Interactive Workshop

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) was a key figure in interreligious dialogue, instrumental in shaping Nostra Aetate, while also advocating for civil rights and opposing the Vietnam War. His 1965 lecture No Religion is an Island articulates a vision of interreligious engagement that challenges the misuse of religious freedom as a justification for discrimination.

This presentation explores Heschel’s alternative framework: a pluralism rooted not in religious autonomy, but in divine concern, which calls all faiths into solidarity. Heschel distinguishes between “Faith in One God,” which fosters moral responsibility, and “idolatry,” which sanctifies exclusion and oppression. His concept of "dialogical freedom" reframes interreligious engagement as a moral response rather than an entitlement. This perspective provides a critical lens for resisting the weaponization of religious freedom while sustaining authentic interreligious pluralism.

This presentation investigates profound commonalities between Amida Buddha in Pure Land Buddhism and Allah in Islam, underscoring shared spiritual concepts that transcend religious divisions. By examining two key correspondences—Amida’s "Comprehensive Compassion" (muen no daihi) with Allah’s "All-Encompassing Love and Compassion" (al-Rahman), and Amida’s "Infinite Life" (muryōju) with Allah’s "The Only Ever-Living One" (al-Hayy)—this study uncovers universal themes of boundless love and eternal life. The analysis addresses the dual dimensions of divinity in Islam: the infinite and formless God beyond human comprehension, and Allah’s accessibility through the 99 divine names. Similarly, it explores how True Reality-Suchness in Pure Land Buddhism manifests as Amida Buddha, whose twelve lights symbolize his attributes. This comparative study illuminates the resonance between non-theistic Buddhist thought and Islamic theology, fostering interfaith dialogue and mutual understanding. By highlighting these shared values, the presentation offers fresh insights into universal spirituality, enriching cross-cultural engagement and harmony.

This paper has two main goals. First, it introduces the audience to ‘covenantal pluralism,’ a new concept and research initiative supported by the Templeton Religion Trust. Second, it argues for a revised understanding of religious literacy. To motivate my preferred account of religious literacy, I examine prominent accounts—namely, the knowledge-based, analytic-based, and skills-based—revealing their limitations. In response, I propose an alternative: an attentiveness-based approach to religious literacy.

In the Indonesian context, one's cultural identity is often abandoned because of one's beliefs. The researcher uses the lens of Chinese culture (Zen), specifically the text of The Heart of Sutra to read the text of Philippians 2:7 in Christianity. Both texts focus on the meaning of emptying oneself. This study intends to see culture as a friend to religion. For this reason, this study uses cross-cultural hermeneutics, specifically the seeing through method, to read the word "emptying oneself" in Philippians through the lens of Buddhism. As a result, the researcher found that the meaning of Jesus' emptying himself was not limited to Him descending into a human being, but bodily making Himself an enlightened human being (experiencing satori).

This paper explores the indirect storytelling strategies of Christian digital influencers who engage in interfaith discourse on social media. As the creator economy is projected to triple in value by 2030, successful content creators leverage narrative-based storytelling to build dedicated online communities. As a South Asian-American Christian pastor, I unintentionally fostered a diverse interfaith following through chai-making videos on TikTok, inspiring this study on how influencers use indirect communication to navigate faith expression. Applying Benson Fraser’s theory of indirect communication, this paper examines how Christian Digital Creators use storytelling to foster interfaith dialogue while maintaining their personal beliefs. Through semi-structured interviews with ten diverse creators, the study analyzes how factors like religious identity, performative belief, and algorithmic authority shape their content strategies.

The purpose of this workshop is to listen to the needs of women/femmes in interreligious leadership, to allow them to share their suffering with one another, to create space for their wellness together, and to enhance their leadership skills. This workshop aims to equip interfaith women leaders who are either currently in religious organizations or preparing for religious vocational careers with the wellness tools they need to sustain a lifetime of religious vocation and avoid burnout. By creating a small group, this workshop provides a space that encourages participants to develop and sustain their own network even after finishing this workshop program. It explores ways to meet their psychological needs and prevent burnout, especially considering the unique intersection of institutional and structural demands that participants experience as interfaith women leaders. 

Interfaith chaplaincy in Scandinavia: Complex obstacles finding answers in holistic approaches

Despite a shared commitment to alleviate suffering, obstacles exist due to theological divergences, institutional and cultural biases and insufficient specialized training. 

This paper will attempt to identify both theoretical and practical indicators that could inform potential future models for interfaith chaplaincy.

Departing from an Islam/Christianity context building on comparative analysis of key theological concepts we advocate that an emphasis on mutual central values might foster more inclusive, holistic approaches to patient centered existential and spiritual care. 

Further, the paper contends that a patient centered approach – integrating elements from both interfaith and generic models - is essential for addressing the existential and spiritual needs of individuals.

Finally, it is argued that such an integrated approach not only enriches spiritual practice but also bolsters a broader societal understanding of health in accordance with the World Health Organization’s holistic health paradigm.

This presentation opens a conversation about the evolving landscape of Interreligious Studies (IRS) within the broader landscape of the study of religion by asking about its inter- and multidisciplinary nature. How is IRS related to Religious Studies (RS), theological studies, Jewish studies, Islamic studies, and other fields beyond those represented in the AAR? This paper initiates a critical discussion on the academic classification or home of IRS and its relationship to other fields. By likening IRS to RS as ecology to biology, a thought experiment is opened – one that welcomes rigorous critical feedback – to examine IRS's roles, methods, pitfalls, and interdisciplinary potential. The session invites diverse scholarly insights to workshop IRS's academic positioning and identify gaps in scholarship to further enhance the field's future.

This workshop seeks to introduce a compelling syllabus design for teaching Mysticisms in Action. As mysticism and activist approaches gain more traction in Interreligious Studies, this syllabus gathers key sources, themes, scholarly approaches, and pedagogical devices for its teaching and dissemination in the field. Mysticisms in action highlight the importance of both inner-introspection as well as outward action. In this vein, the course speaks to important themes in interreligious studies that call for reflexivity and critical analysis as well as coformation and social-justice making. In considering the work of several scholars in the field of Interreligious Studies, this syllabus gathers voices and sources that speak to structures of oppression, intersectionality, and mystical theologies that support parity pluralism and the engagement across lines of difference. This syllabus ultimately conveys powerful interreligious learning garnered through mystical traditions, mystical epistemologies, and supporting pedagogies that emphasize collective healing and liberation, both inner and outer.

Oct. 7 was not the first time that interfaith efforts faced disruption. In New York City, 9/11 led to an increase in interfaith activities. In larger cities, interfaith centers were established to bring together faith leaders from different religious traditions for dialogue and prayer. In smaller cities, however, interfaith work remains less institutionalized and instead relies more on local participants without formal leadership. Informal institutions and cultural norms prevail everywhere but people moving across religious boundaries, language barriers, and national borders often find themselves transgressing unfamiliar local cultural norms. Therefore, the impact of disruptive events like Oct 7 or 9/11 varies across multifaith communities. Ethnographic fieldwork in Germany and the United States indicates that cultural transgressions are less tolerated in regions with less religious pluralism. There appears to be more forgiveness in more pluralistic regions with sustained interfaith activities because in such settings sometimes the transgressor is variably also transgressed.