Seeds of conflict in a haven of peace : from religious studies to interreligious studies in Africa / Frans Wijsen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wijsen, Frans Jozef Servaas, 1956-

Series:

Studies in world Christianity and interreligious relations ; no. 44.

Studies in world Christianity and interreligious relations ; no. 44

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religions--Relations.

Religions.

Africa--Religion--21st century.

Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (283 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; New York, NY : Rodopi, 2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

On 7 August 1998 the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam were bombed and 200 people lost their lives. These bombings shattered the image of Africa’s tradition of peaceful religious coexistence. Since then inter-religious dialogue has been high on the agendas of ecclesial and religious organisations, but not so much of faculties of theology and departments of religion in East Africa. This book investigates why this is so. How are interreligious relations dealt with in Africa, and more particularly, how are they and how should they be taught in institutions of higher learning? This book is based on fieldwork in Nairobi from 2001 onwards. It shows why Africa’s tradition of peaceful co-existence is not going to help Africa in the 21st century, and recommends a shift in the education in inter-religious relations: from religions studies to inter-religious studies.

Contents:

Preliminary Material

Introduction

Preliminary explorations

Transformation of religion in Africa

The study of religion in Africa

Education in interreligious relations

Religion, conflict and reconciliation

Synthesis, extremism and dialogue

Fully committed and fully open

Africans in diaspora

Towards a dialogical and diaconal church

Renaissance or reconstruction?

General conclusions

Bibliography

Institutions and informants participating in the study

Survey of the study of interfaith relations in theological institutions in East Africa

Index of names.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

94-012-0428-4

1-4356-1219-1

OCLC:

182811869

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789401204286 DOI