M. Moyaert

Infelicitous inter-ritual hospitality

Abstract This article focuses on inter-ritual hospitality, ‘where the reciprocal roles of host and guest set the parameters for interaction’ (60). This type of hospitality has the potential to enhance the dialogue between religions; indeed, one may ask whether there can be a greater token of mutual respect and appreciation than that of inviting another to share one’s rituals. In this article, however, I am not interested primarily in the success stories of inter-ritual hospitality that have brought growth and enrichment for the parties involved; rather, I will focus my attention on its infelicitous counterparts. The failure of inter-ritual hospitality is a subject that has been explored very little in interreligious studies, and there is little (ethnographic) documentation on this subject. One could say that inter-ritual failure is virgin territory among interreligious scholars. I will begin to explore some of the issues at stake and examine where inter-ritual hospitality can go wrong. In doing so, I continue and expand the research done by ritual scholars who have focused their attention on infelicitous ritual performances conducted mainly in ‘monoreligious’ settings.

Religious Pluralism and Eucharistic Hospitality

The centrality of the Eucharist to Christian self-understanding is widely accepted. What is more, the way we celebrate communion is deeply connected to how we Christians are called to live in the real world. In brief, “[I]f life and liturgy have to influence each other, liturgy must reflect the dialogue of life.” Today many Christian communities would agree that establishing friendly relations with those of other faiths is part and parcel of being a Christian in a pluralized world. In this essay, I explore the liturgical implications of this Christian commitment to interreligious dialogue. Focusing on the liturgical heart of the Christian tradition, I ask if a sharing of the sacred (communicatio in sacris) is possible between Christians and people of other faiths. This essay consists of two parts. First, I systematize the most important theological arguments in favor of sharing God’s table of bread and wine with members of other religions. I bring these arguments together in a theology of Eucharistic hospitality. In the second part, I ask questions, and formulate concerns and critical reflections. I do so not to close down the discussion but rather to further theological debate on Eucharistic hospitality and its limits. I write this essay, not as a liturgical theologian, but as an interreligious theologian in search of a balance between Christian commitment and openness toward the religious other.

On the role of ritual in interfaith education

Abstract In religious pedagogy focused on teaching religious diversity, two approaches are usually discussed: multireligious learning and interreligious learning. Here, I will explore both approaches and argue why I think interreligious learning is to be preferred. Interreligious learning, however, can take many forms. In academia learning tends to be focused on an exchange of experiences and insights mediated by a joint reading of both scholarly and sacred texts. For various reasons, however, I have come to consider this approach to be too limited, and I wish to explore the possibility of moving beyond texts to include symbolic practices in interreligious education.

‘The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29): A Theological Reflection

In 2015 the Commission for Religions Relations with the Jews published a document called ‘The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable’ (Rom 11:29): A Reflection on Theological Questions Pertaining to Catholic–Jewish Relations on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of ‘Nostra Aetate’ (no. 4). In this article I will focus in particular on some of the theological questions that are addressed in sections 3 through 6—questions that have increasingly moved into the foreground in the dialogue in recent decades. In particular, I will explore the relation between the old and new covenant, how the uniqueness and universality of salvation in Christ are related to the recognition that God’s covenant with Israel has never been revoked, and the question of the mission to the Jews. In presenting the document and grappling with it, (1) I will glance back briefly and outline the theological status quaestionis, I will then (2) analyze what new developments The Gifts formulates. Finally, moving beyond the document, (3) I will engage it in discussion.

Towards a Ritual Turn in Comparative Theology: Opportunities, Challenges, and Problems

Comparative theology generally begins from a study of texts, scriptural texts that have been canonized, and commentaries on these texts - as well as philosophical, theological and mystical treatises. Though this textual focus gives us access to some of the most subtle and nuanced reasonings developed in various traditions, I am concerned that this textual focus may limit our understanding of religion, and I am convinced that broadening the scope of comparative theology beyond texts will also contribute to the theological creativity of this approach. I hypothesize that, depending on the sort of source from which we theologize, different questions will come to mind relating to different theological problems. Indeed, turning to material and ritual practices, in addition to textual sources, will reveal aspects of the divine that remain invisible when one stays within the limits of textual study. I do not, in any way, want to turn this into an either/or story in which reading texts is placed over against engaging ritual and material practices. What I envision is a complementarity between textual and ritual comparison, not a privileging of one over the other.

Ricoeur, Interreligious Literacy and Scriptural Reasoning

More than ever, society today requires interreligiously literate people. This means people who do not seek the cover of their own symbolic community, where they meet only like-minds, but rather people who, not unlike the Greek God Hermes, have the flexibility to move between different worlds – communicating their convictions in a meaningful way to those who believe differently, and respectfully receiving the convictions of the other such that mutual enrichment and deepened self-understanding may result. Interreligious literacy is an expression of practical wisdom, which one acquires through experience. To achieve this requires pedagogical methods that enable a deep empathetic learning across traditions. This article develops an interreligious pedagogy that is inspired by Ricoeur’s hermeneutical anthropology and is made concrete in a practice called scriptural reasoning. Together with some theoretical reflections, I draw upon my experience as an interreligious educator to explain how scriptural reasoning as a practice of interreligious hospitality functions, the issues it raises, and the possibilities for new interreligious learning it opens up

Ricoeur and the wager of interreligious ritual participation

ABSTRACT Ricoeur’s proposal to understand the encounter between religions as a practice of ‘linguistic hospitality’ has appealed to many interreligious scholars. Usually, religious texts are at the heart of interreligious hermeneutics, turning Ricoeur’s linguistic hospitality into a practice of interreligious cross-reading (e.g. Scriptural reasoning, comparative theology). Recently, due to the influence of material and ritual scholars, the textual focus of interreligious hermeneutics has been criticized. Two criticisms are prominent. First, the assumption that understanding religious otherness is best mediated via language and texts leads (inter)religious scholars to minimize the ‘non-textual’ practices in religious life. Second, interreligious interpreters mistakenly assume that they can read all meaningful action and ritual performances, especially as texts. This assumption leads to a textualization of the world and does not take into account that there might be other ‘vehicles of intelligibility’ apart from texts. In this article, I explore to what extent the criticisms raised against Ricoeur’s interreligious hermeneutics are fair. I have learned from Ricoeur the importance of mediating between seemingly opposed positions, and I seek to follow his example in this article.

Theology Today: Comparative Theology as a Catholic Theological Approach

Comparative theology is a relatively novel theological approach that revolves around a practice of comparative reading of authoritative religious documents. The International Theological Commission’s Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles and Criteria (2012) develops a systematic-theological elaboration of the specificity of Catholic theology. Our author investigates the question whether and to what extent Theology Today may endorse comparative theology as a genuine expression of Catholic theology.