Scriptural Reasoning: Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice

Fosters deep inter-faith understanding through shared scriptural study and mutual religious hospitality Scriptural Reasoning: Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice provides an accessible and practical introduction to a unique form of inter-faith engagement centered on shared sacred text study. Rather than minimizing deep commitments to one's own faith, this approach encourages participants to enter more fully into their own traditions while offering and receiving hospitality across religious boundaries. Focusing on the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—this book equips students and lay practitioners to participate meaningfully in Scriptural Reasoning (SR) groups, where members of different faiths read and reason together from their respective Scriptures. The authors—scholars and practitioners from the three traditions—guide readers through the origins, aims, and methods of SR while offering theological context, practical guidance, and real-world examples. Chapters explore common questions about the nature of Scripture, revelation, interpretation, and the challenges and promises of inter-religious study. Designed for classroom use, religious institutions, or community initiatives, this concise and clear resource helps participants “hit the ground running.” By grounding the practice in deep respect, conviction, and curiosity, the authors position Scriptural Reasoning as a tool not only for dialogue, but for healing and reconciliation across difference. Encouraging cross-faith understanding in a world marked by religious plurality and social fragmentation, Scriptural Reasoning: Provides the foundation for understanding, practicing, and reflecting on Abrahamic Scriptural Reasoning Contains tools and texts for launching SR in classroom, religious, and civic settings Includes foundational background on the Scriptures and interpretive traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Addresses common questions and misconceptions about inter-faith engagement and religious pluralism Features real-world examples of SR used in diverse contexts, from prisons to hospitals to inter-faith dialogue programs Combining theological reflection with practical instruction for first-time SR facilitators and participants, Scriptural Reasoning: Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in theology, religious studies, and interfaith engagement programs. It can be used in courses such as Interfaith Dialogue, Comparative Religion, and Abrahamic Traditions, and is appropriate for degrees in divinity, religious studies, and civic leadership.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments xii Chapter 1 Introduction: Come; Let Us Reason Together 1 The History of SR 4 Muslim Engagement in SR (Mahan Mirza) 8 The Practice of SR and How to Use This Book 11 Texts to Use for an SR Session 16 Chapter 2 Delving Deeper: Guidelines and Practical Advice 17 Fifteen Guidelines of SR 18 What Is Abrahamic SR? 18 Scriptures as Living Texts 18 Scripture’s Surplus of Meaning 19 Scriptural Warrants for SR 19 Bringing Your Internal Library—Nothing Is Alien, The Text Is Judge 20 SR Space as a Tent of Meeting 20 SR and Prophetic Critique 21 SR, Religion and Conflict Resolution 22 Preserve Difference, Establish Relations 22 Themes, Hypotheses, and the Interrogative Mood 23 SR and Commentary Texts 23 SR Theory and Scholarship 24 Monotheism and Beyond 24 Our Time and the End Time 25 How SR Is Done 26 Texts to Use for an SR Session 32 Chapter 3 But Isn’t Religion the Problem? 34 Isn’t Religion Just a Problem? 35 The Reassertion of Religion 40 Shouldn’t Religious People Just Become a Bit Less Religious, Then? 42 The Detriments of Maximal Secularism and Attraction of Religion 46 SR As Another Way 47 Texts to Use for an SR Session 51 Chapter 4 So What Are the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Scriptures? 53 What Is Scripture: A Jewish View 54 Torah as Holy 56 Torah as Holy Object 57 What Is Scripture: A Christian View—The Bible 58 The Old Testament 59 The New Testament 61 How Christians Read and View Scripture 64 What Is Scripture in Islam? 66 The Qur’an 66 Muslim Belief Regarding the Qur’an 67 The Qur’an and Muhammad 68 The Structure and Content of the Qur’an 72 Texts to Use for an SR Session 76 Chapter 5 Are Scripture and Revelation the Same Thing for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? 78 What Is Revelation in Judaism? 79 What Happened at Sinai? 81 Revelation in the Torah 84 Revelation of God’s Self 86 What Is Revelation in Christianity? 88 Natural and Special Revelation 89 Revelation and the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ 91 Revelation Today Through the Holy Spirit 92 What Is Revelation in Islam? 94 Texts to Use for an SR Session 103 Chapter 6 Why “Reasoning”? 105 Reason in Scripture 107 SR Through Metaphors 108 Contemporary Philosophies of Metaphor and Religious Language 108 Interpretation: The Reason That Is Brought to Scripture 111 The Attitude of I-Thou 112 The Group Reasoning Process 115 Reflective SR 116 Application: SR as Healing 117 Texts to Use for an SR Session 119 Chapter 7 But Don’t We Read with Commentaries and Traditions? 121 Jewish Practices of Reading Scripture 123 Hebrew Language and the Hebrew of Torah 124 Bereshit-Genesis 125 Pshat 126 Beyond One Study Partner 127 Rashi 129 Modern Biblical Criticism 130 Commentary and Tradition in Christianity 131 Creeds, Symbols, and Definitions 131 The Authority of Tradition in Christianity 135 Traditional Approaches to Scripture 138 Higher Biblical Criticism 140 Challenges for SR of Christian Uses of Tradition 141 What Is Commentary in Islam? 143 Complexity and Clarity in Reading Scripture 143 Tradition and Commentary 144 Tafsir 147 Tafsir and Ta’wil 148 Texts to Use for an SR Session 151 Chapter 8 Are Our Religions Allowed to Engage in This Kind of Practice? 153 Some Suggested Jewish Warrants 157 Hagar and Ishmael as Other and Same 157 Hagar and the Ger 162 Christian Warrants 164 Jesus and the Samaritans 166 Jesus and the Gentiles 169 Warrants for SR from an Islamic Perspective 172 The Qur’an on People of the Book 174 Engaging Scriptures 176 Texts to Use for an SR Session 178 Chapter 9 What Kinds of Discussions and Insights Happen in SR Sessions? 181 Reflections by Jewish Participants 182 A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Their First Exposure to SR 182 A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Mark 4 183 A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Surah 6, Isaiah 6, Deuteronomy 6, and Mark 4 185 Reflections by Christian Participants 186 A Christian Reflection on John 3 with Commentaries in the Context of SR 186 A Christian Participant Reflecting on Psalm 8, Deuteronomy 6, and Sura 2:30–39 188 A Christian Participant Reflecting on Psalm 1 and Sura 2 191 A Christian Participant Reflecting on Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Sura 2 191 Reflections by Muslim Participants 193 A Muslim Participant’s Reflection on Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Sura 2 193 A Muslim Participant’s Reflection on Deuteronomy 6, John 3, and the Qur’anic Account of Abraham 195 A Muslim Reflects on Her First Encounter with SR and on Sura 2:20–33 197 The Reflections in Light of the Guidelines and Ideals of SR 198 Practices of Reading 199 Scriptures as Living Texts 200 The Tent of Meeting and SR as a Liminal Space 201 Traditional Commentary and Internal Libraries 202 Prophetic Critique and Interrogative Mood 203 Religion and Religious Texts in the Spirit of Peace and with Hope for the Future 204 Texts to Use for an SR Session 204 Chapter 10 Conclusion: Why Does SR Have Such Promise as a Mode of Inter-Faith Engagement? 206 Texts to Use for an SR Session 210 Online Resources 222 Bibliography 223 Scriptural Hermeneutics 223 Theology/Philosophy of Interreligious Engagement 226 Universities 228 Public Issues 228 Other 229 Index 000

About the Author :
MARIA DAKAKE is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University, where she directs programs in Islamic Studies and Middle East Studies. She holds a PhD from Princeton University and is widely published in Islamic intellectual history, Qur’anic studies, Shiism, Sufism, and women’s spirituality She is co-author and co-editor of The Study Quran (HarperOne 2015) and co-editor of The Routledge Companion to the Qur’an (Routledge, 2022). TOM GREGGS is Director of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, New Jersey. He previously held the Marischal Chair of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen, UK. A Methodist preacher and international ecumenical leader, his many publications include Dogmatic Ecclesiology, The Breadth of Salvation, and Barth and Bonhoeffer as Contributors to a Postliberal Ecclesiology. STEVEN KEPNES is Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Colgate University. A prominent voice in Jewish theology, he is the author of Jewish Liturgical Reasoning, Reviving Jewish Theology, and editor of the Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology. He has also taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.