shake up the ministry and to exert control over the institution. This decision, however, has alienated core supporters in NU who helped him get re-elected in 2019.