The textbook begins with a chapter on exclusivism, inclusivism, particularity and pluralism, and one on interfaith. Each chapter explains the history, rationale and workings of the various approaches. Moreover, each is divided into sub-sections dealing with various forms of each approach, so that each may be appreciated in its individuality, i.e. the chapter on 'Inclusivism' will include sections on 'fulfilment theology' 'anonymous Christians', etc.The second part of this textbook deals with attitudes towards different faiths, considering the problems and relations that exist with Christian approaches to each. It will deal with the world's major faiths as well as primal religions and new religious movements. The introduction and conclusion will deal with some central themes that run throughout, in particular, the questions of the Trinity and concepts of salvation. In each section reference will be made to the key texts discussed in the Reader which accompanies this(9780334041155), however, the work may be read as a stand alone text.

A reader designed to work on courses concerned with World Religions, Interfaith Dialogue and Interfaith Encounter.

A challenging controversial discussion of the current state of the debate about Christianity and other world faiths.

Within Christian theology, debates on the theology of religions have intensified over the last thirty or so years. This volume surveys the field and maps future directions in this expanding and important area of research. Both established experts and new voices address typological debates, comparative theology, multiple religious belonging or identity, and how dialogue between different religious traditions affects our understanding of these issues. Different perspectives and traditions are represented, and, while focusing upon debates in Christian theology, voices and perspectives from a range of religious traditions are also included. This volume is an essential tool for research students and established scholars working within the theology of religions and interreligious studies. Contributors are: Graham Adams, Tony Bayfield, Abraham Velez de Cea, Gavin D’Costa, Reuven Firestone, Ray Gaston, Elizabeth Harris, Paul Hedges, Shanthikumar Hettiarachchi, Haifaa Jawad, Kristin Beise Kiblinger, Paul F. Knitter, Oddbjørn Leirvik, Marianne Moyaert, Mark Owen, Alan Race, Sigrid Rettenbacher, Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Leonard Swidler, Philip Whitehead, Janet Williams, Ulrich Winkler.

This original and ambitious book considers the terms of engagement between Christian theology and other religious traditions, beginning with criticism of Christian theology of religions as entangled with European colonial modernity. Jenny Daggers covers recent efforts to disentangle Eurocentrism from the meeting of the religions, and investigates new constructive possibilities arising in the postcolonial context. In dialogue with Asian and feminist theologies, she reflects on ways forward for relations between the religions and offers a particularist model for theology of religions, standing within a classical Trinitarian framework.

In today’s world, the boundaries within which Christian theologians operate are becoming ever more permeable, and Christian theology is increasingly influenced and challenged by multiple “outside” factors. In Western Europe, two such factors stand out in particular: the so-called “turn to religion” in continental philosophy and religious diversity. Theologians working with contemporary continental philosophers and theologians engaging the multireligious world tend to work quite separately from one another. The aim of the present book is therefore to initiate a conversation between these two groups of theologians. The question of truth was chosen because it is both a key issue in contemporary-philosophical debates (in the continental and analytic traditions) and one that arises in complex and problematic ways in the praxis of, and theoretical reflection on, interreligious dialogue. Some of the pressing questions that are addressed by the contributors to this volume are: What is truth? What is theological truth? How does the issue of truth arise from interreligious encounter? To what extent can or should the nature of truth be discussed explicitly during interreligious dialogue? Or should the question of truth be rather postponed in the interest of successful interreligious encounter? Is there a hermeneutical concept of truth and, if so, how can it be of help for theological reflection on the question of truth and on the role and place of truth in the context of dialogue between religions?

Gendering Christian Ethics brings together ethical reflections by a new generation of European and American researchers. Contributors are well versed in feminist theology and feminist theory; chapters build on foundations laid by pioneers who first raised questions of gender and Christianity. Christian ethics have a bearing on the conduct of Christian theology, church or institution, and on distinctive Christian ways of engaging with the wider world. Gendering Christian Ethics addresses these inner and outer dynamics.

Religious or spiritual beliefs underpin many controversies and conflicts in the contemporary world. Written by a range of scholarly contributors, this three-volume set provides contextual background information and detailed explanations of religious controversies across the globe. Controversies in Contemporary Religion: Education, Law, Politics, Society, and Spirituality is a three-volume set that addresses a wide variety of current religious issues, analyzing religion's role in the rise of fundamentalism, censorship, human rights, environmentalism and sustainability, sexuality, bioethics, and other questions of widespread interest. Providing in-depth context and analysis far beyond what's available in the news or online, this work will enable readers to understand the nature of and reasons for controversies in current headlines. The first volume covers theoretical and academic debates, the second looks at debates in the public square and ethical issues, while the third examines specific issues and case studies. These volumes bring detailed and careful debate of a range of controversies together in one place, including topics not often covered—for example, how religions promote or hinder social cohesion and peace, the relationship of religions to human rights, and the intersection of Buddhism and violence. Written by a range of experts that includes both established and emerging scholars, the text explains key debates in ways that are accessible and easy to understand for lay readers as well as undergraduate students researching particular issues or global religious trends.

This book uses Karl Barth's theology as a resource for Christian theology of religions. For this purpose, it examines Barth's theology under the doctrinal aspects of revelation, revelation and religion, theological anthropology and election, addressing questions such as the possibility of and context for revelation, Barth's understanding of religion, the theological approach to the human being, and soteriology. Furthermore, Barth's thought is put into conversation with other approaches in the field of theology of religions, notably Karl Rahner's inclusivism and John Hick and the pluralist paradigm. It is shown that Barth's theological system as a whole can serve as a resource for the Christian approach to and interaction with those of other faiths or no faith at all. This is achieved through maintaining a balance between the commitment to the own faith and the openness to the sovereignty of God impacting the whole of creation. Central to Barth's approach is the challenge to the Christian community to see their presuppositions challenged in the most unexpected circumstances, while looking beyond human categories to affirm the dignity bestowed upon all of humanity through the divine Yes in the person Jesus Christ. Barth's theology with its starting point in the person of Jesus Christ is advocated as a framework for the members of the Christian community as they live alongside those with a different faith from their own.

The reality of our post-Christendom, post-colonial, post-Holocaust, post-9/11, multi-ethnic and multicultural context has meant that, more than ever, Christians are acutely aware of the questions posed not simply by the existence of other religions, but also by their apparent flourishing. If secularization is still alive and well, then, seemingly, so too is society's sacralization. Hence, the theology of religions is arguably the issue for mission in the twenty-first century. However, there has been little evangelical theology that offers a detailed, comprehensive and biblically faithful analysis that deals with not only the question of salvation but also questions of truth, the nature and history of human religiosity, and a host of practical issues pertaining to apologetics and contextualization. In this ambitious interdisciplinary study, which synthesizes close exegesis, biblical theology, systematics and insights from the social sciences, Daniel Strange examines the origins, development and idolatry of the 'religious Other', and explores how the gospel of Jesus Christ is its 'subversive fulfilment'. He concludes with a missiological postscript and some pastoral perspectives on the purpose of other religions in God's providence.