Global Civilization

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Marianne Moyaert

Can one maintain one's religious identity without closing oneself from the other? In general, Christian reflection on interreligious dialogue begins with a theological reflection on religious plurality that assumes that one cannot engage seriously in interreligious dialogue without a sound theology of religions. In this book, Marianne Moyaert critically assesses the various models for a Christian theology of religions (exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, particularism) by asking how these models relate to the dialogical tension between openness and identity. She argues that we need to overcome the classical theological approach of religious plurality and move in the direction of a theological hermeneutics of interreligious hospitality. To that end she turns to Paul Ricoeur, whose philosophical and hermeneutical insights can give a new turn to the discussion of the criteria, possibilities, and particularly the limits of interreligious dialogue.

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Thich Nhat Hanh

Buddha and Christ, perhaps the two most pivotal figures in the history of humankind, each left behind a legacy of teachings and practices that have shaped the lives of billions of people over the course of two millennia. If they were to meet on the road today, what would each think of the other's spiritual views and practices? Thich Nhat Hanh has been part of a decades-long dialogue between the two greatest living contemplative traditions, and brings to Christianity an appreciation of its beauty that could only be conveyed by an outsider. In a lucid, meditative prose, he explores the crossroads of compassion and holiness at which the two traditions meet, and reawakens our understanding of both. "On the altar in my hermitage," he says, "are images of Buddha and Jesus, and . . . I touch both of them as my spiritual ancestors." >A rare combination of mystic, scholar, and activist, Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh is one of the most beloved Buddhist teachers in the West. "[Thich Nhat Hanh] is a holy man, for he is humble and devout. . . . His ideas for peace . . . would build a monument to ecumenism, to world brotherhood, to humanity." —Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in nominating Thich Nhat Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967

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David Liepert

Virtually every other religious book portrays the act of believing-the decision a believer makes to accept that his or her own religion's particular assumptions and explanations are true-as if it is a good thing. Frankly, I think believing is dangerous. ... The thrust of my argument is simple: All of us think that our religion is "good" and that those in apparent (and often politically motivated) opposition to it are "bad." But the real truth is that all of our religions are equally guilty of being used to promote violence, and-thanks to centuries of political manipulation that have distorted the way we read our holy books-all of us are equally guilty of not following what our religions really say. ... The later chapters of this book explore belief and human nature in a new light to explain how Freud's theories of the subconscious and quantum physics' model of the subatomic universe offer some of the best proof we have that God exists; show us a way to restore religion to its rightful role in our lives and our world; and conclude that we're all a lot closer to where we should be than we think.

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Nur Masalha and Lisa Isherwood

This collection of essays concerns the development of contextualized theologies of liberation in Palestine and the indigenous Palestinian people's struggle for justice and liberation. The work is innovative because of its inclusion of indigenous perspectives within its remit and the introduction of new concepts such as civil liberation theology. The collection offers other ways to look at biblical discourses and their impact on the ongoing conflict, ways to live peace, ways to be ethical when visiting these conflicted lands, understandings of resource ethics, and even a new way to understand how we approach our understanding of liberation theology--Publisher.