Interreligious Studies: A Relational Approach to Religious Activism and the Study of Religion

The notion of Interreligious Studies signals a new academic perspective on the study of religion, characterized by a relational approach. Interreligious Studies defines the essential features of interreligious studies compared with alternative conceptions of religious studies and theology. The book discusses pressing and salient challenges in interreligious relations, including interreligious dialogue in practice and theory, interfaith dialogue and secularity, confrontational identity politics, faith-based diplomacy, the question of interfaith learning in school, and interreligious responses to extremism. Interreligious Studies is a cutting-edge study from one of the most important voices in Europe in the field, Oddbjørn Leirvik, and includes case study material from his native Norway including interreligious responses to the bomb attack in Norway on 22nd July 2011, as well as examples from a number of other national and global contexts Expanding discussions on interreligious dialogue and the relationship between religions in new and interesting ways, this book is a much-needed addition to the growing literature on interreligious studies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: Religious activism, interfaith dialogue, and interreligious studies 1. A relational approach to the study of religion 2. Philosophies of interreligious dialogue: practice in search of theory 3. Interreligious dialogue and secularity 4. The image of the Other and othering discourses 5. Faith-based diplomacy and interfaith activism: dialogue from above and below 6. Tolerance, conscience, and solidarity: globalized concepts in ethical and religious education? 7. Interreligious hermeneutics and the ethical critique of the Scriptures 8. The sacred space between: a relational theology in dialogue with Islam 9. Interreligious studies and interfaith dialogue, in academia Postscript: United against extremism? Appendices: Three Christian-Muslim statements Endnotes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Oddbjørn Leirvik is Professor of Interreligious Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. He is co-initiator of the European Society of Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies, and has written extensively in English and Norwegian on Christian-Muslim Relations and Interreligious Dialogue.

Review :
This book is valuable and a scholarly contribution to inter-religious and interfaith dialogue. As many of us in the religious academia are critically engaged to determine the place of inter-religious and interfaith dialogue in the academic study of religion, this book makes a remarkable contribution to this discussion. It will serve as a guide to the interfaith community to learn from the experience of interfaith dialogue in Norway and how to expand on their own. -- Muhammad Shafiq, Professor & Executive Director, The Hickey Center for Interfaith Studies and Dialogue, Nazareth College, USA It is likely to be a landmark text ... providing much for scholars and advanced students to reflect upon, while also being accessible to both serious undergraduate and lay readers ... [It] is likely to be core reading for any involved in the broad field of interreligious studies for a good time to come. It may also be observed that this book is indicative of a growing portfolio of texts in interreligious studies being published by Bloomsbury which is surely a good sign. -- Dr Paul Hedges, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University Norwegian Journal of Theology Professor Leirvik has provided us with an insightful and stimulating introduction to the emerging field of Interreligious Studies that is likely to be an important and standard work in this area for years to come. Not only does he explain the rationale and background to this new and emerging field, but he also seeks to expand its boundaries and set out a compelling vision for it. At the heart of this is the concept of relationality which is explored with much nuance and clarity. The book draws many important theorists into the debate, and is at the cutting edge of thinking about interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary work in the study of religion, especially at the intersection of fields like theology, Religious Studies, ethics, critical theory, and sociology. All scholars who see their work as in any way related to the growing field of Interreligious Studies will feel indebted to Leirvik for this book. -- Dr Paul Hedges, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies, University of Winchester, UK