Interreligious Dialogue

More than 20 years after presenting his first interpretation of the mosaic from the House of Aion in a paper entitled “Uwagi na temat mozaiki z Domu Aiona w Nea Paphos (Cypr)” (Meander 9/10, 1987, p. 421-438, in Polish, and translated to English: « The Immortality of the Human Soul and the Dionysiac Mysteries in the 4th Century Allegory [in Connection with the Interpretation of the Mosaic from the “House of Aion” at Paphos in Cyprus]»), where he proposed reading the five mythological panels (1. Leda and Zeus; 2. Dionysus on Mount Nysa; 3. The Dionysian thiasos; 4. Apollo and Marsyas; 5. The Apotheosis of Cassiopeia) as an allegory of the destiny of the human soul and body, starting with conception and ending with the liberation of the soul and its apotheosis, the author now enhances his initial interpretation with numerous reflections concerning the historical context of this work of art, created in the years 320-360.
If, according to the author, the mosaic is a “Hymn” in honour of the pagan gods, Man (his soul) and his place in the (pagan) universe, then at the same time it polemicises with the Christian faith and its God, Jesus Christ.
The author puts forward numerous new solutions relating to the mosaic’s iconography and iconology. Analysis of the mosaic also leads him to propose a solution to the as-yet unanswered question regarding the absence of images of the crucified Christ in Christian art of the 3rd and 4th centuries, up until 420/430, when the first images of Christ on the cross appear.
CONTENTS:
Introduction
1. Research to-date (recap)
2. Description of mosaic (recap)
2.1. Composition of five mythological scenes
2.2. Brief iconographic description of mythological panels
2.3. Outline of individual iconographic elements and their respective roles
2.4. The pagan gods’ air of majesty and dignity as an expression of piety
3. A few words about the pagan reaction
4. An apology of pious human life according to pagan principles and a polemic on the Christian model of Man and his theological idol, Jesus Christ
4.1. Divine intervention in the act of human conception (allusion to/polemic on the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary)
4.2. The Epiphany of Dionysus (an allusion to the Epiphany of Christ – Theou Pais)
4.3. The procession and dissemination of Dionysian order (allusion to/polemic on Christ’s entry into Jerusalem)
4.4. The error of Marsyas (polemic on/allusion to the error of Jesus the Messiah): arrest, sentencing for arrogance and lack of piety (asebeia) and condemnation to a martyr’s death
4.5. The anabasis (or anagoge psyches) of a ‘beautiful soul’ (allusion to/polemic on the Ascension of Christ)
5. A few words on the mosaic programme prior to final conclusions
Final conclusions
Key words: mythological mosaic, House of Aion, Nea Paphos, Late Antiquity, Roman art, allegorical narrative, allusive language of mythological pictures, wordplay (Marsyas-Messias), Jesus Christ, anti-Christian polemic, Dionysos, Cassiopeia, Apollon, Nereides, Abstract Personifications, Greek Mythology, ΚΥΠΡΟΣ

I argue that contemporary philosophers have unduly ignored Sri Ramakrishna’s pioneering views on religious pluralism. The Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) taught the harmony of all religions on the basis of his own spiritual experiences and his diverse religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. Part I reconstructs the main tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s model of religious pluralism. Part II explores how Sri Ramakrishna addresses the problem of conflicting religious truth-claims. Part III addresses some of the major criticisms leveled against Sri Ramakrishna’s views on religious pluralism.

INTRODUZIONE. L’identità relativa del cristianesimo /…e il suo ripiegamento: il cristianesimo identitario.
1. LE RADICI CANANEE DI ISRAELE. Etnogenesi / Il modello dell’invasione militare / Il modello dell’infiltrazione pacifica / Il modello della rivoluzione sociale / Il modello dell’evoluzione (o digressione) interna / Da Noi a Loro: l’invenzione del nemico / La religione dell’antico Israele / Il valore di una storia dimenticata.
2. RIFERIMENTI BIBLICI PER IL DIALOGO INTERRELIGIOSO E LA TEOLOGIA DELLE RELIGIONI. Pagani esemplari / Enoc / Noè / Melchisedek / Abimelek / Balaam / Naaman / Rut / I Niniviti, Giobbe / Excursus. Approcci teologici alle religioni non-cristiane / La riconciliazione escatologica delle polarità / Le altre storie e gli altri dèi di Dio / Deuteronomio 4,19-20 (e Dt 29,25; 32,8-9) / Amos 9,7 (e Dt 2,1-23) / Malachia 1,11/ Atti degli Apostoli 17,16-34.
3. IL CUORE EBRAICO DEL CRISTIANESIMO. Gesù ebreo / Alla ricerca del Gesù ebreo (e del giudaismo cristiano) / Galilea dei Giudei / Per la casa d’Israele / Vivere da ebreo / «C’è del buono in questo mondo…». Una missione per due / Salvare Calcedonia / La Cananea e Gesù: un incontro riuscito.
CONCLUSIONE. DA CANAAN A CANAAN: DIA-LOGOS.

Esta colección de reflexiones, escritas originalmente en castellano, a lo largo de más de diez años, es un signo de agradecimiento al mundo latino que las inspiró, con muchísima gratitud, con humildad y con una actitud de propuesta.
Los temas presentados en este volumen: La Iglesia, los laicos, la misión, las religio­nes, el Reino de Dios, las grandes ciudades, el eurocentrismo, el poscolonialismo, entre otros, los une el deseo de una reflexión teológica endeudada al Concilio Vati­cana II y sus desarrollos posteriores, ante todo en diálogo con la Teología de la Libe­ración.
La perspectiva de los pobres y la opción por ellos fueron fundamentales para cada una de estas páginas.

This volume contains the proceedings of a symposium held by a group of Muslims and Christians on 20th – 21st February 2013 at the Jesuit Centre, “Loyola Hall” in Lahore, Pakistan. The topic of the symposium was: “Mysticism in East and West: The Concept of the Unity of Being” and focused on a variety of topics related to Islamic mysticism, such as the monistic views of Ibn ‘Arabi and the criticisms he encountered.
This volume comprises the 16 research papers – 8 of them presented by Muslims and 8 presented by Christians – as well as the main content of the discussions that followed. Some of the papers defend the argument for waḥdat al-wujūd through a presentation of the Akbarian, Suhrawardian and Iqbalian schools of thought. Others recall the historic debates in the Subcontinent on the two conflicting concepts of waḥdat al-wujūd (unity of being) and waḥdat al-shuhūd (unity of witnessing) as propounded by Ahmad Sirhindi and Shah Waliullah. Papers related to the Christian tradition focus on Merkabah mysticism, the Christ mysticism of the apostle Paul, and the mystical poetry of St. John of the Cross.

Abbasid society in ninth-century Iraq faced the challenge of reconciling the role of its many non-Muslim citizens with Islamic norms and governance, as seen in “The Refutation of Christians” by al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868/869 [255 A.H.]). Al-Jāḥiẓ moved in circles only one step removed from those of the Christian and Jewish intellectuals he came to criticize in the work, and he likely composed it just prior to Caliph al-Mutawakkil’s watershed reforms in non-Muslim policy. Thus, the “Refutation” is a primary source for understanding shifting Muslim sensibilities toward Christians’ societal role in a religiously diverse realm, but its polemic approach makes it problematic to analyze historically. This dissertation seeks to make “The Refutation of Christians” more accessible as a historical source by performing a contextual analysis of its argumentation.

Al-Jāḥiẓ’ rhetorical strategy is to explain away factors behind popular Muslim preferences for Christians over Jews, and then to advance positive reasons for considering Christians more harmful than Jews. Argumentation analysis using the pragma-dialectical approach highlights salient social points at issue between Christians and Muslims of the time. First, al-Jāḥiẓ’ dispute is not directly with Christians, but with Muslims who show them too much respect and liberality. Second, he must reframe certain facts about Christians that are too generally accepted to contradict, including memories of Arabs’ pre-Islamic and early Islamic contacts with Christians, and Christian intellectuals’ crucial role in perpetuating Greek scientific works. He turns these favorable perceptions into liabilities, arguing that Christians’ intellectualism diverts weak Muslims from the faith and their social position violates Christian-Muslim agreements. Finally, in contrast to the jurists’ approach, he argues for enforcing the original intention of these agreements rather than trying to demonstrate specific historical stipulations.

Al-Jāḥiẓ’ ideology aligns with al-Mutawakkil’s Qurʾanically charged edicts, in that Christians, far from being “closest in friendship” (5:82), are those with whom believers must not make any alliance (5:51). As such, the “Refutation” reveals the battle lines between more lenient, popular Muslim attitudes and a stricter position promoted by al-Jāḥiẓ and enforced by al-Mutawakkil.

En un mundo constantemente en cambio, donde la secularización y el pluralismo religioso, cultural, y lingüístico se han transformado en características de la globalización, encarar el estudio de la diversidad religiosa es una necesidad. Por un lado, las Iglesias Cristianas han manifestado visiblemente sus divergencias al existir separadas una de las otras, hecho que solo comenzó a revertirse con la aparición del denominado «movimiento ecuménico». Por otro lado, la experiencia humana en cuanto al fenómeno de la fe expresado en distintas religiones nos coloca frente a la pregunta de cómo coexistir tanto a niveles locales, regionales y/o mundiales. Este libro busca, entonces, conocer esa historia, tanto del movimiento ecuménico como del diálogo interreligioso, cuáles son sus tareas y funciones, y a la vez, (re)trabajar conceptos y definiciones para que el entendimiento entre personas de distinta fe se transforme en acciones conjuntas por un mundo mejor.

L’étude ici présentée est un extrait de la thèse doctorale intitulée : L’AMOUR  DE  DIEU  DANS  LES  LIMITES  DE  LA  SIMPLE  RAISON  –  FOI  ET  RAISON  DANS  LA  PENSÉE  D’IBN  TAYMIYYA  À  LA  LUMIÈRE  DE  LA  THÉOLOGIE  SPIRITUELLE  D’ÉLIE  DE  NISIBE – Avec édition et traduction de : La réponse valide à ceux qui ont altéré la religion du Messie – al-Ğawāb al-ṣaḥīḥ li-man baddala dīn al-Masīḥ  d’Ibn Taymiyya (extrait), Le Troisième Entretien d’Élie de Nisibe avec le vizir Abū al-Qāsim b. ʿAlī al-Maġribī : Etablissement de la preuve du monothéisme des Chrétiens d’après le Coran – Fī iqāmat al-dalīl ʿalā tawḥīd al-naṣārā min al-Qur’ān, Le livre de la démonstration de la vraie foi – Kitāb al-burhān ʿalā ṣaḥīḥ al-īmān d’Élie de Nisibe (extrait), Le cantique d’Élie de Nisibe – Tasbīḥat Mār Īliyyā.

Cette thèse a été soutenue publiquement à Paris, le 13 novembre 2010, auprès de l’Institut pontifical d’études arabes et d’islamologie (P.I.S.A.I.), en convention de cotutelle avec l’Ecole pratique des hautes études (E.P.H.E.), Ve section (Sciences religieuses), école doctorale « Sciences des religions et systèmes de pensée » (Etudes arabes, civilisations islamiques et orientales). La mention Summa cum Laude lui a été attribuée.

Suite à l’introduction générale de l’ensemble de la thèse, cette publication concerne uniquement la première partie du doctorat consacrée à la théologie spirituelle d’Élie de Nisibe, à l’exception des éditions critiques et des traductions du Livre de la démonstration de la vraie foi – Kitāb al-burhān ʿalā ṣaḥīḥ al-īmān d’Élie de Nisibe et du Cantique d’Élie de Nisibe – Tasbīḥat Mār Īliyyā (chapitre 2.2. et chapitre 2.3. de la thèse défendue). Elle se conclut par une bibliographie sélective et la table des matières de tout le travail de recherche effectué.

The patriarchs are not historical figures, in the sense that we give to this term today. However, the stories which regard them have profoundly influenced the history of the Jewish people. After the exile the Jews re-read the ancient traditions that concern the patriarchs in order to make them express the meaning of the religion, as they had reformulated it when they were in Mesopotamia. In the religious experience of their forefathers the Jews discovered the origin of the election of Israel and their own right to possess the land of Canaan. But at the same time, in the events of those distant ancestors, they grasped the need for an austere faith, which puts God first and demands a life that conforms to his will. What makes interesting even today the study of the  patriarchal stories also consists in the fact that the followers of the three great "abrahamic religions" (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) consider their protagonists as their own fathers in faith. By starting from these texts, there is the possibility for the followers of these religions to engage a tight dialogue among themselves and with the modern culture.

I patriarchi non sono figure storiche, nel senso che assume oggi questo termine. Essi però hanno influenzato profondamente la storia del popolo ebraico. Le antiche tradizioni che li riguardavano sono state rilette dopo l'esilio in modo da far loro esprimere il senso profondo della religione israelitica, come l'avevano riformulata i giudei deportati in Mesopotamia. Essi vi hanno ritrovato le origini dell'al-leanza tra YHWH e Israele, nonché dell'elezione del popolo e del suo diritto al possesso della terra di Canaan. Ma al tempo stesso nelle vicende di quei lontani progenitori hanno colto l'esigenza di una fede austera, che mette Dio al primo posto ed esige una vita conforme alla sua volontà.
Ciò che rende interessante ancora oggi lo studio dei rac-conti patriarcali consiste anche nel fatto che i loro protagonisti sono considerati come padri nella fede dai seguaci di tre grandi religioni che per questo sono dette «abramitiche»: ebraismo, cristianesimo e islam. Si prospetta dunque, a partire da questi testi, la possibilità di un serrato dialogo interreligioso che permetta  di cogliere l'insegna-mento specifico di ciascuna di esse in rapporto con le altre e con la cultura moderna ormai incalzante in tutto il globo.

By the time of the Vatican II Council, creative renewals in the so-called ‘inculturation’ movement were already well underway in India. But these renewals were invigorated by the Council’s relatively positive valuation of the diversity of cultures and religions, as demonstrated, for example, in the Dignitatis humanae Declaration’s acceptance of religious freedom for all humankind. Because of this, in the 1970 and 1980s, the inculturation project thrived in India, manifesting itself in different ways, such as in the Catholic ashram movement, Indianised liturgies and the development of different types of dialogue.
By the late 1980s, however, the movement was beginning to run out of steam. The inculturation project came to be seen by some Indians as something artificial and imposed, and ferocious critiques against its putatively ‘imperialist’ origins and tendencies emerged. As we shall see, non-Christian critics like Sita Ram Goel (1988) deemed Catholic Ashrams sinister and predatorial, while within the Church, theologians began to be more vocal about ‘the need for a reinterpretation of the Gospel in tune with the requirements of radical social action’ (Kappen 1985: ii). Thus, liberation, Dalit, tribal, feminist, and ecological theologies progressively gained momentum, and came to be seen as the new theological vanguard. In this context, intercultural and interreligious initiatives began to languish and lose energy, it seems, while these newer innovative theological movements took the initiative.
But is the inculturation project now moribund? Are indigenisation and inculturation ventures now irrelevant, nothing more than a passé fad of a bygone era? This paper examines the curious process by which inculturation became tremendously problematic for many (though not all) Indian Christians. My intent is not to critique the theological bases of inculturation in a normative way, but rather to articulate and enumerate the factors that explain its historical decline. The analyses focus mainly on inculturation in the Roman Catholic context, though I will also attend occasionally to Protestant voices.
The structure of this chapter is quite straightforward. At the beginning, I define the boundaries of my analysis, clarify what is meant by the (Catholic) notion of inculturation (and similar concepts such as indigenisation), and present a short historical review. Afterwards, I examine the factors involved in the decline of inculturation, focusing both on social/political and theological factors.

Ce chapitre se propose de confronter deux dimensions essentielles des trois monothéismes : d’une part leurs relations interreligieuses, d’autre part leurs tendances prosélytes. Ces deux facettes, qui sont très souvent renvoyées dos à dos comme des attitudes radicalement distinctes méritent pourtant d’êtres appréhendées simultanément. Loin de s’annuler l’une l’autre, leurs histoires sont souvent mêlées et soulignent toute l’ambivalence que peuvent revêtir un dialogue qui réaffirme les identités distinctives de chacun, ou un prosélytisme qui s’appuie – dans un processus quasi syncrétique – sur des cultures religieuses locales. De la sorte, prosélytisme et dialogue bornent un champ complexe d’interactions au sein duquel se lisent les rapports entre les monothéismes, et aussi entre les monothéismes et d’autres religions.

In Syria, interfaith dialogue constitutes a public practice that speaks to ethical, social and political imaginaries. As an official practice, it helps to provide the regime with religious legitimacy, though unofficially it often functions as a euphemism for missionary efforts. On a more abstract level, a careful analysis of Syrian interfaith dialogue reveals that different ethical traditions inform the participants' vision of "good." The Muslim sheikhs in this case-study follow an Aristotelian model of ethics that presupposes pious individuals for the creation and preservation of a moral society. Accordingly, they aim at fostering inter-communal harmony by teaching people how to perform virtues, rather than teaching them about other religions. Conversely, the Christian priests share a model that combines post-Enlightenment rationalism with "Christian love," and thus they strive to advance tolerance by encouraging unconditional affection, intellectual and experiential awareness of others. Together, these discrepancies facilitate miscommunication among the participants of dialogue.

Parallels between the spiritual paths of Theravāda Buddhists and Discalced Carmelites have long been observed, although not satisfactorily explained. This study contributes to objectively clarifying the similarities and differences between the two paths; and to explain their phenomenological similarities and structural affinities.

In this article it is argued that the Qiblah passages in the Qur’an, which are commonly understood as referring to the direction of the prayer, are directly engaging with and interpreting the Shema passages in Deuteronomy and their Talmudic commentaries. By defining and applying the method of intertextual polysemy, nine points of intertextuality are identified between the various Qur’anic, Biblical, and Talmudic passages. Against this background, the article implies that narrations from traditional Qur’anic commentaries are lacking in their interpretation of these passages, since they do not employ any extra-Quranic contexts to explain their meaning. Through the method of intertextual polysemy, the alternative thesis propounded here is that the historical reference for the Qiblah passages is the Shema.

Observations about dialogue and about the theology of religions are common enough these days, but they are rarely grounded in the analysis of a particular reality and are therefore of little help to practitioners. This book, on the other hand, gives an exhaustive documentation of the background and the actual situation of Muslim–Christian relations in Northern Nigeria before proceeding to proposals for understanding the contribution of women’s discourse in the development of dialogue and to a feminist theology of religions. Drawing from her empirical findings in Northern Nigeria as well as some feminist insights, the author suggests an approach to other religions, grounded in people’s lived
experience and a shared commitment to justice, peace and transformed human relations. Recognizing the limitations of some pluralist theories, she suggests a feminist-ethical approach to religious pluralism. The practicality and feasibility of such an approach are shown as she elaborates on its possible application in the concrete context of Northern Nigeria.

This paper does not concern itself with a dialogue between those who share, or think they share, a common vision of reality. Rather, the focus is on those who generally do not share a common vision of reality. By focusing on this second, more interesting, group we are presented with a challenging philosophical and practical problem in our examination of inter-religious dialogue, specifically, we are faced with the question: is it possible to hold an absolutist view of the truthfulness of one’s own traditions and still engage in an open inter-religious dialogue with other religions? The importance of this question cannot be overemphasized: and this paper is dedicated to framing the question in a way that highlights the need for an agreed upon philosophical basis for this dialogue, and in so doing demonstrates the intimate connectivity of inter-religious dialogue with religious pluralism.

This paper employs the hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer as a tool to underpin the methodology of Comparative Theology. Acknowledging limitations in Gadamer’s framework, it argues these can either be overcome or bypassed in this context. The paper initially sets out Gadamer’s own understanding of the relationship of his hermeneutics to theology and its reception within theology. It then outlines Francis Clooney’s Comparative Theology using others theologians as needed to supplement this, notably Paul Knitter and Michelle Voss Roberts. The third part shows how Comparative Theology’s methodologically can be grounded in principles coming from Gadamer’s hermeneutics which provide a philosophical rationale for the discipline, making particular use of the concept of translation. It makes reference to Marianne Moyaert’s deployment of Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutical model for interreligious understanding. Various directions for further research are suggested at the end of the paper.

"This publication is the first manual for the inter-religious dialogue in the youth work. In the youth-friendly way it presents the theoretical basis for this dialogue, good examples, sample scenarios, lists what's important to remember and what are the potential reasons of conflicts. What one shall consider while organizing such an event: from the gender sensitivity issues to the calendar or the dietary needs.
An important aspect of this book is also that it has been written (and the concept for this book has been founded) by the representatives of youth faith-based organizations which had worked in a close cooperation, so this book has been an inter-religious dialogue already in the process of writing.

Published in 2008 by the European Youth Forum in the framework of the 2008 - European Year for Inter-cultural Dialogue."

Religious diversity is a key topic in contemporary philosophy of religion. One way religious diversity has been of interest to philosophers is in the epistemological questions it gives rise to. In other words, religious diversity has been seen to pose a challenge for religious belief. In this study four approaches to dealing with this challenge are discussed. These approaches correspond to four well-known philosophers of religion, namely, Richard Swinburne, Alvin Plantinga, William Alston, and John Hick. The study is concluded by suggesting four factors which shape one’s response to the challenge religious diversity poses to religious belief.

Sivin Kit reviews the events and the public discourses around the “Allah” controversy from 2007–2015 in Malaysia, where people struggle to reclaim the public space as they challenge divisive ethno-religious centric discourses. Kit reflects on the implications of the public debate for interreligious relations and points out that the public discourses critical of the government appeal to the principle of justice and solidarity not only for Christians but for all Malaysian citizens. In addition to reaffirming
constitutional guarantees of religious freedom, Christian leaders and like- minded Muslim voices point to the significance of reimagining solidarity in a religiously diverse society.

In Bakhtin and Genre Theory in Biblical Studies; Semeia Studies 63. Edited by Roland Boer (Atlanta: SBL Press, 2007, pp. 133-59). This essay connects the Johannine misunderstanding dialogues with Jesus with several crises in the Johannine situation over seven decades--identifying likely rhetorical targets in original audiences with existential implications for later readers.

The 1970 release of His Land, a religious documentary about Israel produced by Billy Graham’s film studio, World Wide Pictures, took the evangelical world by storm. It was shown to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of churchgoers and encapsulated the mix of prophecy beliefs and cultural arguments that cohered a decade later into the Christian Zionist movement—a major component of the religious right. Surprisingly, American evangelicals were not the only fans of His Land. American Jews, led by the American Jewish Committee (AJC), helped make the film an international success. AJC officials organized ecumenical screenings and kept detailed records of the film’s reception, praising it as “an authentic interpretation” that “strengthen[s] the current interreligious discussion on the Middle East question.” By 1971, the AJC was showing this unabashedly evangelical film to Jewish audiences in synagogues and community centers. Through reconstructing His Land’s production and reception, this article provides a new interpretation of the origins of bipartisan, Jewish and evangelical support for Israel in the late-twentieth century. It recasts the rise of a Jewish-evangelical pro-Israel lobby as an important religious episode to understanding the rise of the religious right and the continuing importance of confessional and theological identity even in the era of the “culture wars.”

This article deals with the crucial issue of Islam and Muslims in Europe. It discusses the challenges that Muslims face in European Societies, as well as the challenges that face the variety of Muslim Communities and Associations in Europe in their religious and cultural identity, their self-perception and their intra-religious relations. It describes furthermore
that the points of view of a large number of Muslim citizens who reside in Europe and view themselves as Europeans are looked at and questioned from a variety of positions from within as well as from outside. European Muslims are required to find structures for open and creative discussions and reflections on a multiplicity of topics and subjects related to their own living reality. The need for safe and protected spheres which guarantee these structures seems to be obvious to enable Muslims in their responsibility towards a society of common coexistence and mutual peaceful understanding.

This book provides an introduction to the current state of the field for those new to interreligious dialogue and the theology of religions, as well as providing insights and new concepts that will be of interest to specialists. In particular, the current deadlock between pluralist and particularist approaches is re-imagined, and a strong argument for radical openness to the religious Other is advanced, based upon the resources of the Christian heritage. Also explored are many issues pertaining to debates in this area which are not always addressed, such as religious identity and definitions of religion. The book draws inspiration from many sources including intercultural theology, feminist theologies of religions, comparative theology, postcolonial identity theory, scholarly debates on the nature of religion, and biblical concepts of hospitality to outline its new approach. It concludes that we must seek mutual fulfilment with religious Others while maintaining Christian integrity. It also addresses the problems this involves when seeking ethical partnership across religious boundaries. No easy answers are given, however, a vision for radical openness based on Jesus’ example, the Christian heritage, and contemporary scholarship is endorsed.

Pour déterminer, au regard d’une réflexion œcuménique, ce que la thèse d’Oehmen et ses développements  impliquent dans les relations entre Juifs et chrétiens, nous examinerons les présupposés théologiques du schisme initial. Positivement, il provient de la reconnaissance d’une même origine avant le schisme, mais aussi d’un seul peuple de Dieu malgré le schisme, et donc d’une même espérance eschatologique : le schisme sera résorbé lors de la réintégration prévue par Paul en Rm 11, 11-32. Certes, le schisme initial a eu des conséquences dramatiques non seulement pour l’unité interne de l’Église (selon la thèse d’Oehmen) mais aussi dans l’histoire du peuple juif. Pourtant, s’il fait partie du plan de Dieu lui-même, il ouvre sur un certain nombre de conséquences positives pour le dialogue entre Juifs et chrétiens : la mission de l’Église s’en trouve éclairée différemment, puisque l’Église a besoin d’Israël pour retrouver son unité perdue.

Citation:
Buck, Christopher. “Ninian Smart (1927–2001).” British Writers, Supplement XXIV. Ed. Jay Parini. Farmington Hills, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons/The Gale Group, 2018. Pp. 269–283. ISBN-13: 978-0684325156. (Release date: September 8, 2017.)

ABSTRACT

ACADEMICS IN RELIGIOUS STUDIES have a long- standing joke. Question: “What is the difference between Ninian Smart and God?” Answer: “God is everywhere. Ninian Smart is everywhere but here!” (Ninian Smart on World Religions, p. xxi). That one-liner about Smart’s ubiquity attests not only to the reach of his publications but also to his international influence in the emergence of the scholarly field of religious studies—first and foremost in Britain and, more widely, in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. Almost single-handedly, Ninian Smart “founded the academic study of religion in Britain” and “gave intellectual structure and shape to the field in the rest of the English-speaking world, especially the U.S.A.,” according to Jacob Neusner (“Remembering Ninian Smart,” pp. 355–356). Yet Smart was far more than an academic. In writing books about philosophy and world religions, he was steeped in deep thought, immersed in higher thinking. Human and social values were his subject matter. He compared cultures, religions, philosophies, and political ideologies such as Marxism and Maoism. His own thinking about Buddhist enlightenment, Confucian order, Taoist freedom, Hindu liberation, Christian salvation, and so forth produced a wonderful, if not exotic, synthesis. He could see the full picture, understand human dilemmas, and propose global orientations in solutions that were simple, yet profound. A gentleman and a scholar in every sense, Smart was a down-to-earth man but a noble soul, with a grand vision of the world and the direction he believed that it needed to take. …

Despite his Scottish flourishes—eating his porridge with salt and pepper, and occasionally donning his kilt and tartan—Ninian Smart was humanitarian and universal. He presented a vision and version of Christianity that could seriously engage with the fact of religious pluralism and operate in an entirely secular mode as well. Smart was fond of joking: “Comparative religion will make you comparatively religious” (quoted in Strenski, “Ninian Smart and the Overcoming of Philosophy,” p. 369). He recognized wisdom and insight in various religious and cultural settings, and he broke free entirely of parochial presumptions. In that regard, he was both theologian and academic. Ninian Smart, almost single-handedly, was instrumental in institutionalizing the academic study of religion. The entire discipline is indebted to his leadership and legacy.

Now available in the Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL) database.

One of the earliest Muslim authors to make use of biblical material in Arabic translation was ʿAmr b. Baḥr al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 868/9). In his " Refutation of Christians " (Al-Radd ʿalā al-Naṣārā), he attempts to discredit Jewish translations of the Old Testament as a source for Christian arguments that Jesus was the Son of God. His position assumes two distinctive points regarding scriptural texts: (1) that the text of the extant Hebrew Bible was trustworthy but that the Christian Gospels were not, and (2) that the anthropomorphizing content of existing Jewish versions resulted from poor translation. Research into al-Jāḥiẓ's text so far has explored its discussion of anthropomorphism and its potential impact on Saʿadya Gaon's Bible translation, but has left open the translation source of the longest passage al-Jāḥiẓ quotes, Isaiah 42:10–16. Although it has earlier been suggested that the translation of this passage ultimately stems from the Peshitta Syriac version, this study compares al-Jāḥiẓ's text to the Hebrew, Syriac, and other versions, and demonstrates that the cited translation must have been made from the Hebrew. It also examines the translation techniques observable in the passage, showing a more Arabo-centric approach than typically attested in early non-Saʿadyanic versions. The study concludes (1) that as a Muslim polemicist, al-Jāḥiẓ had real contact with the Jewish community and its texts, and (2) that his quotation evidences a pre-Saʿadyanic attempt to translate the Bible from Hebrew into Arabic using a less literal approach than is previously attested.

Taking ideas about interfaith communication among stakeholders in the British “God Debate”
as an illustrative case, I propose that the translation metaphor, widely adopted across
disciplines, might productively be replaced by a different metaphor, “translanguaging”
(García and Wei 2013). I suggest that the model of sociolinguistic relations offered by
translanguaging nicely addresses the genealogical inseparability of “religious” language and
“secular” language. This working replacement for the translation metaphor invites new kinds
of philosophical and anthropological engagements with difference and may be extended to the
analysis of other phenomena that demand non-binary thought, such as transculturalism,
transgenderism and transnationalism. [translation metaphor, translanguaging, Britain,
religion, interfaith dialogue]

Scholarly, academic, non-confessional study of the Quran has lagged behind the study of the Bible to such an extent that a prominent scholar of the Quran could write in 1977 that "as a document susceptible of analysis by the instruments and techniques of Biblical criticism," the Quran was "virtually unknown." From this fact ironies abound, including: (1) It is by using critical western scholarship on the Bible that Rahmat Allah Kairanwi made his famous attack on the Bible in the 19th century; (2) Until today Islam resists and discourages the study of the Quran "as representative of a traditional literary type." This chapter, one of six on the Quran, explains the history of the development of Quranic manuscripts according to many of the top scholars in the field. The Quran in use today is actually a single "reading," chosen by Muslim leaders in Cairo in 1924 out of an officially-accepted 14 readings. From the earliest manuscripts of the Quran, the text of the Quran underwent a development of some 300 years before every sound of the verses could be captured by the Arabic script. The entire book of 24 chapters is available for a very reasonable price from www.amazon.com/dp/099399721X

General Editor:
Dr Paul Hedges, University of Winchester, UK

International Editorial Advisory Board:
James Miller
Khaleel Mohammed
Musa Dube
Eloisa Martin
Marion Maddox
Makarand Paranjape

Table of Contents:

Volume 1: Theoretical and Academic Debates
Introduction
Paul Hedges
Chapter 1: What is Religion? Or, What is it We’re Talking About?
Anna S. King and Paul Hedges
Chapter 2: Is the Study of Religion Religious? How to Study Religion and Who Studies Religion
Paul Hedges and Anna S. King
Chapter 3: Charisma, Scriptures, Revelation, Texts: Sources of Religious Authority
Christina Welch and Paul Hedges
Chapter 4: Religion and Embodiment: Religion and the (Latin-American) Bodies that Practice it
Renée de la Torre
Chapter 5: Religion, Commodification and Consumerism
Vineeta Singh
Chapter 6: Terror/ism and Violence in the Name of God
Lucien van Liere
Chapter 7: Belonging, Behaving, Believing, Becoming: Religion and Identity
Paul Hedges and Angela CoCo
Chapter 8: Why are there Many Gods? Religious Diversity and its Challenges
Paul Hedges
Chapter 9: Is Religion Dying? Secularization and Other Religious Trends in the World Today
Jayeel Serrano Cornelio
Chapter 10: Christian and Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist: Can you have a Multiple Religious Identity?
Rose Drew
Chapter 11: Empires and Religions: Colonialism, Post-colonialism, and Orientalism
Clinton Bennett

Volume 2: Debates in the Public Square and Ethical Issues
Introduction
Paul Hedges
Chapter 1: Women in Religion: Does Gender Matter?
Kayla Wheeler
Chapter 2: Friend or Foe? Current Debates in Science and Religion
Allison P. Coudert
Chapter 3: Sexuality and Religion: Homosexuality and Religious Values
Maria das Dores Campos Machado
Chapter 4: Religion and Human Rights: Conflicts and Connections
Nazila Ghanea and Farrah Ahmed
Chapter 5: The New Atheists
Ian Markham and Chrstine Faulstich
Chapter 6: Censorship, Free Speech and Religion
Christoph Baumgartner
Chapter 7: Is Religion Environmentally Friendly: Connecting Religion and Ecology
James Miller
Chapter 8: Religion and Culture: Religious Artefacts as T-shirts, Toys and Museum Exhibits
Christina Welch
Chapter 9: Are Religions Prejudiced? Religion and Disability
Susannah Cornwall
Chapter 10: Religion, Nationalism, and International Relations
Enzo Pace
Chapter 11: Religion and Politics
Marion Maddox
Chapter 12: Riots, Mass Casualities, and Religious Hatred: Countering Anti-cosmopolitan Terror through Intercultural and Interreligious Understanding
Anna Halafoff

Volume 3: Specific Issues and Case Studies
Introduction
Paul Hedges
Chapter 1: The Rise of Fundamentalisms
Christopher van de Krogt
Chapter 2: Loving the “Enemy”: An alternative Narrative on Jewish-Muslim Relations
Yafiah Randall
Chapter 3: Buddhism, Nationalism, and Violence in Asia
Jude Lal Fernando
Chapter 4: Religion and Bioethics: Human Genetics and Embryo Research
Neil Messer
Chapter 5: What do Americans think of Muslims?: The 9/11 Islamic Community Centre
Khaleel Mohammed
Chapter 6: New Religious Movements, “Cults”, and the State
Ryan J. T. Adams
Chapter 7: Shariah Law and Women in Islam
Adis Duderjia
Chapter 8: Can Christianity take New Forms? Christianity in New Cultural Contexts
James Cox
Chapter 9: New Religious Movements in Global Context
Nobutaka Inoue
Chapter 10: Scandals
Marion Maddox
Chapter 11: Can Christians Engage in non-Christian Practices? Eastern Meditations and Contemplative Prayer
Fabrice Blée

Reference:
Wehe dieser sündigen Gemeinde, die nicht weiß, ob ihr Gutes oder Böses widerfährt‘: Jesaja, ein alttestamentlicher Prophet und seine Botschaft in der islamischen Tradition, in: Transmission and Interpretation of the Book of Isaiah in the Context of Intra- and Interreligious Debates, ed. Peter Gemeinhardt and Florian Wilk, (Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium, 280), Leuven: Peeters Publishers, 2016, S. 393-431