Abstract
This chapter offers a methodological framework for Interreligious Theological Reflection (ITR), a new direction in Comparative Theology (CT), which seeks to further mutual understanding between religions. The approach presented in this chapter suggests an extended movement in the direction of collaborative work towards a sustainable future. This, I argue, is assisted by theological effort towards understanding the depth-dimension of the religious culture of the other tradition encountered. For such an endeavor, the chapter recommends several mutually supportive approaches including (but not limited to) contextual and immersive engagement with the lived experience of sacred texts and the visual, material, dynamic culture of praxis, and epistemological justice. This work applies methods that reference and move beyond Postcolonial Studies and explains the Hermeneutics of Intersubjectivity. These approaches, together, create a guiding structure for ITR which can then be expanded upon in specific ways according to the frames of reference of the particular religions being studied.
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Notes
- 1.
Clooney, Francis X. 2010. Comparative Theology: Deep Learning Across Religious Borders, (Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons).
- 2.
Barush, Kate and Hung Pham. 2016. “From Swords to Shoes: Encountering Grace on the Camino Ignaciano.” Practical Matters Journal | Issue 9, pp. 148–164.
- 3.
Diana Eck 2006, “What Is Pluralism?,” The Pluralism Project: Harvard University, accessed January 19th, 2019, http://pluralism.org/what-is-pluralism.
- 4.
There are close to ten endowed chairs in Sikh/Punjabi Studies and numerous centers, institutes, and named chairs in Jewish and Islamic Studies. Buddhist Studies include several accredited Buddhist universities and colleges (such as, for example, Soka University, Institute for Buddhist Studies, and University of the West). Several named chairs in Jain Studies have been endowed in American universities. At the time of this writing, there is one endowed chair in Hinduism, in Concordia University, Canada.
- 5.
“Global Islam,” USC Dornsife, accessed January 1, 2019, https://dornsife.usc.edu/religion/global-islam/.
- 6.
Rita D. Sherma, “How the Graduate Theological Union Became an Interreligious Institution: The Theological Work of Viewing Our Neighbor of another Faith as Friend and Intellectual Companion,” Theology Without Walls: Recognizing the Divine Imprint Across Religious Boundaries, (Panel One: Nov. 18th, 2017), Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion.
- 7.
These seminal thinkers include: Walter D. Mignolo, Catherine Walsh 2018, Aníbal Quijano, Arturo Escobar, Ramón Grosfoguel, amongst others. See also: the Duke University Press Book Series: “On Decoloniality.”
- 8.
Mongabay in a non-profit agency that describes itself as “an environmental science and conservation news and information site.” https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/amazon-tribe-creates-500-page-traditional-medicine-encyclopedia/.
- 9.
Paper presented at American Academy of Religion: session -Theology Without Walls, 2017.
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Sherma, R.D. (2022). Methodological Considerations for Interreligious Theological Engagement: New Directions in Comparative-Dialogical Theology. In: Sherma, R.D., Bilimoria, P. (eds) Religion and Sustainability: Interreligious Resources, Interdisciplinary Responses. Sustainable Development Goals Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79301-2_2
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