Interreligious Learning: Dialogue, Spirituality and the Christian Imagination
Cambridge University Press, 12/15/2011
EAN 9781107012844, ISBN10: 1107012848
Hardcover, 306 pages, 23.1 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm
Language: English
Taking the theme of learning as central to the responsible practice of interfaith dialogue, Michael Barnes discusses a Christian spirituality which builds on virtues of hospitality and the welcoming of other traditions, whilst maintaining the importance of difference and particularity in the search for meaning. Each chapter explores how faith grows as a person crosses a threshold into another religious world and learns sensitivity to echoes of the known in the unknown. Encounters with the religious other, refracted through texts, conversations, artefacts and places, are used to illustrate the ancient Patristic theme of 'seeds of the Word'. Cumulatively they show that faith which learns how to engage imaginatively with another religious world constantly returns to the 'home' tradition, reinvigorated in its appreciation of the other. This book contributes to current comparative theology studies, using a theological approach to interreligious studies complementary to one based on the experience of interpersonal relations.
Introduction
dialogue and learning
1. The middle of things
2. Schools of faith
3. Communities of conversation
4. Thresholds of meaning
5. The art of translation
6. Mending memories
7. Channelling desire
8. Waiting on God
9. The divine imperative
10. Passion for justice
11. Tragedy and loss
12. Spirit of wonder
Conclusion
a spirituality of dialogue.