M9: Interreligious Dialogue
Interreligious Dialogue is the academic discipline that theoretically reflects upon and practically accompanies the encounter, communication, and understanding between different religious traditions. It examines theological foundations, historical experiences, and contemporary forms of dialogue, inquiring into the possibilities for respectful coexistence, mutual learning, and shared responsibility in pluralistic societies.
Interreligious Dialogue in the Master’s Program MA Eastern Christian Studies
The module M9: Interreligious Dialogue consists of two learning units:
- M9.1: [Placeholder] (2 ECTS)
- M9.2: Spring School: [Placeholder] (2 ECTS)
The required assessment is an essayistic blog post (1 ECTS).
The module comprises a total of 5 ECTS.
Course Content
- History and theological foundations of interreligious dialogue in the context of the Christian East
- Encounter and interaction between Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other religions in the Middle East, North Africa, the Caucasus, India, and the Balkans
- Central historical figures and texts of interreligious exchange
- Theological points of comparison: image of God, revelation, understanding of salvation, church, prophecy, scripture
- Development of Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish relations in antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the modern era
- Concepts and models of dialogue theology in the Eastern Churches
- Current interreligious initiatives in the Middle East and the diaspora
- Significance of religious language, liturgy, and symbolism for interreligious understanding
- Relationship between religion, culture, and politics in interreligious contexts
- Opportunities and challenges of interreligious encounter in the present and future
Learning Objectives and Competences
- Students possess in-depth knowledge of the historical, theological, and social spaces of encounter between Eastern Christianity and other religions, particularly Judaism and Islam.
- They understand the complex interactions between religious identity, cultural tradition, and political reality in the context of the Middle East, the Caucasus, North Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.
- They are familiar with central texts, concepts, and figures of interreligious exchange in the history of the Eastern Churches.
- They can critically analyze theological argumentation patterns and narratives of Christian-Muslim and Christian-Jewish relations.
- They are able to compare classical and modern positions of dialogue theology and situate them within their historical and denominational contexts.
- They reflect on the different understandings of revelation, mediation of salvation, church, and religious truth in interreligious discourse.
- They recognize the opportunities, challenges, and areas of tension in interreligious encounters within the sphere of the Christian East.
- They apply interdisciplinary methods (historical, systematic, social-scientific) to questions of religious interaction.
- They develop sensitivity to religious language, symbolism, and practice as expressions of interreligious understanding or differentiation.
- They are capable of critically reflecting on current questions of dialogue between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism by drawing on historical and theological foundations.
- They can formulate well-founded positions on interreligious discourse within academic and ecclesiastical contexts and represent them argumentatively.
M9.1: [Placeholder]
Course Instructor
N. N.
Academic Cycle and Workload
The learning unit is offered every winter semester. It comprises 2 SWS (= 1 ECTS) of digital self-guided learning and approximately the same amount of independent preparation and follow-up time (= 1 ECTS).
M9.2: Spring School: [Placeholder]
Course Instructor
N. N.
Academic Cycle and Workload
The learning unit is offered every two years as a Spring School during the lecture-free period between the winter and summer semesters. It comprises 2 SWS (= 1 ECTS) of synchronous contact studies and approximately the same amount of independent preparation and follow-up time (= 1 ECTS).
