World Christianity Encounters World Religions: A Summa of Interfaith Dialogue

by Edmund Kee-Fook Chia, Michael Louis Fitzgerald (Foreword by)

Overview

Synthesizing the thinking of the most prominent scholars, Professor Edmund Chia discusses practically everything that should be known about Christianity’s encounter with other religions in this comprehensive book. Topics include:

• the invention of the idea of World Religions and World Christianity
• the Bible and the church’s attitude toward other faiths
• Vatican II, Asian Christianity, and interfaith dialogue
• the what, why, when, and how of dialogue
• the global ecumenical movement
• theologies of religious pluralism
• cross-textual hermeneutics
• comparative theology
• interfaith worship
• religious syncretism
• multiple religious belonging
• interfaith learning in seminaries.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814684474
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	10/23/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	617 KB

About the Author

Edmund Chia, originally from Malaysia, headed the interreligious and ecumenical office of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences from 1996 to 2004. He then served on the faculty of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago for seven years and, since 2011, has been teaching at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. He has an MA in religion from the Catholic University of America and a PhD in intercultural theology from the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald, MAfr, was ordained priest as a member of the Society of Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) in 1961, and he obtained his doctorate in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University (1965) and a BAhons in Arabic from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University (1968). He served on the General Council of the Missionaries of Africa (1980–1986) and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. He was ordained bishop in 1992 and was raised to the rank of archbishop in 2002. From 2006 to 2012, he was apostolic nuncio in Egypt and delegate to the League of Arab States. He is author (with R. Caspar) of Signs of Dialogue (1992); Dieu rêve d'unité (2005); (with John Borelli) of Interfaith Dialogue (2006), and of numerous articles.

 

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword
Archbishop Michael L. Fitzgerald
Preface
PART 1 CHRISTIANITY, RELIGION, AND DIALOGUE
     1. From Christianity to World Christianity
        Introduction
        Jewish Roots of Christianity
        Birth and Development of Christianity
        Christian Diversity and Denominations
        Eastern Christianity
        Protestants and Reformed Churches
        Free Churches and New Christian Movements
        The Advent of World Christianity
        Christianity as World Religion
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
     2. From Religion to World Religions
        Introduction
        A Case for Religion
        Spiritual but Not Religious
        The Idea of Religion
        The Study of Religion
        The Science of Religion
        The Invention of World Religions
        The World’s Religions
        Judaism
        Islam
        Hinduism
        Buddhism
        Jainism
        Sikhism
        Confucianism
        Taoism
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
     3. Principles and Methodology for Dialogue
         Introduction
         Definition of Interfaith Dialogue
         Reasons for Interfaith Dialogue
         Forms of Interfaith Dialogue
        Attitudes for Enhancing Interfaith Dialogue
        Strategies for Enhancing Interfaith Dialogue
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
PART 2 SCRIPTURE AND TRADITION
     4. The Bible and Other Religions
        Introduction
        The Bible as Word of God
        The Problem of Biblical Interpretation
        Universality in Hebrew Scriptures
        The Tower of Babel and Diversity
        Particularity in Hebrew Scriptures
        The New Testament as New Covenant
        Particularity in the Gospel of Matthew
        Universality in the Gospel of Luke
        Jesus as the One and Only Savior
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
     5. Christian History and Other Religions
        Introduction
        The Age of the Apostles
        The Age of the Church Fathers
        Salvation of Those in the Pre-Christian Era
        No Salvation outside the Church
        The Age of Christendom
        The Age of the Crusades
        The Age of Mission
        The Age of Dialogue
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
     6. Vatican II Christianity and Interfaith Dialogue
        Introduction
        Pope John XXIII: Aggiornamento
        Pope Paul VI: Ecclesiam Suam
        Nostra Aetate and Other Conciliar Documents
        Pope John Paul II: Assisi World Day of Prayer
        Pope Benedict XVI: Dominus Iesus
        Pope Francis: Evangelii Gaudium
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
     7. Asian Christianity and Interfaith Dialogue
        Introduction
        Early Presence of Other Religions in Asia
        Christianity in Precolonial Asia
        Colonial Christianity in Asia
        Independence and the Quest for Indigenous Identities
        Advent of Asian Christianity
        The Asian Church and the Triple Dialogue
        Dialogue with the Cultures of Asia
        Dialogue with the Religions of Asia
        Dialogue with the Poor of Asia
        Asian Theses on Interreligious Dialogue
        Conclusion
        Suggestions for Further Reading
PART 3 THEOLOGIES AND PRAXES
     8. Global Movement for Christian Unity
        Introduction
        The Scandal of Christian Division
        Ecumenism and the Vision of Ecclesial Unity
        The Modern Ecumenical Movement
        Catholicism’s Cautious Approach to Ecumenism
        Vatican II’s Embrace of Ecumenism
        Catholic Documents and the Ecumenical Vision
        Fruits and Challenges of Ecumenism
        The New or Wider

Editorial Reviews

"Dr. Chia discusses the changing shape of world Christianity and the history and theology of interfaith dialogue as an astute scholar and a leader of dialogue for decades. This book is a summa in the best sense: comprehensive, erudite, clearly organized, and yet accessible and not jargonish. It is a gift to students, teachers, and the church and deserves to be widely read."
Kwok Pui-Lan, Visiting Professor at Candler School of Theology, Emory University


"Edmund Chia has provided a marvelous service for the teaching of interreligious dialogue at practically every level of theological education. Only someone who, like Chia, has spent his life in actual interfaith dialogue could lay out the issues so clearly and simply, but with real profundity. This is a wonderfully conceived book, very learned and yet very accessible at the same time. It is truly what it sets out to be: a summa of interreligious dialogue. Teachers will find it teachable. Students will find it readable. Everyone will find it valuable."
Stephen Bevans, SVD, Professor Emeritus of Mission and Culture, Catholic Theological Union


"World Christianity Encounters World Religion is a masterful summation of our multifaceted religious reality that only the rare scholar and practitioner as experienced, insightful, and reflective as Edmund Kee-Fook Chia would dare to write. It is well-informed by the theology and lived experience of the church in Asia and attentive to the many ways in which Christians have encountered and do encounter people of other faith traditions in Asia's diverse contexts. A text for teaching, it will work well in an introductory course on world Christianity or in a course on interreligious dialogue—and yet it can also serve as a handy reference work for leaders and practitioners in the field."
Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Parkman Professor of Divinity, Harvard University


"This is an original and comprehensive introduction to the encounter between world Christianity and world religions. The book covers the latest scholarly debates, yet it is written in comprehensible language. Rooted in his longtime Southeast Asian experience, the author succeeds in writing about polarities in thinking about inter-faith dialogue in a holistic way."
Frans Wijsen, Chair of Empirical & Practical Religious Studies, Radboud University, The Netherlands


"Drawing on his broad scholarship and years of practical experience, Dr. Chia has indeed assembled a 'summa' of interfaith dialogue. He carefully and clearly introduces students/readers to the history, the methods, and the promise of religious traditions and peoples coming together to learn from each other and work together to fix the world. He both informs and inspires."
Paul Knitter, Paul Tillich Professor Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary

"Most suitable for undergraduate college or university students, or as a general aid for further education. More advanced students, however, can also profit from using the text as a "starter kit" that would point them, particularly through the Suggestions for Further Reading at the end of every chapter, to works that develop each topic in more detail. Instructors will definitely find this text an immense help to introduce their students to practically all of the main sub-areas that comprise interfaith dialogue."
Julius-Kei Kato, Reading Religion


"This book provides a veritable summa on religious dialogue up to present days, a very good introduction for those who wish to have serious and comprehensible information of the topic, a precious text for an undergraduate education institution, as well as an useful handbook for specialist and dialogue operators, considering also that chapters can be read independently one from the other, in order to quickly get essential notions for specific meetings or lectures."
Islamochristiana

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