Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism

Coeditor, Sharing the Book: Religious Perspectives on the Rights and Wrongs of Proselytism (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1999, repr. ed. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2008) (with Richard C. Martin)

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Description

More than a dozen religious leaders offer authoritative statements and analyses of classic and contemporary perspectives on mission activity and conversion in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

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Table of Contents

• Introduction:  Proselytizers and Proselytizees on the Sharp Arête of Modernity – Martin E. Marty

1. Proselytism in Judaism – David Novak
2. Proselytism and Jewish Law:  Inreach, Outreach, and the Jewish Tradition – Michael J. Broyde
3. Antisemitism and Proselytism:  Judaism, Christianity, and Islam – Jocelyn Hellig
4. Jihad for Hearts and Minds:  Proselytizing in the Qur’an and First Three Centuries of Islam – Donna A. Arzt
5. Conversion to Islam by Invitation:  Proselytism and the Negotiation of Identity in Islam – Richard C. Martin
6. Muslims Engaging the Other and the Humanum – Farid Esack
7. Proselytism and Witness in Earliest Christianity:  An Essay on Origins – Luke Timothy Johnson
8. The Great Commission and the Canon Law:  The Catholic Law of Mission – James Muldoon
9. Missionary Challenges to the Theology of Salvation:  A Roman Catholic Perspective – Josef Tomko
10. Deciding for God:  The Right to Convert in Protestant Perspectives – Max L. Stackhouse and Deirdre King Hainsworth
11. Evangelism and Mission in the Orthodox Tradition – Vigen Guroian
12. The Missionary Work of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – Dallin H. Oaks and Lance B. Wickman
13. Human Rights, Evangelism, and Proselytism – W. Glen How and Philip Brumley
14. Proselytism and Religious Freedom in the Seventh-day Adventist Church – Norman K. Miles
15. A Bahá’í Perspective on Tolerance, Human Rights, and Missions – Firuz Kazemzadeh
16. Evangelism sans Proselytism:  A Possibility? – M. Thomas Thangaraj

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Reviews

"Well researched. Well written. Enlightening. Indispensable for anyone who grapples with the ethical issues generated by proselytism as they relate to conversion, religious liberty, and persecution."
-- Kenneth B. Mulholland, Columbia Biblical Seminary & Graduate School of Missions

"This book confronts one of the most important issues facing believers who live in the current religiously pluralistic world, proselytism. It is essential for everyone to be aware of the wide spectrum of views presented in this volume if destructive interfaith conflict within multifaith societies is to be avoided or at least reduced."
-- John Voll, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

"Religious pluralism is a major issue globally and domestically. The Children of Abraham (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) have had a long and at times contentious history influenced by theologies of proselytism. Sharing the Book provides an important and challenging discussion and perspective on past realities and future possibilities."
-- John L. Esposito, Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University

"Sharing the Book is an enormous contribution to the understanding of how human rights can be understood and justified in a world wide context. It explains the grounds, and also the limits, of our hopes for universally recognized human rights from a variety of religious perspectives."
-- Rabbi Elliot Dorff, American Jewish University
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"How proselytism relates to human rights has proved highly contentious. The variety of perspectives afforded in this timely collection will help illuminate many important points and stimulate discussion."
-- Ann Mayer, University of Pennsylvania

“Sharing the Book is the ‘overview’ volume in a massive and brilliantly orchestrated five-volume series on proselytism … that will constitute the definitive study of religious and human rights questions posed by proselytism for years to come.”
​-- W. Cole Durham, Jr., Journal of Law and Religion

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