Acknowledgements IX
1
Introduction: It Takes Two to Dialogue 1
1.1
Letters and Conference Statements 3
1.2
Jordanian Roots 6
1.3
The Common Word Process and Academia 7
1.4
Goal: To Understand What These Men are Doing 8
2
We Muslims and You Christians: A Common Word between Us and You 13
2.1
A Complex Text: Structure and Main Argument 14
2.2
Textual Forerunners 17
2.3
A Common Word: A Second Open Letter 24
2.4
Using Sacred Texts 26
2.5
Publication, Promotion and Related Dialogue Initiatives 35
2.7
What Does acw Do? 47
2.8
Conclusion: It Takes Two to Dialogue 52
3
The First Christian Responses 55
3.1
Response from David Ford 56
3.2
Senior Church Leaders Respond 58
3.3
An Alternative Reading: Michael Nazir-Ali 62
3.4
Conclusion 63
4
Roman Catholic Responses 64
4.1
Catholic-Muslim Dialogue since the Second Vatican Council 65
4.2
First Official Catholic Responses to acw 74
4.3
Five Substantial Commentaries from Four Scholars 75
4.5
Conclusion 93
5
The Yale Response: Loving God and Neighbor Together 96
5.1
An Advertisement in the New York Times 97
5.2
Interacting with acw: Arguments, Speech Acts, Construals 100
5.3
Bodily Gestures, but Little Flesh 106
5.4
Conclusion 108
6
World Evangelical Alliance: We Too Want to Live in Love, Peace, Freedom and Justice 111
6.1
The Text and Its Main Arguments 112
6.2
What wwll Does 117
6.3
Different Difference 121
6.4
Interpreting Evangelicals: Beyond Polite Dialogue? 122
6.5
Conclusion 124
7
World Council of Churches: Learning to Explore Love Together 126
7.1
Four Decades of Christian-Muslim Dialogue 127
7.2
Learning to Explore Love Together: A Resource Document 132
7.3
Conclusion 138
8
Rowan Williams: A Common Word for the Common Good 140
8.1
Background and Context 141
8.2
The Text and Its Main Arguments 144
8.3
What the Text Does 152
8.4
Managing Differences Discursively 158
8.5
Conclusion 165
9
Orthodox Church Leaders: Responses from Five Contexts 167
9.1
Response from Archbishop Mor Eustathius Matta Roham, Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch 168
9.2
Response from Catholicos Aram i, Armenian Orthodox Church 172
9.3
Response from the See of Etchmiadzin (The Armenian Orthodox Church) 174
9.4
Response from Patriarch Alexy ii of Moscow and all Russia 177
9.5
Response from Archbishop Chrisostomos ii of Cyprus 181
10
We Muslims and Christians Together: Statements from Dialogue Conferences 185
10.1
Declaration from the Yale University Conference, July 2008 187
10.2
Communique from the Cambridge Conference, October 2008 192
10.3
Declaration from the Catholic-Muslim Forum, November 2008 197
10.5
Conclusion: acw as Proposition and Invitation 208
11
Lessons 210
11.1
Making Sense of a Common Word 210
11.2
Cross-cutting Topics 212
11.3
Religion and the Religious 216
11.4
The Myth of Interreligious Dialogue 219
11.5
A Hermeneutics of Good Will 226
11.6
Managing Difference – In-groups and Out-groups 232
Bibliography 243
Index of Names and Subjects 260