463 - Christianity and Islam: The Struggling Dialogue

Christianity and Islam: The Struggling Dialogue
Richard W. Rousseau, S.J.
Scranton, Ridge Row Press, 1985. 229 pp. $18.50.

Current international tensions make it more urgent than ever that Christians and Muslims get on with the business of talking with and trying to understand each other. This fourth volume in a series on interfaith dialogue, all edited by Rousseau, contributes to the furtherance of that end. It is a collection of articles, all of which have appeared elsewhere, ranging from some very theoretical/ philosophical pieces to discussions of past and continuing institutional efforts at dialogue to specific descriptions of Muslim-Christian relations in various parts of the world. Several points should be noted: First, although the volume was published in 1985, only two of the twelve selections were written after 1980. Second, with only one exception, none of the authors of the several entries is Muslim. Third, aside from a very brief summary at the end of the introduction, there is no attempt by the editor to draw implications from the material presented.

Jane I. Smith
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, Mass.