Interreligious University Theologies, Christian/Islamic

ABSTRACT

With reference to the establishment of new chairs and centres for Islamic theology at Northern European universities, this article discusses how Christian and Islamic university theology may develop into a multi- or interreligious way of doing theology. Will these initiatives change the ways in which theology is done in academia, through institutionalized cooperation between theologians from different traditions? Having introduced the academic field of ‘interreligious studies’ the author further defines the term ‘interreligious theology’ in relation to confessional theology and comparative theology and argues that interreligious ways of doing theology are characterized by their relational and interactive approach, with a strong emphasis on agency. The article further explores the institutionalized aspect of interreligious theology – citing the classical example of Muslims and Christians reflecting together in medieval Baghdad, the late modern practice of ‘scriptural reasoning’, and the pluralization of theology in contemporary academia. Having noted the tension between inter-and trans-religious ways of doing theology, the article critically explores the metaphors of ‘third space’, ‘spaces in between’, and ‘home’.

KEYWORDS:

• Interreligious studies
• university theology
• comparative theology
• doing theology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Their English designations are: Institute for Islamic Theology (Osnabrück), Centre for Islamic Theology (Münster and Tübingen), Department for Islamic-Religious Studies (Erlangen-Nürnberg) and Institute for the Study of Islamic Culture and Religion (Frankfurt). The centre in Frankfurt does, however, include theology in the title of its journal, which has been published since 2014: Frankfurter Zeitschrift für Islamisch-Theologische Studien.

2 For instance, the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg accommodates a broader array of theological traditions such as Christian, Islamic, Alevite, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu.

3 See the thematic issue of Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 2014 (1), ‘Is Comparative Theology Catholic?’.

4 A German example is the Stuttgart-based Theologisches Forum Christentum–Islam, which has been working since 2005.

5 In the case of Scriptural Reasoning, the main academic bases have been Cambridge University, the University of Virginia and Princeton University (Adams 2011, 51).

6 https://www.awr.uni-hamburg.de/website-content/pdfs-flyer/redi-flyer-englisch.pdf. Accessed 30 August 2018.

7 Laksana qoutes Bhabha: ‘ … the space of representation, where the image – missing person, invisible eye, Oriental stereotype – is confronted with its difference, its Other’ (Laksana 2010, 16; quoting Bhabha 1994, 66).

8 See also the title of Felix Körner’s book Revisionist Koran Hermeneutics in Contemporary Turkish University Theology: Rethinking Islam (2005). In his book, Körner analyses the innovative hermeneutical work on the Qur’an by the so-called Ankara school.