This collection of essays by array of international scholars addresses some aspects of the issues of religious stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination and offers solutions through discussions of method, terminology and definitions regarding interreligious relations, the political implications in the Middle East, and various case-studies.
This volume explores the ways in which interreligious encounters happen ritually. Drawing upon theology, philosophy, political sciences, anthropology, sociology, and liturgical studies, the contributors examine different concrete cases of interrituality. After an introductory chapter explaining the phenomenon of interrituality, readers learn about government-sponsored public events in Spain, the ritual life of mixed families in China and the UK. We meet Buddhist and Christian monks in Kentucky and are introduced to rituals of protest in Jerusalem. Other chapters take us to shared pilgrimage sites in the Mediterranean and explore the ritual challenges of Israeli tour guides of Christian pilgrims. The authors challenges readers to consider scriptural reasoning as a liturgical practice and to inquire into the (in)felicitous nature of rituals of reconciliation. This volume demonstrates the importance of understanding the many contexts in which interrituality happens and shows how ritual boundaries are perpetually under negotiation.
In Hope and Otherness, Jakob Wirén analyses the place and role of the religious Other in contemporary eschatology. In connection with this theme, he examines and compares different levels of inclusion and exclusion in Christian, Muslim, and Jewish eschatologies. He argues that a distinction should be made in approaches to this issue between soteriological openness and eschatological openness. By going beyond Christian theology and also looking to Muslim and Jewish sources and by combining the question of the religious Other with eschatology, Wirén explores ways of articulating Christian eschatology in light of religious otherness, and provides a new and vital slant to the threefold paradigm of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism that has been prevalent in the theology of religions. “Jakob Wirén’s study pushes forward the frontiers of three disciplines all at the same time: theology of religions; comparative religions and eschatology. (...) This is a challenging and important book.” - Gavin D'Costa, University of Bristol, Professor of Catholic Theology, 2017 “This book explores of the status of religious others in Christian eschatology, and of eschatology itself as a privileged place for reflecting on religious otherness. Wiren mines not only Christian, but also Jewish and Muslim sources to develop an inclusive eschatology. Hope and Otherness thus represents an important contribution to both theology of religions and comparative theology.” - Catherine Cornille, Boston College, Professor of Comparative Theology, 2017
The question 'who is my neighbour?' challenges the way we see ourselves as well as the way we see others. Especially in situations where we feel conflicted between our own self-identity and common identity within a wider society. Historically, religion has contributed to this inner conflict by creating 'us versus them' mentalities. Challenging this traditional view, this volume examines how religions and religious communities can use their resources, methodology and praxis to encourage peace-making. The book is divided into two parts - the first includes sources, theories and methodologies of crossing boundaries of prejudice and distrust from the perspectives of theology and religious studies. The second includes case studies of theory and practice to challenge prejudice and distrust in a conflict or post-conflict situation. The chapters are written by scholars, religious leaders and faith-motivated peace practitioners from various global contexts to create a diverse academic study of religious peace-building.
This book explores the way in which the study and practice of love creates a common ground for different faiths and different traditions within the same faith. For the contributors, “common ground” in this context is not a minimal core of belief or a lowest common denominator of faith, but a space or area in which to live together, consider together the meaning of the love to which various faiths witness, and work together to enable human flourishing. Such a space, the contributors believe, is possible because it is the place of encounter with the divine. This book is the fruit of a Project for the Study of Love in Religion which aims to create this space in which different traditions of love converge, from Islam, Judaism, and the Christianity of both East and West. Tools employed by the contributors in exploring this space of love include exegesis of ancient texts, theology, accounts of mystical experience, philosophy, and evolutionary science of the human. Insights about human and divine love that emerge include its nature as a form of knowing, its sacrificial and erotic dimensions, its inclination towards beauty, its making of community and its importance for a just political and economic life.
Freed in Christ to engage our neighbors in a multi-religious world, Christians live and work in an increasingly multi-ethnic and multi-religious context. How does this affect their calling to serve their neighbors and their community? What resources does the Lutheran Christian tradition offer? Woven into this book are more than fifty stories of ELCA inter-religious engagement. These examples from local ministry settings are supplemented by practical tips, theological reflection, and historical analysis. The result is a guide for study, discussion, and action as a contribution toward the 500th observance of the Reformation in 2017 and beyond.
A groundbreaking and hopeful new look at contemporary spirituality, transpersonal psychology, integral education, and religious diversity and pluralism. Participation and the Mystery is both an introduction to and expansion of Jorge N. Ferrers groundbreaking work on participatory spirituality, which holds that human beings are active cocreators of spiritual phenomena, worlds, and even ultimates. After examining the impact of his work since the publication of Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, Ferrer discusses the relationship between science and transpersonal psychology, the nature of a fully embodied spirituality, and the features of integral spiritual practice. The book also introduces a participatory philosophy of education and applies it to the academic teaching of mysticism and a novel approach to embodied spiritual inquiry. Critically engaging the influential work of Stanislav Grof, Ken Wilber, and A. H. Almaas, Ferrer concludes with an original solution to the problem of religious pluralism that affirms the ontological richness of religious worlds while avoiding the extremes of perennialism and contextualism, offering a hopeful vision for the future of world religion. Participation and the Mystery is an invaluable resource to anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of participatory approaches to transpersonal psychology, integral and contemplative education, contemporary spirituality, and religious studies. In Participation and the Mystery, we are given the opportunity to dive into the engaging, provocative, and stunningly erudite thought of Jorge N. Ferrer, arguably one of the premier transpersonal theorists of our time. Building on the key essays written after the publication of his seminal work, Revisioning Transpersonal Theory, Ferrer shows us how his compelling and extremely fertile participatory model can be applied, with intriguing and rewarding results, to multiple, highly distinct fields of discourse. Read this book if you want your worldview to be both challenged and enriched. G. William Barnard, author of Living Consciousness: The Metaphysical Vision of Henri Bergson Ferrer is a leading figure in transpersonal psychology. His participatory perspective explains both the deep commonalities and the creative diversity of spiritual traditions. It provides a way to understand the general phenomenon of spirituality without falling prey to ideological dogmatism or the tendency to privilege ones own spiritual tradition or practice over others. Ferrers work deserves to be widely read. Michael Washburn, author of Transpersonal Psychology in Psychoanalytic Perspective This is an important collection of essays from one of the leading contemporary thinkers in transpersonal studies. Ferrers participatory approach represents the most significant development in transpersonal theory and practice to have emerged this century, and this book is the ideal introduction to Ferrers work. It will become required reading for all students of transpersonal psychology, as well as for anyone seeking to deepen their understanding of transformational practice, transpersonal education, spirituality, and religion. Michael Daniels, author of Shadow, Self, Spirit: Essays in Transpersonal Psychology Rich and thought-provoking, this book ranges widely through Ferrers reflections on the participatory worldview in relation to psychology, education, and religion. Andrew O. Fort, Texas Christian University
Market globalization, technology, climate change, and postcolonial political forces are together forging a new, more modern world. However, caught up in the mix are some powerful religious narratives that are galvanizing peoples and reimagining – and sometimes stifling – the political and social order. Some are repressive, fundamentalist imaginations, such as the so-called Islamic Caliphate. Others could be described as post-religious, such as the evolution of universal human rights out of the European Christian tradition. But the question of the compatibility of these religious worldviews, particularly those that have emerged out of the Abrahamic faith traditions, is perhaps the most pressing issue in global stability today. What scope for dialogue is there between the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian ways of imagining the future? How can we engage with these multiple imaginations to create a shared and peaceful global society? Religious Imaginations is an interdisciplinary volume of both new and well-known scholars exploring how religious narratives interact with the contemporary geopolitical climate.
Neighbourly relations frequently position a “self” against an “Other”. This is the case for both individuals and nations, and, indeed, within the various cultural groups of a nation. Our racial, ethnic, social, or gender identities are often created in demarcating ourselves by stereotyping the Other. Disrespect of the immediate neighbour based on stereotypical pre-conceptions and cultural biases may lie dormant for a long time and then, as shown in recent conflicts around the globe, suddenly surface due to changed economic and political conditions. Media, including films and fictional as well as non-fictional texts, feature prominently in producing, propagating, and maintaining cultural difference and stereotypes in ideologically effective ways. This volume analyses re-presentations from various angles, as it comprises articles dealing with ethnic groups and neighbo(u)rhoods from three world areas, as well as genres and media instrumental to their respective cultural stereotyping. This focus on literary and media representations of the neighbo(u)rly Other from miscellaneous cultural environments results in a comprehensive understanding of analogies and differences in the mechanisms of production and perception of stereotypes. Addressing the manifold discourses at the heart of stereotyping the familiar Other, the book also points to their far-reaching repercussions on lived cultural practices.
