Inter-religious dialogue has evolved since the earliest encounters of differing faiths, fostering meaningful exchanges of ideas. Martin Forward provides a comprehensive examination of this dialogue's history, current state, and future potential, addressing diverse topics such as global ethics and women's roles in religious communities. Drawing on a rich tapestry of sources, including notable thinkers from Socrates to John Wesley, the guide explores the contributions of various world religions to this vital discourse.
Professor Geoffrey Parrinder has been a founder of the modern discipline of Religious Studies, and one of its most distinguished exponents. His work in African Traditional Religion has been especially significant. He was the first person to create a regular course in African Traditional Religion at university level, and taught many of those who have developed his insights further. He has also made distinguished contributions in the field of Indian Religions. His controversial interpretation of Buddhism as a religion is still underestimated. He started his career as a Methodist missionary, then became a teacher in Nigeria and finally taught at King's College London, where he had a personal chair. A Christian theologian, he nevertheless has sought, and to a remarkable extent has succeeded, in interpreting the faith of others in an impartial and fair-minded way. He will be remembered as one of the twentieth century's most distinguished scholars of Religious Studies.
This book is a Festschrift for Kenneth Cracknell on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Cracknell has had an astonishingly varied career leading him to hold a number of distinguished positions. From being a missionary educator in Nigeria, and then a pastoral minister in Loughborough, he became the first Secretary of the Committee for Relations with People of Other Faiths of the British Council of Churches. Later he held the Michael C. Gutteridge Chair of Systematic and Pastoral Theology at Wesley House, Cambridge, and he is now Director of Global Studies and Professor of Theology and Mission at Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University. In honour of Cracknell’s own achievements his distinguished colleagues, friends and students here survey the achievements of Christian theologies of religion in the recent past, examining such themes as ‘Jesus in Islam’, ‘Translating the Gospel Everywhere’ and ‘John Wesley as Interreligious Resource’. They also look at themes and issues that currently engage Christian theologians and missiologists in a multi-faith context: ‘Christians and Religious Pluralism in the Netherlands’, 'Religion and Peace Making in South Africa', ‘A Theology of Jewish-Christian Dialogue’, ‘Theological Education in Today’s Multi-Religious Setting’ among others. This collection of essays makes a significant contribution to Christian hope in our diverse world at the beginning of the third millennium.
