Encountering the Stranger

The subject is critical. In our pluralistic world, the need to encounter the stranger is not only a question of hospitality. It is a matter of our survival. Given the enormity of our global issues, it is clear that no one nation, culture, or religion can solve the problems. We simply have to co-operate and collaborate. -- Imam Jamal Rahman, author of The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam Encountering the Stranger is an exciting, rewarding book, a pathbreaking work full of theological treasures, insights, and stimulating ideas. -- Martin Rumscheidt, Atlantic School of Theology This is an important scholarly event, a teaching tool, and a resource for clergy formation and informal adult religious studies. The prominence of the contributors will help the book reach a wide range of constituencies and the accessible presentation of the divergent perspectives gathered here will grip readers. -- George R. Wilkes, University of Edinburgh

Examines different traditions' understandings of the stranger, the "other"

In an age when "collisions of faith" among the Abrahamic traditions continue to produce strife and violence that threatens the well-being of individuals and communities worldwide, the contributors to Encountering the Stranger--six Jewish, six Christian, and six Muslim scholars--takes responsibility to examine their traditions' understandings of the stranger, the "other," and to identify ways that can bridge divisions and create greater harmony.