This book started as a doctoral thesis at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo. It would not have been completed without the continuous support and invaluable advice of my supervisor professor Oddbjørn Leirvik. I am also very grateful to my two examiners, professor Catherine Cornille and professor Nicholas Adams, who read the dissertation carefully and provided constructive criticism and also encouragement, which helped the project develop further.
The Faculty of Theology at the University of Oslo has provided the collegial space which academic work requires. I am deeply grateful to colleagues and friends who have supported the project directly by reading and responding to earlier drafts and indirectly by participating in ongoing discussions about interreligious relations and the role of religion in pluralistic societies.
In the winter of 2014 I spent three months at the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, which gave me new perspectives and further inspiration. My thanks go to all at the centre who welcomed me into their fellowship of reflection and research.
Numerous friends and colleagues also beyond the academic institutions where I have been based, not least those from various faiths whom I have learnt to know over many years of participation in interreligious cooperation, have helped me develop my understanding both of the topic of this book, the Common Word dialogue process, and of Muslim-Christian relations more generally.