The Study of Religion in an Age of Global Dialogue

Professors of Religion, Theology and Religious Studies say: “[T]his study uniquely suggests…a dialogical approach to the study of religion and suggests a global ethic as a viable beginning.” --William Cenkner, Katharine Drexel Professor of Religion. The Catholic University of America “Both dialogue and a global ethic have been discussed elsewhere, but linking them together and then combining them with the study of religion is this book’s genuinely distinctive achievement. This accomplishment makes a major contribution to a singularly important discussion.” --Walter Conn, Professor Theology and Religious Studies. Villanova University Religion is the most fundamental and comprehensive of all human activities. It tries to make sense out of not simply one or another aspect of human life, but all aspects of human experience. At the core of every civilization lies its religion, which both reflects and shapes it. Thus, if we wish to understand human life in general and our specific culture and history, we need to understand religion. What is religion? As this comprehensive work shows, religion is an explanation of the ultimate meaning of life and how to live accordingly, based on a notion of the Transcendent. Normally it contains the four “C’s”: Creed, Code of behavior, Cult and Community-structure. A new age in human consciousness is now dawning: The Age of Global Dialogue, a radically new consciousness which fundamentally shifts the ways we understand everything in life, including religion. This global dialogical way of understanding life does not lead to one global religion, but it does lead toward a consciously acknowledged common set of ethical principles, a Global Ethic. This book looks at these two movements—the Age of Global Dialogue and inchoative Global Ethic—in order to help readers understand what is going on around them, so they might make informed, intelligent decisions about the meaning of life and how to live it. Professor Leonard Swidler is a global theologian who has pioneered and contributed to the field of interfaith dialogue for more than 50 years. He is a professor of religion at Temple University since 1966 and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies and the founder of the Dialogue Institute. He has written more than 200 papers and 90 books. Dr. Swidler has contributed to establishing the theoretical foundations of global ethics with Hans Küng since the 1990s, and the Dialogue Decalogue, his proposed interfaith dialogue has been translated into many languages. It is described as the most convincing theoretical basis for conducting Dialogue. Paul Mojzes, PhD was the Provost and the Chair of the Religious Studies and Humanities Department at Rosemont College, in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. A native of Yugoslavia, Dr. Mojzes is the co-editor of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, and founder and co-editor of Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe. He is the author of six books including his most recent Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century. Dr. Mojzes has lectured at universities throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.