Theoria Praxis

In 1989, twenty-seven scholars of religion evenly divided among Jews, Christians and Muslims met for three days at a Catholic retreat outside Philadelphia, USA. This was the beginning of the "International Scholars' Annual Trialogue." This volume is composed of the best essays prepared and molded during those yearly dialogues through 1994. Half of the papers are background studies on the current state of particular questions. The other half turn in the direction of how to think better about the problems that have divided us in the past - how to move into new images that may free our minds and affections for significant progress in the future. The essays fall under five headings: 1) overlap among the three Abrahamic traditions; 2) what remains distinctive in each tradition; 3) present lacunae on the way to political cooperation; 4) present lacunae on the way to sharing worship; and 5) how best to orient future intellectual exchanges. The single "global" culture that has been building since World War II requires that we find images of humanity that make the common weal bulk much larger than any partial, local or practical prosperities. This volume helps two fifths of the world's population begin that task.