“This trialogue is a novelty”

Researchers from all over the world come together for the first theological trialogues between Buddhism, Islam and Christianity in Münster – theologians compare doctrines of the three religions and look for similarities – public lectures on 12 July on the relationship of Islam towards other religions

Press release of the Cluster of Excellence, 6 July 2017

Researchers from all over the world will come together in Münster next week for the first theological trialogue ever between Buddhism, Islam and Christianity. At the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” of the Münster University, they will compare the central beliefs of the three world religions and discuss their significance for society, as announced by Prof. Dr. Perry Schmidt-Leukel of the Cluster of Excellence, scholar of religious studies and Anglican theology. Two lectures on Wednesday, 12 July, are open to anyone interested. The Islamic theologian Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide of the Cluster of Excellence will talk about the relationship of Islam towards other religions. The Thai scholar of religious studies Prof. Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf relates on the increasing tensions between Muslims and Buddhists in Asia. The lecture “Buddhism, Islam and Inter-Faith Relations” (Buddhismus, Islam und interreligiöse Beziehungen) will be held in English and starts at 6:15 pm in lecture hall KTh1, Johannisstr. 8-10 in Münster.

“This theological exchange between Buddhism, Islam and Christianity is a novelty”, Prof. Schmidt-Leukel emphasises. For years there has been a dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism as well as approaches for a Buddhist-Islamic exchange. “Now it is time to bring together the three big religions to talk at one table.” About 20 researchers from Japan, the USA, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey and Germany are expected to attend the expert talks between 12 to 14 July. The focus of the conference will be on the Buddhist, Christian and Islamic concept of man as well as their respective ideas of evil. The conference is part of a series within the framework of the project “Shin Buddhism, Christianity, Islam: Conversations in Comparative Theology” (Shin-Buddhismus, Christentum, Islam: Gespräche vergleichender Theologie). Following the opening convention in Kyoto in February, which focused on truth and reality, and the coming lecture in Münster, the researchers will speak about questions of religious and social actions of the three religions at Georgetown University in Washington in 2018.

“The aim of interreligious fundamental work is,” says Schmidt-Leukel, “to gain new forms of theological reflexions by comparing the basic belief principles as well as to integrate insights from other religions into one's own.” The symposium's participants make use of the method of “comparative theology”. Each topic is presented from the point of view of a Christian, a Buddhist and an Islamic scholar, then they all will discuss which insights arise for their own religion. At the Cluster of Excellence, Prof. Schmidt-Leukel concentrates on interreligious theology. He heads the trialogue project together with the Japanese expert on Buddhism Prof. Dr. Dennis Hirota from the Ryukoku University in Kyoto. (ill/vvm)

Topics of the Public Lectures on 12 July

In his lecture “Buddhism, Islam and Politics in South and Southeast Asia” (Buddhismus, Islam und Politik in Süd- und Südostasien), the Thai scholar of religious studies, Prof. Dr. Imtiyaz Yusuf, head of the “Center for Buddhist-Muslim Understanding” (Zentrum für buddhistisch-islamische Verständigung) at the Mahidol University in Bangkok, examines the growing tensions between Islam and Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia.
The Islamic theologian Prof. Dr. Mouhanad Khorchide of the Cluster of Excellence, head of the Centre for Islamic Theology (Zentrum für islamische Theologie, ZIT) of Münster University, explains in his lecture which statements on other religions can be found in the Koran. Furthermore, he discusses how Muslims interpret these today and what are the prevailing opinions. His lecture is called “Islam and Inter-Faith Relations” (Islam und interreligiöse Beziehungen).

Predecessor of the Theological Trialogue

The predecessor of the trialogue is a Christian-Buddhist dialogue that was initiated by a group affiliated with the Protestant theologian John Cobb and the Buddhist scholar of religious studies Masao Abe between 1984 and 2004 with a series of top-class international conferences, as Prof. Schmidt-Leukel explains. They were primarily dedicated to the dialogue between Christian theologians and Buddhist thinkers from Zen Buddhism, partly opening up towards Jewish theologians. “We want to revive this tradition, but provide a new shape in a twofold manner: on the one hand, it is Shin-Buddhism, not Zen Buddhism, that participates, the largest form of Buddhism in Japan. On the other hand, we have extended the dialogue to a trialogue in which Muslim theologians take part on all levels as well.” (ill/vvm)