Dialogical Transformation: Exploring Avenues of Interreligious Dialogue as a Practice Promoting Spiritual Growth

In the midst of growing religious plurality and diversity,

interreligious dialogue has been an increasingly prominent response to

this situation. The present project analyzes the history and

significance of interreligious encounter, particularly in the U.S.

American context but with implications that go beyond this setting.

Focus is placed on the hermeneutical character of dialogue and its

transformative power, examining what transformation means primarily

through the lenses of philosophical hermeneutics.

The transformation that arises from interfaith encounter involves a

realized experience of truth disclosure. This event of growth is

elucidated as transformation by integration, incorporating elements of

the other into one’s own religious identity. This involves a renewal,

expansion, and enhancement of understanding. For further illustration,

the Buddhist and Christian traditions and their soteriological

frameworks for transformation are explored. It is argued that

interreligious dialogue, as a religious practice, engenders and supports

the liberating transformation present in each religious worldview.