
Interfaith dialogue, also known as interreligious dialogue, refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different
religious
Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...
traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or
spiritual or
humanistic
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or federations. These include organisations such as the United Religions Initiative, the Parliament of the World's Religions, and interfaith training institutions like OneSpirit Interfaith Foundation in the United Kingdom, which since 1996 has prepared interfaith ministers for community service, spiritual accompaniment, and inclusive ceremony.
The often quoted statement "There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions. There will be no peace among the religions without dialogue among the religions" was formulated by
Hans Küng
Hans Küng (; 19 March 1928 – 6 April 2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. From 1995 he was president of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos).
Küng was ordained a priest in 1954, joined the faculty ...
, a Professor of Ecumenical Theology and President of the Global Ethic Foundation. Interfaith dialogue forms a major role in the study of
religion and peacebuilding.
Definition
The
Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction, an archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in Northeastern Illinois, in the United States. The Vatican erected it as a diocese in 1843 and elevated it to an ar ...
's Office for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs defines "the difference between
ecumenical
Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...
, interfaith, and interreligious relations", as follows:
* "ecumenical" as "relations and prayer with other Christians",
* "interfaith" as "relations with members of the '
Abrahamic faiths
The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...
' (Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions)," and
* "interreligious" as "relations with other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism".
Some interfaith dialogues have more recently adopted the name interbelief dialogue,
["The Morning Buzz," ''Public Religion Research Institute'', July 10, 2014](_blank)
Retrieved July 10, 2014.["Minnesota Interfaith Group Changes Its Name to Become More Inclusive of Atheists," Hemant Mehta, ''The Friendly Atheist'', July 9, 2014](_blank)
Retrieved July 10, 2014.["St. Paul's atheists are coming out of the closet," Bob Shaw, ''St. Paul Pioneer Press'', August 4, 2014](_blank)
Retrieved August 5, 2014. while other proponents have proposed the term interpath dialogue, to avoid implicitly excluding atheists, agnostics, humanists, and others with no religious faith but with ethical or philosophical beliefs, as well as to be more accurate concerning many world religions that do not place the same emphasis on "faith" as do some Western religions. Similarly,
pluralistic rationalist groups have hosted public reasoning dialogues to transcend all worldviews (whether religious, cultural or political), termed transbelief dialogue.
["Promising Practice: Finding Common Ground Through Difference," ''Harvard Pluralism Project''](_blank)
Retrieved November 02, 2012. To some, the term interreligious dialogue has the same meaning as interfaith dialogue. The
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...
states: "Following the lead of the Roman Catholic Church, other churches and Christian religious organizations, such as the World Council of Churches, have increasingly opted to use the word interreligious rather than interfaith to describe their own bilateral and multilateral dialogue and engagement with other religions.
..the term interreligious is preferred because we are referring explicitly to dialogue with those professing religions – who identify themselves explicitly with a religious tradition and whose work has a specific religious affiliation and is based on religious foundations."
History

History records examples of interfaith initiatives throughout the ages, with varying levels of success in establishing one of three types of "dialogue" to engender, as recently described, either understanding, teamwork, or tolerance:
# "In the dialogue of the head, we mentally reach out to the other to learn from those who think differently from us."
# "In the dialogue of the hands, we all work together to make the world a better place in which we must all live together."
# "In the dialogue of the heart, we share the experience of the emotions of those different from us."
The historical effectiveness of interfaith dialogue is an issue of debate. Friar James L. Heft, in a lecture on "The Necessity of Inter-Faith Diplomacy," spoke about the conflicts among practitioners of the three Abrahamic religions (
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
). Noting that except for the
Convivencia
''Convivencia'' (Spanish for "living together") is a term used by scholar Américo Castro to describe a period in Spanish history from the Muslim Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 700s to the expulsion of the Jews in 1492. It claims that in t ...
in the 14th and 15th centuries, believers in these religions have either kept their distance or have been in conflict, Heft maintains, "there has been very little genuine dialogue" between them. "The sad reality has been that most of the time Jews, Muslims and Christians have remained ignorant about each other, or worse, especially in the case of Christians and Muslims, attacked each other."
In contrast, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University says, "Every religious tradition has grown through the ages in dialogue and historical interaction with others. Christians, Jews, and Muslims have been part of one another's histories, have shared not only villages and cities, but ideas of God and divine revelation."
The importance of Abrahamic interfaith dialogue in the present has been bluntly presented: "We human beings today face a stark choice: dialogue or death!"
More broadly, interfaith dialogue and action have occurred over many centuries. In the 16th century, the Emperor
Akbar
Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
encouraged
tolerance in
Mughal India
The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...
, a diverse nation with people of various faith backgrounds, including
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
,
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
,
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
, and
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
.
Religious pluralism can also be observed in other historical contexts, including
Muslim Spain
Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...
.
Zarmanochegas
Zarmanochegas (; according to Strabo) or Zarmarus (according to Dio Cassius) was a gymnosophist (naked philosopher), a monk of the Sramana tradition (possibly, but not necessarily a Buddhist) who, according to ancient historians such as Strabo a ...
(Zarmarus) (Ζαρμανοχηγὰς) was a monk of the
Sramana tradition (possibly, but not necessarily a Buddhist) from India who journeyed to
Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
and Athens while Augustus (died 14 CE) was ruling the Roman Emprire.
Religious beliefs
Baháʼí Faith
Interfaith and multi-faith interactivity is integral to the teachings of the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...
. Its founder
Bahá'u'lláh enjoined his followers to "consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship".
[Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, page 22](_blank)
, Bahá'u'lláh, From the "Bishárát" (Glad-Tidings). Through the
Baháʼí International Community agency, an official UN NGO, the Baháʼís also participate at a global level in inter-religious dialogue both through and outside of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
processes.
In 2002 the
Universal House of Justice
The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the ...
, the global governing body of the Baháʼís, issued a letter to the religious leadership of all faiths in which it identified religious prejudice as one of the last remaining "isms" to be overcome, enjoining such leaders to unite in an effort to root out extreme and divisive religious intolerance.
Buddhism
Buddhism has historically been open to other religions.
Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda stated:
The
14th Dalai Lama
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
believes that the "common aim of all religions, an aim that everyone must try to find, is to foster tolerance, altruism and love". He met with
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...
at the
Vatican
Vatican may refer to:
Geography
* Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy
* Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City
* Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome
* Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...
in 1973. He met with
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
in 1980, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1990, and 2003. In 2006, he met privately with
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
. During 1990, he met in
Dharamsala with a delegation of Jewish teachers for an extensive interfaith dialogue. He has since visited Israel three times and met during 2006 with the Chief Rabbi of Israel. He has also met the late
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...
Dr.
Robert Runcie, and other leaders of the Anglican Church in London,
Gordon B. Hinckley, late President of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(Mormons), as well as senior
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...
,
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
,
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
,
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, and
Sikh
Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
officials.
In 2010, the Dalai Lama was joined by Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and Islamic scholar Professor Seyyed Hossein Nasr of George Washington University when
Emory University
Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...
's Center for the Study of Law and Religion hosted a "Summit on Happiness".
Christianity
In 2013,
Pope Francis
Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...
became the first Catholic leader to call for "sincere and rigorous" interbelief dialogue with atheists, both to counter the assertion that Christianity is necessarily an "expression of darkness of superstition that is opposed to the light of reason", and to assert that "dialogue is not a secondary accessory of the existence of the believer" but instead is a "profound and indispensable expression ...
ffaith
hat
A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
is not intransigent, but grows in coexistence that respects the other."
["Pope urges dialogue with nonbelievers in letter to high profile atheist," Francis X. Rocca, ''Catholic Herald'', September 12, 2013](_blank)
. Retrieved August 5, 2014.["Pope Francis' Letter to the Founder of 'La Repubblica' Italian Newspaper," Vatican City, September 11, 2013](_blank)
. Retrieved August 5, 2014.
Hinduism
Hinduism has a strong principle for interfaith dialogue as the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
state, "''
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam''"which means "the world is one family." Hinduism encourages harmony and cooperation among religious communities.
Historically, scholars like
Shankaracharya engaged with Buddhist and Jain philosophers refining his school of thought. The Bhakti movement's emphasis on devotion versus theological distinction allowed interactions between Hindu and Islamic traditions - which is seen in the works of Kabir and Guru Nanak.
Swami Vivekanand emphasized religious harmony and universal acceptance during his speech at the
World's Parliament of Religions in 1893. This speech helped shape contemporary Hindu approach to interfaith dialogue.
Islam
Muslim theologians have advocated inter-faith dialogue on a large scale, something which is new in a political sense.
Dialogue is particularly encouraged amongst the People of the Book (Jews, Christians and Muslims). The principles found in the Islamic and Christian scriptures present the opportunity for both religions to meet at a common moral ground.This common ground was stated as "part of the very foundational principles of both faiths: love of the One God, and love of the neighbour". The declaration asserted that "these principles are found over and over again in the sacred texts of Islam and Christianity".
Amir Hussain writes that "Islam would not have developed if it had not been for interfaith dialogue". From his "first revelation" for the rest of his life, Muhammad was "engaged in interfaith dialogue" and "pluralism and interfaith dialogue" have always been important to Islam. For example, when some of Muhammad's followers suffered "physical persecution" in
Mecca
Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
, he sent them to
Abyssinia
Abyssinia (; also known as Abyssinie, Abissinia, Habessinien, or Al-Habash) was an ancient region in the Horn of Africa situated in the northern highlands of modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.Sven Rubenson, The survival of Ethiopian independence, ...
, a Christian nation, where they were "welcomed and accepted" by the Christian king. Another example is
Córdoba, Andalusia in Muslim Spain, in the ninth and tenth centuries. Córdoba was "one of the most important cities in the history of the world". In it, "Christians and Jews were involved in the Royal Court and the intellectual life of the city". Thus, there is "a history of Muslims, Jews, Christians, and other religious traditions living together in a pluralistic society". Turning to the present, Hussain writes that in spite of Islam's history of "pluralism and interfaith dialogue", Muslims now face the challenge of conflicting passages in the Qur'an some of which support interfaith "bridge-building", but others can be used "justify mutual exclusion".
In October 2010, as a representative of
Shia Islam
Shia Islam is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political Succession to Muhammad, successor (caliph) and as the spiritual le ...
, Ayatollah
Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad, professor at the
Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Beheshti University (SBU) (), originally founded as the Melli University (National University of Iran) (), is a Public university, public research university in Tehran, Iran. The university offers programs at Bachelor's, Master's and Ph. ...
of
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
, addressed the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Catholic Bishops stating, "the rapport between Islam and Christianity" that has existed throughout the history of Islam as one of "friendship, respect and mutual understanding".
According to the
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya, officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ), is an Islamic messianic movement originating in British India in the late 19th century. It was founded by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), who said he had been divinely appointed a ...
understanding, interfaith dialogues are an integral part of developing inter-religious peace and the establishment of peace.
Judaism
The Modern Orthodox movement allows narrow exchanges on social issues, while warning to be cautious in discussion of doctrine.
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...
,
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism () is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish movement based on the concepts developed by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983)—namely, that Judaism as a Civilization, Judaism is a progressively evolving civilization rather ...
and
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, also known as Masorti Judaism, is a Jewish religious movements, Jewish religious movement that regards the authority of Jewish law and tradition as emanating primarily from the assent of the people through the generations ...
encourage interfaith dialogue.
Building positive relations between Jews and members of other religious communities has been an integral component of
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish religious movements, Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its Jewish ethics, ethical aspects to its ceremo ...
. Interests in interfaith relations require an awareness of the range of Jewish views on such subjects as mission and the holy land.
Initiatives
Throughout the world there are local, regional, national and international interfaith initiatives; many are formally or informally linked and constitute larger networks or federations. Interfaith dialogue forms a major role in the study of
religion and peace-building. Organizations such as the United Nations support such dialogue.
Research on interfaith dialogue
In the emerging field of
Interreligious studies
Interreligious studies, sometimes called interfaith studies, is an interdisciplinary academic field that researches and teaches about interfaith dialogue and encounters between religions. The field emerged in the 1980s and 1990s as a result of the ...
, historians, sociologists, and other scholars have conducted research on interfaith dialogue activities, methods, and outcomes.
Criticism
Religious sociologist
Peter L. Berger
Peter Ludwig Berger (17 March 1929 – 27 June 2017) was an Austrian-born American sociologist and Protestant theologian. Berger became known for his work in the sociology of knowledge, the sociology of religion, study of modernization, and contr ...
argued that one can reject interfaith dialogue on moral grounds in certain cases. The example he gave was that of a dialogue with imams who legitimate
ISIS
Isis was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingdom () as one of the main characters of the Osiris myth, in which she resurrects her sla ...
, saying such discussions ought to be avoided so as not to legitimate a morally repugnant theology.
The theological foundations of interreligious dialogue have also been critiqued on the grounds that any interpretation of another faith tradition will be predicated on a particular cultural, historical and anthropological perspective
Criticism by specific religious groups
Many
Traditionalist Catholics
Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...
, including
Sedevacantist
Sedevacantism is a traditionalist Catholic movement which holds that since the 1958 death of Pius XII the occupiers of the Holy See are not valid popes due to their espousal of one or more heresies and that, for lack of a valid pope, the See ...
s or the
Society of St. Pius X, are critical of interfaith dialogue as a harmful novelty. They argue that the
Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
altered the previous notion of the Catholic Church's supremacy over other religious groups or bodies, as well as demoted traditionalist practices associated with Roman Catholicism. In addition, these Catholics contend that, for the sake of collegial peace, tolerance and mutual understanding, interreligious dialogue devalues the divinity of
Jesus Christ
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
and the revelation of the
Triune God by placing Christianity on the same footing as other religions that worship other deities. Some
Evangelical Christian
Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
s also are critical of dialogues with Catholics.
In the case of Hinduism, it has been argued that interfaith "dialogue ... has
n factbecome the harbinger of violence. This is not because 'outsiders' have studied Hinduism or because the Hindu participants are religious 'fundamentalists' but because of the logical requirements of such a dialogue". With a detailed analysis of "two examples from Hinduism studies",
S.N. Balagangadhara
S. N. Balagangadhara (aka Balu) is a professor emeritus of the Ghent University in Belgium, and was director of the India Platform and the Research Centre Vergelijkende Cutuurwetenschap (Comparative Science of Cultures).
Early life and educat ...
and Sarah Claerhout argue that, "in certain dialogical situations, the requirements of reason conflict with the requirements of morality".
The
Islamist group
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT; ) is an international pan-Islamist and Islamic fundamentalist political organization whose stated aim is the re-establishment of the Islamic caliphate to unite the Muslim community (called ''ummah'') and implement sharia glo ...
rejects the concept of interfaith dialogue, stating that it is a western tool to enforce non-Islamic policies in the Islamic world.
In
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism (also Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to Torah Umadda#Synthesis, synthesize Jewish principles of faith, Jewish values and the halakha, observance of Jewish law with t ...
, the 1964 essay "Confrontation" by Rabbi
Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...
has widely been seen as "a ban on theological dialogue", though it may be seen as a statement that there were not sufficient conditions for equal and respectful dialogue.
Criticism of dialogue events
Some critics of interfaith dialogue may not object to dialogue itself, but instead are critical of specific events claiming to carry on the dialogue. For example, the French Algerian prelate
Pierre Claverie was at times critical of formal inter-religious conferences between Christians and Muslims which he felt remained too basic and surface-level. He shunned those meetings since he believed them to be generators of slogans and for the glossing over of theological differences.
However, he had such an excellent knowledge of Islam that the people of Oran called him "the Bishop of the Muslims" which was a title that must have pleased him since he had dreamed of establishing true dialogue among all believers irrespective of faith or creed. Claverie also believed that the Islamic faith was authentic in practice focusing on people rather than on theories.
[ He said that: "dialogue is a work to which we must return without pause: it alone lets us disarm the fanaticism; both our own and that of the other". He also said that "Islam knows how to be tolerant". In 1974 he joined a branch of Cimade which was a French NGO dedicated to aiding the oppressed and minorities.]
See also
*
*
*
*
*
References
Further reading
* Abdelmassieh, Francis (2020). ''Egyptian-Islamic Views on the Comparison of Religions: Positions of Al-Azhar University Scholars on Muslim-Christian Relations.'' Münster: LIT.
* Hick, John, ed. (1974). ''Truth and Dialogue: the Relationship between World Religions'', in series, ''Studies in Philosophy and Religion''. London: Sheldon Press. 164 p. ''N.B''.: Also published in the U.S.A. under slightly divergent title, Truth and Dialogue in World Religions. .
*
* Smart, Ninian (1969). ''The Religious Experience of Mankind.'' Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
* Wrogemann, Henning (2019). ''A Theology of Interreligious Relations.'' Downer's Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press.
External links
Council on Foreign Relations Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative
Institute of Interfaith Dialogue
Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue
Nonprofit Research Collection on Interfaith Organizing
Published on IssueLab
The Interfaith Observer
Interfaith.org
Dialogica
(Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations)
{{authority control
Interfaith organizations
Hindu and Islamic interfaith dialogue
Christian and Hindu interfaith dialogue
Buddhist and Christian interfaith dialogue
Christian and Islamic interfaith dialogue
Christian and Jewish interfaith dialogue