In the face of competing religious claims in our shrinking world, many turn to dialogue as a hopeful way of fostering understanding and reducing violence. But why does actual dialogue so often fail? This provocative study investigates the possibilities and limits of interreligious dialogue. By showing the significant obstacles for dialogue within Christianity, the book also proposes ways in which these obstacles may be overcome from within. Major themes include Humility, Conviction, Interconnection, Empathy, and Generosity.

Description: CONTRIBUTORS: Mustafa Abu-Sway, Al-Quds University, Jerusalem Asma Afsaruddin, Indiana University Reinhold Bernhardt, Basel Univeristy David Burrell, CSC, University of Notre Dame Catherine Cornille, Boston College Gavin D'Costa, University of Bristol David M. Elcott, New York University Joseph Lumbard, Brandeis University Jonathan Magonet, Louis Baeck Institute, London John Makransky, Boston College Anantanand Rambachan, St. Olaf College Deepak Sarma, Case Western University Judith Simmer-Brown, Naropa University Mark Unno, University of Oregon Endorsements: ""Discernment as the...

These superb essays explore the phenomenon of individuals who identity themselves as followers of more than one religious tradition. The results prove that the late Joseph Kitagawa was prescient when he cautioned that the world is ""Easternizing"" as much as it is ""Westernizing,"" and that ""modernization"" is a far from adequate key to name what is happening in world religious history in our age. ""The whole question of religious pluralism has been challenging to Christian theologians, but the authors here raise the ante by discussing the truly perplexing problem of multiple religious...

Description: Catherine Cornille, Boston College David Tracy, University of Chicago Divinity School Werner Jeanrond, University of Glasgow Marianne Moyaert, University of Leuven John Maraldo, University of North Florida Reza Shah-Kazemi, Institute of Ismaili Studies Malcolm David Eckel, Boston University Joseph S. O'Leary, Sophia University John P. Keenan, Middlebury College Hendrik Vroom, VU University Amsterdam Laurie Patton, Emory University Endorsements: ""The implications of understanding between the religions are as unclear as it is clear that such understanding is badly needed. What is...

Synopsis: The challenges and changes that take place when religions move from one cultural context to another present unique opportunities for interreligious dialogue. In new cultural environments religions are not only propelled to enter into dialogue with the traditional or dominant religion of a particular culture; religions are also invited to enter into dialogue with one another about cultural changes. In this volume, scholars from different religious traditions discuss the various types of dialogue that have emerged from the process of acculturation. While the phenomenon of religious...

About the Contributor(s):
Catherine Cornille is the Newton College Alumnae Chair of Western Culture and Professor of Comparative Theology at Boston College. She is the author of The Im-Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue (2008) and editor of The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Interreligious Dialogue (2013). Cornille is also founding and managing editor of the series Christian Commentaries on Non-Christian Sacred Texts.

Jillian Maxey is a doctoral candidate in Comparative Theology at Boston College, working in the area of Jewish-Christian Dialogue.