Scriptural Reasoning

Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-394-36658-3
Verlag: John Wiley & Sons Inc

Buch, Englisch, 272 Seiten

Fosters deep inter-faith understanding through shared scriptural study and mutual religious hospitality

Scriptural Reasoning: Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice provides an accessible and practical introduction to a unique form of inter-faith engagement centered on shared sacred text study. Rather than minimizing deep commitments to one's own faith, this approach encourages participants to enter more fully into their own traditions while offering and receiving hospitality across religious boundaries. Focusing on the Abrahamic faiths—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—this book equips students and lay practitioners to participate meaningfully in Scriptural Reasoning (SR) groups, where members of different faiths read and reason together from their respective Scriptures.

The authors—scholars and practitioners from the three traditions—guide readers through the origins, aims, and methods of SR while offering theological context, practical guidance, and real-world examples. Chapters explore common questions about the nature of Scripture, revelation, interpretation, and the challenges and promises of inter-religious study. Designed for classroom use, religious institutions, or community initiatives, this concise and clear resource helps participants “hit the ground running.” By grounding the practice in deep respect, conviction, and curiosity, the authors position Scriptural Reasoning as a tool not only for dialogue, but for healing and reconciliation across difference.

Encouraging cross-faith understanding in a world marked by religious plurality and social fragmentation, Scriptural Reasoning: - Provides the foundation for understanding, practicing, and reflecting on Abrahamic Scriptural Reasoning - Contains tools and texts for launching SR in classroom, religious, and civic settings - Includes foundational background on the Scriptures and interpretive traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - Addresses common questions and misconceptions about inter-faith engagement and religious pluralism - Features real-world examples of SR used in diverse contexts, from prisons to hospitals to inter-faith dialogue programs

Combining theological reflection with practical instruction for first-time SR facilitators and participants, Scriptural Reasoning: Abrahamic Inter-faith Practice is ideal for undergraduate and graduate students in theology, religious studies, and interfaith engagement programs. It can be used in courses such as Interfaith Dialogue, Comparative Religion, and Abrahamic Traditions, and is appropriate for degrees in divinity, religious studies, and civic leadership.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Dakake, Maria

Kepnes, Steven

Greggs, Tom

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Vergleichende Religionswissenschaft

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments xii

Chapter 1 Introduction: Come; Let Us Reason Together 1

The History of SR 4

Muslim Engagement in SR (Mahan Mirza) 8

The Practice of SR and How to Use This Book 11

Texts to Use for an SR Session 16

Chapter 2 Delving Deeper: Guidelines and Practical Advice 17

Fifteen Guidelines of SR 18

What Is Abrahamic SR? 18

Scriptures as Living Texts 18

Scripture’s Surplus of Meaning 19

Scriptural Warrants for SR 19

Bringing Your Internal Library—Nothing Is Alien, The Text Is Judge 20

SR Space as a Tent of Meeting 20

SR and Prophetic Critique 21

SR, Religion and Conflict Resolution 22

Preserve Difference, Establish Relations 22

Themes, Hypotheses, and the Interrogative Mood 23

SR and Commentary Texts 23

SR Theory and Scholarship 24

Monotheism and Beyond 24

Our Time and the End Time 25

How SR Is Done 26

Texts to Use for an SR Session 32

Chapter 3 But Isn’t Religion the Problem? 34

Isn’t Religion Just a Problem? 35

The Reassertion of Religion 40

Shouldn’t Religious People Just Become a Bit Less Religious, Then? 42

The Detriments of Maximal Secularism and Attraction of Religion 46

SR As Another Way 47

Texts to Use for an SR Session 51

Chapter 4 So What Are the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian Scriptures? 53

What Is Scripture: A Jewish View 54

Torah as Holy 56

Torah as Holy Object 57

What Is Scripture: A Christian View—The Bible 58

The Old Testament 59

The New Testament 61

How Christians Read and View Scripture 64

What Is Scripture in Islam? 66

The Qur’an 66

Muslim Belief Regarding the Qur’an 67

The Qur’an and Muhammad 68

The Structure and Content of the Qur’an 72

Texts to Use for an SR Session 76

Chapter 5 Are Scripture and Revelation the Same Thing for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam? 78

What Is Revelation in Judaism? 79

What Happened at Sinai? 81

Revelation in the Torah 84

Revelation of God’s Self 86

What Is Revelation in Christianity? 88

Natural and Special Revelation 89

Revelation and the Incarnation of God in Jesus Christ 91

Revelation Today Through the Holy Spirit 92

What Is Revelation in Islam? 94

Texts to Use for an SR Session 103

Chapter 6 Why “Reasoning”? 105

Reason in Scripture 107

SR Through Metaphors 108

Contemporary Philosophies of Metaphor and Religious Language 108

Interpretation: The Reason That Is Brought to Scripture 111

The Attitude of I-Thou 112

The Group Reasoning Process 115

Reflective SR 116

Application: SR as Healing 117

Texts to Use for an SR Session 119

Chapter 7 But Don’t We Read with Commentaries and Traditions? 121

Jewish Practices of Reading Scripture 123

Hebrew Language and the Hebrew of Torah 124

Bereshit-Genesis 125

Pshat 126

Beyond One Study Partner 127

Rashi 129

Modern Biblical Criticism 130

Commentary and Tradition in Christianity 131

Creeds, Symbols, and Definitions 131

The Authority of Tradition in Christianity 135

Traditional Approaches to Scripture 138

Higher Biblical Criticism 140

Challenges for SR of Christian Uses of Tradition 141

What Is Commentary in Islam? 143

Complexity and Clarity in Reading Scripture 143

Tradition and Commentary 144

Tafsir 147

Tafsir and Ta’wil 148

Texts to Use for an SR Session 151

Chapter 8 Are Our Religions Allowed to Engage in This Kind of Practice? 153

Some Suggested Jewish Warrants 157

Hagar and Ishmael as Other and Same 157

Hagar and the Ger 162

Christian Warrants 164

Jesus and the Samaritans 166

Jesus and the Gentiles 169

Warrants for SR from an Islamic Perspective 172

The Qur’an on People of the Book 174

Engaging Scriptures 176

Texts to Use for an SR Session 178

Chapter 9 What Kinds of Discussions and Insights Happen in SR Sessions? 181

Reflections by Jewish Participants 182

A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Their First Exposure to SR 182

A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Mark 4 183

A Jewish Participant Reflecting on Surah 6, Isaiah 6, Deuteronomy 6, and Mark 4 185

Reflections by Christian Participants 186

A Christian Reflection on John 3 with Commentaries in the Context of SR 186

A Christian Participant Reflecting on Psalm 8, Deuteronomy 6, and Sura 2:30–39 188

A Christian Participant Reflecting on Psalm 1 and Sura 2 191

A Christian Participant Reflecting on Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Sura 2 191

Reflections by Muslim Participants 193

A Muslim Participant’s Reflection on Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and Sura 2 193

A Muslim Participant’s Reflection on Deuteronomy 6, John 3, and the Qur’anic Account of Abraham 195

A Muslim Reflects on Her First Encounter with SR and on Sura 2:20–33 197

The Reflections in Light of the Guidelines and Ideals of SR 198

Practices of Reading 199

Scriptures as Living Texts 200

The Tent of Meeting and SR as a Liminal Space 201

Traditional Commentary and Internal Libraries 202

Prophetic Critique and Interrogative Mood 203

Religion and Religious Texts in the Spirit of Peace and with Hope for the Future 204

Texts to Use for an SR Session 204

Chapter 10 Conclusion: Why Does SR Have Such Promise as a Mode of Inter-Faith Engagement? 206

Texts to Use for an SR Session 210

Online Resources 222

Bibliography 223

Scriptural Hermeneutics 223

Theology/Philosophy of Interreligious Engagement 226

Universities 228

Public Issues 228

Other 229

Index 000

Über Autor(innen)

Tom Greggs is Director of the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton. He previously held the Marischal Chair of Divinity at the University of Aberdeen, UK. A Methodist preacher and international ecumenical leader, his many publications include Dogmatic Ecclesiology, The Breadth of Salvation, and Barth and Bonhoeffer as Contributors to a Postliberal Ecclesiology.

Maria Massi Dakake is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at George Mason University, where she directs programs in Islamic Studies and Middle East Studies. She holds a PhD from Princeton University and has published widely in Islamic intellectual history, with special attention to Qur'anic studies, Sufism, and women's spirituality.

Steven Kepnes is Professor of Religion and Jewish Studies at Colgate University. A prominent voice in Jewish theology, he is the author of Jewish Liturgical Reasoning, Reviving Jewish Theology, and editor of the Cambridge Companion to Jewish Theology. He has also taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.