Four years ago, I went with some other students of theology on a study trip to Oman for five weeks. Omani tutors taught us about Islam and about the local culture and shared a lot of time with us. In general, we got along well, respecting our different backgrounds and practices and getting to know each other on a personal level. However, when we tried to engage in interreligious dialogue on a doctrinal level, biases, misunderstandings, and tensions arose. We tried to explain our belief in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and our tutors were offended, claiming that they loved Jesus more than we do and saying that at least they would not impose something as shameful as a crucifixion on a prophet. We tried it several times with several topics, but our doctrinal conversations were rather frustrating for both sides.
This example can be typical for interreligious dialogue in the 21st century in many ways, at least in my context. As a young female student from Western Europe, I can easily study abroad and get to know other cultures and religions. Both my university and my church maintain international relations and encourage students to use all kinds of opportunities to travel and to learn from others. However, this cannot be taken for granted. My parents’ generation, for instance, could never have gone on a study trip to Oman: it was expensive to travel, interreligious dialogue played a minor role only, and it was less usual to study abroad, especially among young women. Today, many barriers are removed, and paths are opened for interreligious encounter. At university, I studied the premises of interreligious dialogue, I learned about Islam, and I engaged with Muslim theologians in interreligious dialogue on a doctrinal level. As a result, I felt prepared for this study trip and was disappointed that, even though we learned a great deal and became friends, an interreligious doctrinal dialogue had not been feasible in Oman.
This short account of my personal experiences – which are not universally applicable – already points to different forms of interreligious dialogue, comprising elements of previous reflections, encounter and sharing, some sort of conversation, and, last but not least, theology. In my understanding, “interreligious dialogue” is a term that denotes various forms of communication and relations between individuals of different religious traditions. It is shaped by the genuine interest of its participants to learn more about the religious tradition of the other persons present, without trying to convert them on the one hand or to develop a neutral “middle way” on the other hand.1 Hence, any description or practice of interreligious dialogue requires those involved to disclose their religious identity, because interreligious dialogue is a form of encounter that is fundamentally shaped by those encountering. Ideally, those who engage in interreligious dialogue bring curiosity, respect, and the ability to live with different convictions to the conversation.
Historically, some sort of interreligious interaction has always taken place, as religions never develop in isolation. Instead, depending on differing historical and social circumstances, religions develop through encounter, conflict, and neighbourhood with other religions, including theological debates. In contrast to these theological debates before the 19th century, modern interreligious dialogue can be seen as a broad, international movement promoting interreligious encounter that began as a formal dialogue at the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago. There, the speech of the Indian Hindu Swami Vivekananda marked three aspects that have been relevant for interreligious dialogue ever since: a sense of neighbourliness, a renunciation of conversion, and a joint striving for betterment as a believer in one’s own tradition.