Cover image for Understanding other religious worlds : a guide for interreligious education
Title:
Understanding other religious worlds : a guide for interreligious education
Personal Author:
Series Title:
Faith meets faith
Series:
Faith meets faith
Publication Information:
Maryknoll, N.Y. : Orbis Books, c2004
Physical Description:
xi, 146 p. ; 23 cm.
ISBN:
9781570755163

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PRZS3000001970 BL41 B47 2004 Open Access Book Gift Book
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Summary

Summary

Judith Berling articulates a learning process by which Christians learn to understand and establish relationships with persons of other religions. She helps readers learn an experiential process that will help them evaluate and improve current approaches to understanding other religious traditions in both the classroom and churches. The book is built on the critical difference between learning facts about other religions and understanding them and their followers in a wholistic manner. More importantly, she argues that in the contemporary age, whether one's theology is conservative or liberal, incorporating the religious other as a conversation partner integral to one's own Christian identity is not optional but integral to living an authentic Christian life. Addressed primarily to Christian theological educators, but it will also be of serious interest to students preparing for life as ministers and teachers. A woman who has spent many years seeking understand Chinese religious life as a living reality to Westerners, Berling has bumped up against the limits of presenting facts to students and the idea that adding a history of religions or comparative religions course to the seminary curriculum can do the job. Her book is an excellent summary of recent discussions on the nature of theological learning. It moves from insights on the habitus of theological learning to show how the reality of worthy others needs to become part of every Christian's identity.


Author Notes

Judith A. Berling is Professor of Chinese and Comparative Religions, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California.


Table of Contents

Prefacep. vii
Historical Contextp. vii
The Seeds of This Bookp. vii
Nature and Audience of the Bookp. ix
Acknowledgmentsp. xi
Introduction: Why Make the Effort to Learn Other Religionsp. 3
1. Christians and Religious Diversityp. 5
The Color-coded Mapp. 5
How Did Religious Diversity Overtake the Color-coded Map?p. 7
A New Religious Americap. 9
A Challenge for Christiansp. 11
Beyond Exclusivism?p. 15
2. Thinking about Learningp. 18
The Classrooms for Which Teachers Were Not Preparedp. 18
Diverse Ways of Learningp. 20
Learning for Empowerment of Voice and Agencyp. 22
Entering Other Worlds: Learning and Imaginationp. 26
Reacculturation: Learning as Collaborative Conversation across Lines of Differencep. 29
Conclusionp. 33
3. Learning Religionsp. 34
Beyond "Science": Religious Context and Particularityp. 35
Beyond Empathy: The Importance of Differencep. 38
Beyond the Religious Mind: What Aspects of Religion Can Be Studied?p. 41
Beyond the Posts: Power and Human Relationships in the Study of Religionsp. 42
Practical Implications for Learning Religionsp. 45
Learning Religions and Learning Theoryp. 47
4. Theological Learningp. 49
Historical Context: Forces That Have Shaped Theological Learningp. 49
Rethinking the Nature and Goals of Theological Educationp. 51
Theological Learning and Other Religionsp. 54
Theological Learning and Learning Religionsp. 61
5. Unraveling the Threads: The Process of Learning Another Religionp. 64
Threads of the Learning Processp. 65
6. Classroom Learning: Improving Traditional Approachesp. 81
Reassessing the Ways Other Religions Have Been Taughtp. 82
How Might We Learn Other Religions Differently?p. 103
Where Do We Go from Here?p. 108
7. Beyond the Classroom: Learning Other Religions in the Churchesp. 110
Church-based Programs for Learning Other Religionsp. 111
A Balancing Actp. 113
Engaging Differencep. 113
Initially Responding from One's Own Locationp. 116
Conversation with the Voices of the Other Religion and among Christiansp. 117
Living Out What Is Learnedp. 120
Internalizing the Learning Processp. 124
Encouragement for Parishesp. 124
Appendix A Selected Annotated Bibliography: Some Resources for Teaching Other Religionsp. 127
Developing Syllabi, Locating Resources, and Filling In Gaps in Knowledgep. 127
Journalsp. 129
Textbooksp. 131
Further Readings in Theological Teaching and Learningp. 133
Appendix B Practical Guidelines for Parish Learning Experiencesp. 135
Engaging Differencep. 135
Responding from One's Own Locationp. 135
Conversationp. 136
Living Out New Relationshipsp. 136
Internalizing the Processp. 136
Selected Bibliographyp. 137
Indexp. 141