Chinese Translation of „Transformation by Integration“
The monograph “Transformation by Integration” by the scholar of religious studies and theologian Prof. Dr. Perry Schmidt-Leukel from the Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics” has been published in Chinese translation by the Religious Culture Publishing House, Beijing, in the early October. The translation was done by Dr. Rong Wang, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Guizhou University, Guiyang, People’s Republik of China. The book, which was first released in English in 2009, deals with the reciprocal impact of interreligious encounter. On the one hand, there is the conflict potential in that religions may perceive each other as reciprocal threats. On the other hand, there is the opportunity of creative mutual transformation as the subtitle, “How inter-faith encounter changes Christianity”, tells.
A growing number of people experience their own spiritual lives as being inspired by more than one religious tradition. Multi-religious identity formation and double-belonging are obvious signs of a significant transformation resulting from inter-faith encounter – a phenomenon that has a long tradition in China. “Transformation by Integration” looks more deeply at a number of issues involved, including: What does it mean theologically to move beyond tolerance towards a genuine appreciation of other religions? How can multi-religious identity be assessed theologically? According to Schmidt-Leukel, we will have to reconsider the widespread dismissal of syncretism. He points out how inter-faith encounter leads to new forms of interreligious theology. Schmidt-Leukel takes the next step based on a pluralist paradigm within the theology of religions.
Prof. Dr. Perry Schmidt-Leukel is a specialist in Buddhist-Christian dialogue and a leading proponent of a pluralistic theology of religions. (ill/dak)