Philosophy of Interreligious Dialogue – Theory and Documents

elective seminars

(in Polish) Zainteresowanie fenomenem religijności, orientację w nauczaniu chociaż jednej religii i znajomość podstawowych pojęć filozoficznych oraz umiejętność sprawnego czytania po angielsku.

The seminar aim is to analyze interreligious dialogue and its philosophical foundations. The essays by several Christian as well as Jewish and other theologians and philosophers will be discussed, among them Barth, Rahner, W.C. Smith, Tillich, Sacks, Heschel, Greenberg. In the Spring Semester major documents presented in the framework of Christian-Jewish dialogue will be presented and analyzed.

The seminar’s aim is to analyze interreligious dialogue and its philosophical foundations. First, we will read the essays on religious pluralism written by important academic philosophers and theologians, active in the 20th century, mostly after World War II. Among them there are outstanding Christian thinkers, both Catholic and Protestant, namely Karl Barth, Karl Rahner, Paul Tillich, a famous historian of religions Wilfried Cantwell Smith, and interesting authors Donald Dawe and Claude Geffré; also texts by well-known Jewish thinkers, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Jonathan Sacks, will be read, and by some dialogically important rabbis Irving Greenberg and Norman Salomon, as well as by Raphael Jospe, Islamic author Mohamed Talbi and Buddhist Mahinda Palihawadana, Hinduist K.L. Seshagiri Rao, and, last but not least, the greatest theoretician of interfaith dialogue Raimundo Panikkar.

In the Spring Semester we’ll study Leonard Swidler’s definition of interreligious dialogue and his “dialogue decalogue” and then major documents presented in the framework of Christian-Jewish dialogue will be presented and analyzed. The documents were released by official bodies of the Catholic Church, by groups of theologians, some by Christian other by Jewish, and by the International Council of Christians and Jews (ICCJ). In addition, a Muslim document will be presented.

Program

Semester I

1. Introduction

2. Karl Barth, Die kirchliche Dogmatik, Band I/2, Evangelischer Verlag, 1960, 304-397; selection in “The revelation of God as the abolition of religion” (1956), in J. Hick i B. Hebblethwaite, Christianity and Other Religions, Glasgow 1980, 32-51.

3. Karl Rahner, “Christianity and the non-Christian religions” (1961), in J. Hick i B. Hebblethwaite, Christianity and Other Religions, Glasgow 1980, 52-79.

4. Wilfred Cantwell Smith, “The Christian in a religiously plural world” (1976), in J. Hick i B. Hebblethwaite, Christianity and Other Religions, Glasgow 1980, 87-107.

5. Paul Tillich, “Christianity judging itself in the light of its encounter with the world religions” (1963), in J. Hick i B. Hebblethwaite, Christianity and Other Religions, Glasgow 1980, 108-121.

6. Claude Geffré „Jedność chrześcijaństwa a pluralizm religijny” (1993), Znak 8/1996, 14-26.

7. Donald Dawe, Christian faith in a religiously plural world, in: D.G. Dawe and J.B. Carman, Christian Faith in a Religiously Plural World, Orbis, 1978, 13-33.

+ Mahinda Palihawadana, A Buddhist response: religion beyond ideology and power, ibidem, 34-45.

+ K.L. Seshagiri Rao, A Hindu response: the value of religious pluralism, ibid, 46-58.

8. Mohamed Talbi, “Islam and dialogue – some reflections on a current topic” (1985), w: Paul J. Griffiths Christianity Through Non-Christian Eyes, New York: Orbic Books, 1990, 82-101.

9. Jonathan Sacks, “The Dignity of Difference: Exorcizing Plato’s Ghost” (The Dignity of Difference, London, New York: Continuum 2003, first ed. 2002, 45-66.)

10. Abraham Joshua Heschel, „No Religion is an Island” (1965)

11. Rafael Jospe, „Chosenness in Judaism: exclusivity vs. inclusivity”, in Covenant and Chosenness in Judaism and Mormonism, ed. by R. Jospe, T. G. Madsen, S. Ward, 2001, 173-194.

12. Irving Greenberg, „Pluralism and Partnership”, in Greenberg, For the Sake of Heaven and Earth: The New Encounter between Judaism and Christianity, JPS, Philadelphia 2004.

13. Raimundo Panikkar, Intrareligious Dialogue (1978).

14. Raimundo Panikkar, “Philosophical Pluralism and the Plurality of Religions”, Thomas Dean (ed.), Religious Pluralism and Truth: Essays on Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion, SUNY Press, 1995, 33-43.

15. Norman Solomon, “The third presence: reflections on the dialogue”, in Dialogue with a difference, ed. by T. Bayfield and M. Baybrooke, SCM Press 1992, 147-162.

Semester II

16. “Dialogue decalogue” by Leonard Swidler, 1984.

17. Leonard Swidler, The History of Inter-Religious Dialogue, in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue, edited by Catherine Cornille, 2013, 3-19.

18. 10 Points of Seelisberg (1947).

19. Encyclical by Pope Paul VI “Ecclesiam Suam” (1964) – fragments

20. Declaration “Nostra Aetate” (Catholic,1965).

21. Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate, No. 4, 1974, and Notes…, 1985 (Catholic) Guidelines and Suggestions for Implementing the Conciliar Declaration Nostra Aetate, No. 4 (ccjr.us)

22. “Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths and Ideologies” (WCC, 1979 Part II, see: http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/interreligious/77glines-e.html) and „Rozważania ekumeniczne na temat dialogu żydowsko-chrześcijańskiego” (WCC, 1982) and „The Churches and the Jewish People. Towards a New Understanding” (Sigtuna 1988) (in: The new Relationship between Christians and Jews, ICCJ, 55-60)

23. “The Jewish People and Their Sacred Scriptures in the Christian Bible” (2001), Fragments from the Polish version, Kielce 2002, s. 5-11, 13-14, 69-73

24. “Jews and Christians in Search of a Common Religious Basis for Contributing Towards a Better World” (ICCJ, 1993)

25. Declaration „Dabru emet” (Jewish, 2000) and an earlier document “Christianity in Jewish Theology,” Report of the Commission of experts named by the Chief Rabbi of France, 1973 (published 2001) (www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/jewish/765-fr-jewish-comm1973)

26. Declaration „A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People” (Christian, 2002)

27. A Common Word between Us and You (Muslim, 2007); ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/islamic/commonword; Jednakowe słowo dla nas i dla was (list 138 uczonych muzułmańskich, 2007), Więź 1/2008, 35-54 (i wprowadzenie tłumaczy, 31-34)

28. “A Call to Christian and Jewish Communities Worldwide” (ICCJ, 2009), czyli „Czas, by odnowić zaangażowanie” Więź 10/2009 (i wprowadzenie tłumacza)

29. “To Do the Will of Our Father in Heaven: Toward a Partnership between Jews and Christians” (Jewish declaration, 2015) and “Between Jerusalem and Rome” (Jewish, 2017) (www.ccjr.us/dialogika-resources/documents-and-statements/jewish/1421-cer-cri-rca-2017)

30. Summing up

Achieving broad knowledge of the main problems in the philosophy of interreligious dialogue, in Christian-Jewish dialogue, and also in the larger domain of interfaith encounters.

The ability to independently interpret the text, commenting and confronting theses from various traditions.

Knowledge of the scope of knowledge and skills possessed, understanding of the need for continuous training and professional development;

In order to pass the seminar, participants will be required to read the texts, participate in the discussion, present one of the texts, and write short term papers – the topic of which must be approved by both instructors. (Proposing the topic till Nov 30, 2024; delivering the paper till Jan 31, 2025. Proposing the topic of the second paper till Apr 30, 2025; delivering the paper till June 15, 2025.)

Grading on the basis of activity, the quality of the presentations and term papers.