ABSTRACT
Christian–Muslim dialogue has had a very chequered history. In the first decade of the 21st century two dialogue initiatives, each involving Christians reaching out and engaging the Muslim world, emerged as significant. These are the UK-initiated Building Bridges Seminar and the German Theologisches Forum Christentum – Islam (Christian–Muslim Theological Forum). Both began in or around 2002. They are the subject of this book. This chapter provides some background comment on the history of Christian–Muslim relations and on contemporary Christian–Muslim dialogue, including the prospect of new directions that indicate the place and significance of the two 21st-century initiatives. The focus is the five themes that have been addressed in common by these initiatives, namely, community, scripture, prophecy, prayer and ethics. The object is not to give a summary or précis of all that was covered in the respective seminars. Rather, the object is to introduce the two initiatives and to present an exploration of the five theological themes that have been addressed in common by them, and to reflect on what they might mean for the future of Christian–Muslim relations. A final section of this chapter outlines the structure of the book and also discusses the “signs of faith” motif.
