Grounds for Understanding

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This volume surveys the various theological approaches that Christian denominations bring to the issue of religious pluralism. In these diverse essays, writers from eleven different Christian traditions each share their confession's characteristic approaches to the challenges and possibilities raised by religious pluralism. Readers will gain an understanding of the variety of Christian views and a wider appreciation for the range of Christian resources available for responding to religious diversity. Paul Knitter —Xavier University
"For anyone interested in how Christians might help each other respond to the challenge of religious pluralism, this book provides a rich and fascinating resource. In offering an inter-Christian dialogue about interreligious dialogue, this collection reveals both the traditional limitations and new possibilities for Christian encounter with other faiths. It will make for an informative and provocative reader for courses on Christian approaches to pluralism and dialogue.
Melanie A. May —Colgate Rochester Divinity School
"Among the books now available on interreligious dialogue, this volume stands out. Not only do the women and men who write represent an unprecedented theological diversity, but their essays emerge out of conversations that took this diversity seriously in an exploration of the distinctively Christian character of the call to interreligious dialogue. At once courageously open and faithfully committed, these essays challenge us anew to engage our neighbors of other religious communities."
Terry C. Muck —Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
"A much-needed work, Heim and his colleagues remind us that religious pluralism really includes three pluralisms: pluralism of religions, pluralism within Christianity, and a pluralism of responses to the first two pluralisms. The great contribution of this book is that it highlights one final pluralism that helps us deal with the first three — a pluralism of resources from within the rich Christian tradition that can be brought to bear on the key theological issue of the twenty-first century." S. Mark Heim is Samuel Abbot Professor of Christian Theology at Andover Newton Theological School, Newton Centre, Massachusetts. He is also the author of Salvations: Truth and Difference in Religion.

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