Christianity and interfaith engagement

Abstract

Early in the twentieth century the Christian Church began to question long-held exclusivist and negative assumptions toward other religions. By mid-century far-reaching changes were underway: other religions and their peoples were honoured as dialogue-partners and viewed as co-religionists capable of common cause action. Since the 1960s the official stance of the Vatican is one of goodwill, high valuation, and respect toward other faiths. Christian perspectives on religious diversity changed from vexed problem to celebrated phenomenon. However, the global resurgence of religion and allied ideologies such as fundamentalism provide new challenges to the age-old question of Christianity and other faiths.