The Need for a Hermeneutics of Tolerance, Mutual Respect and Peaceful Coexistence for a Healthy Christian-Muslim Relations

The Need for a Hermeneutics of Tolerance, Mutual Respect and Peaceful Coexistence for a Healthy Christian-Muslim Relations

Edward Agboada

Issue: Vol.8 No.6 July 2022 Issue Article 1 pp.145-155
DOI : https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2022861 | Published online 5th July 2022.
© 2022 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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ABSTRACT

Christian-Muslim relations in recent times have raised concerns the world over. There have been increments in polemics and prejudices. Although the root causes of many of these have been political, religion has often been used as a tool to manipulate sentiments and legitimatize the political and social agenda. The lack of a hermeneutics of tolerance, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence for Christian Mission and Muslim Da’wah activities continue to create the, ‘we’ and ‘them’, and the ‘majority’ versus ‘minority’ status. The challenge is to strive not only to nurture their separate learning in order to survive in the increasingly religiously pluralistic world but to find effective and more efficient ways to interact and collaborate across differences of faith and non-faith environments. This paper discusses the need for hermeneutics of tolerance, peaceful coexistence and mutual respect between Christians and Muslims. It concludes that when Christians and Muslims come to an understanding of each other, it keeps out intruders like politicians who would want to manipulate their religion for political and economic benefits, remove religious barriers and create opportunities. This article contributes to the dialogue on religious tolerance and its importance in fostering societal growth and development.

Keywords: Hermeneutics, Interfaith, Interreligious, Peaceful, Tolerance, Dialogue, Encounters, Christian-Muslim, Relations

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AUTHOR(S)

Edward Agboada is an Ordained Minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana. He is currently a research student at the Department of Religious Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi – Ghana. He holds a variety of academic and professional certificates including CIM, Dip. Th., BD (TTS) and MPhil (KNUST), MEd Educational Studies. He was a Senior Lecturer at the Ramseyer Training Center – Abetifi, Ghana where he teaches courses in World Religions, Islamic Studies, Christian-Muslim, Interfaith dialogue, Cross-Cultural Missions, New Religious Movements, Homiletic, and studies in African Traditional Religions.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Agboada E., “The Need for a Hermeneutics of Tolerance, Mutual Respect and Peaceful Coexistence for a Healthy Christian-Muslim Relations,” E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies, 8 no.6 (2022): 145-155. https://doi.org/10.38159/erats.2022861