Beyond "Holy Wars": Forging Sustainable Peace Through Interreligious Dialogue--A Christian Perspective

The 9/11 al-Qaeda attacks on the U.S. in 2001 shocked the world not only because of their viciousness but also because of the disillusionment that holy wars are a phenomenon of the past. Holy wars rather are a reality in todays world too threatening global peace like never before. In this volume Christoffer Grundmann pleads for the cultivation of religious literacy and interreglious dialogue. First he attempts to regain an adequate understanding of religion by showing the incompatibility of abstract concepts of religion with religions actually lived. So Grundmann suggests perceiving religion as the lived relationship toward an Ultimate. Given that interreligious dialogue is communication about diverse ways of relating to the Ultimate the religiously embedded primarily Jewish philosophy of encounter and dialogical thinking--with its personalistic nature--comes into focus here as uniquely suited for such communication. Even though interreligious encounter implies risk Christians cannot but engage in it fearlessly says Grundmann because they trust that the risen Christ will reveal himself anew as the one he really is wherever and whenever Christians take part in dialogue with people of other faiths. In our globalized world religious plurality is a fact of life. However conflicting models of society reflect different core values and when religions are being hijacked to serve political or consumer interest new forms of holy wars surface. Professor Grundmanns insightful book provides us with a thought-provoking roadmap to navigate through this complex landscape by developing and cultivating genuine mutual understanding across cultural and religious boundaries and learning to embrace others in their otherness. --Nelly van Doorn-Harder Wake Forest University Grundmann makes a convincing case that the only way to overcome interreligious violence is through interreligious dialogue. He then goes on to argue that real dialogue can happen only by allowing all religions to continue to make their absolute claims. . . . Religious peace-makers will want to learn from and grapple with this book. --Paul Knitter Union Theological Seminary Christoffer H. Grundmann is Professor of Theology and John R. Eckrich University Chair Professor in Religion and the Healing Arts at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana. His study of the history of medical missions Sent to Heal! (2005) was listed as one of the fifteen outstanding books of 2005 for mission studies by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research.