In the aftermath of 9/11 there has been much talk of a need to engage on a meaningful level with Islam, but where do we begin and what is the right approach? This book, available in paperback for the first time, looks at case studies from around the world in order to explore how Christian groups, sometimes as minorities and sometimes as the majority, engage with their Muslim neighbours in the search for a peaceful society. Some of the initiatives are politically motivated, others run by Church authorities and a number are community based, but all offer different approaches to a variety of situations that are encountered in Christian-Islamic dialogue. This is the first time that global strategies for dialogue have been published in one book by a series of leading academics. Whilst previous publications have concentrated on a particular geographical area, usually the Middle East or Europe, this book casts a wider net and considers issues such as the rise of radical Islam in post-Soviet states, Indonesian immigration in Australia and the spread of Islam amongst the Black South Africans after the fall of apartheid. Scholars and all those interested in politics, current affairs, religion or peace studies will find this book essential reading as a guidebook to the state of contemporary Christian-Islamic relations. -- .

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and the home to a number of Eastern Churches with millions of followers. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the various denominations in the modern Middle East and will be of interest to a wide variety of scholars and students studying theology, history and politics.

The Middle East is the birthplace of Christianity and the home to a number of Eastern Churches with millions of followers. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the various denominations in the modern Middle East and will be of interest to a wide variety of scholars and students studying theology, history and politics.

The Christian presence in Jerusalem has always been diverse and cosmopolitan, encompassing numerous churches representative of ecclesiastical traditions older than many nation states and ethnic groups. Indeed, the city's various Christian communities are administered by three Patriarchs, five Catholic patriarchal vicars, four archbishops and two Protestant bishops. From the end of the Crusader period onwards, these communities have come under the rule of numerous political entities, from the Ottoman Empire through to the British Mandatory Administration and the modern states of Jordan and Israel. The complex interaction of religion and politics, and the involvement of Christians in politics, has been a constant theme in the religious culture of Jerusalem. The essays collected here provide a comprehensive historical, religious and political survey of the Christian communities of modern Jerusalem. Individual essays deal with topics ranging from church-state relations to women missionaries and various expressions of Eastern and Western Christian presence and, taken as a whole, offer a fascinating overview of Christianity in the Holy Land at the beginning of a new century.

CHRISTIANITY IN THE HOLY LAND has found its presence significantly challenged for much of the twentieth century and the whole of the first decade of the twenty-first, from war, interreligious and ethnic conflict, emigration, and a fragmented ecclesiology. As a sacred city Jerusalem has a global significance: for Muslims the Haram-al-Sharif is a symbol of victory; for Jews the Wailing Wall a symbol of loss; and for Christians the Holy Sepulchre a symbol of victory through loss. Theology and politics have interacted in this sacred story. Political theologies remain at least implicit in the histories of all major faith communities: Jewish, Christian and Muslim. For Christianity the Holy Land is not only of local significance, but is of importance to the identity of the two-and-a-half-billion-strong world community of churches which make up Christendom. The contributors to this volume have undertaken a wide-ranging historical, political and theological enquiry into the Christian presence in modern Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The chapters have an ecumenical, even interreligious, instinct and focus. The political landscape is ever changing and, while severely threatening the Christian presence in the Holy Land, continuously challenges and demands a Christian response. The primary responsibility for articulating this Christian response to the political and religious questions has in practice lain with the Christians of the Holy Land, however it cannot be solely their burden. This book bears witness to an ongoing theological reflection whilst its immediate concern in the contemporary significance of Jerusalem has a much wider significance. While bearing witness to an ongoing theological reflection, this book's immediate concern with the contemporary significance of Jerusalem has a much wider resonance. It covers a host of themes - Christianity in modern Jerusalem; contemporary Jewish-Israeli views on Christianity and Christians; Hebrew Catholicism in modern Israel; the Vatican, Israel, Palestinian Christians and Jerusalem; the Intifada and Palestinian Christian identity; Palestinian Christians and liberation theology; the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem - Church-State politics in the Holy Land; indigenisation and contextualisation - the example of the Anglican and Presbyterian Churches in the Holy Land; Jewish fundamentalism; Jewish-Muslim encounter; Jerusalem, the Holy City; a possible way to share Jerusalem in peace; and reflections on the future of Christianity in the Holy Land itself, from a Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Contributors include: Anthony O'Mahony, David Mark Neuhaus SJ, Leon Menzies Racionzer, Drew Christiansen SJ, Leonard Marsh, Sotiris Roussos, Michael Marten, Nur Masalha, Rob Johnson, Charles H Miller, Bard Maeland, David Kitching, Archbishop Michel Sabbah

Interreligious dialogue is now seen as one of the most pressing needs of our times. However both this perception and active engagement in dialogue are both recent phenomena. From the beginning, many of the pioneers in this work have been drawn from the Catholic monastic tradition. This volume brings together a wide-ranging and engaging series of studies that witness to the depth of theological reflection that the contemporary Christian monastic and scholarly community are engaged in as the religious traditions seek to understand and relate to each other in a global context. Here are reflections on encounters with Buddhism, where the main efforts of monastic interreligious dialogue have been directed, with Hinduism, and with Islam (from St Francis to the Cistercian Martyrs of Algeria). As well as profiling the history and current witness of monastic interreligious dialogue, the volume also contains studies of the great pioneers of this work - Charles de Foucauld, Bede Griffiths, Henri Le Saux (Abhishiktananda), Louis Massignon and Thomas Merton. At a time when there is so much need for understanding among people belonging to different religion, may these studies stimulate that exchange at the deeper level which leads to an experience of harmony, and even of a certain unity. Our conflict-ridden world is longing for this. + Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, M. Afr., writing in the Preface Contributors include: Peter Bowe, OSB ∙ Pierre de Bethune, OSB ∙ Eoin de Bhaldraithe, OSCO ∙ John Flannery ∙ Ian Latham, LBJ ∙ Jean Olwen Maynard ∙ Antony O'Mahony ∙ Steven Saxby ∙ Judson Trapnell ∙ Agnes Wilkins ∙