Prof. Peter Muller began his talk by emphasizing the implication of the preposition “inter-“, which enables us to establish the notion of the interreligious dialog that has become more important than ever in Germany today. In the background of rising arguments about interreligious dialog, the conflict between Christians and non Christian immigrants especially the more that 4 million Muslims in Germany, we urgently need a theory of inter-religious dialog.

He introduced three types of models concerning the relationships of different religions: “exclusive model”, “inclusive model”, and “pluralistic model”. While the “exclusive model” stresses on the exclusiveness of one religion over the others, the “inclusive model” admits the existence of the absolute in other religions. The “pluralistic model” seeks equality and equal acceptance of all religions with their different doctrines and practices. He showed some arguments, which John Hick, Raimon Pannikar, and Paul F. Knitter have put forth, for our better understanding of the pluralistic model.

At the end of his lecture, Prof. Muller stressed the function of the education. He believes that school plays an important role in providing people with opportunities to learn how to make interreligious and intercultural dialogues.

Dr. Anita Muller introduced us some examples of how the concept of interreligious dialogue is incorporated into the curriculum of religious education at school: students have the chance to participate in non-Christian religious activities, such as visiting Islamic churches, and experiencing non-Christian celebrations; non-Christian students are invited to join church service; they have classes to learn religious texts, such as the Bible and the Koran.

Prof. Takashi Onuki (University of Tokyo) was in charge of the discussion, which followed their talk. Participants engaged in vigorous discussion on issues related to the differences between religious faith in Germany and Japan. The topic of religious education in Germany also drew their attention. Some questions focused on the details of how non-Christian religious traditions and cultures are introduced into the educational program.

Reported by Mariko Naito