Inter-Religious Dialogue Circle

In the beginning of the '80s, the Inter-Religious Dialogue Circle developed out of a seminar on "Theology of the Religions" held by Prof. Dr. Olaf Schumann at the Department of Evangelical Theology at Hamburg University. It was triggered by the presence of Buddhist and Muslim students at the seminar which created an opportunity not just to talk about inter-religious dialogue but to practice it right away. The semester finished with papers on "The Claim of Absoluteness in the Religions" from a Buddhist, Christian and Muslim perspective followed by an animated discussion and the suggestion to continue and extend this kind of work, together with invitations to connect the Buddhist presentation with a visit to the Tibetan Centre in Berne and the Muslim presentation with a visit to the Islamic Centre. The target groups were first of all students of theology and later on education, not to mention the numerous interested guests.

Stupa at the Buddhist Tibetan Centre

In the meantime, a regular team including Prof. Schumann and the regular lecturers from the religious communities took over the responsibility to plan the programme. Judaism is now also represented by Regional Rabbi Barsiley. A topic is chosen for each semester which is then presented from the perspective of the participating religions in two sessions each. The lecturers or at least representatives of the four faith groups are supposed to be present in all sessions in order to offer a chance for further questions. Thus, numerous topics like "Prayer and Meditation", "Life after Death", "The Founders of the Religions", "Ethics" etc. have been discussed in the course of time. Again and again, the participants discover many things the religions have in common, but the differences are not ignored at all but discussed in a lively manner. It was not possible to publish all contributions. But some other projects were initialized in this circle.

After a planning session

Two of them are the exhibitions on "Women in the Religions" and "Saints" that give informations about these topics with pictures and words (catalogue) and can be borrowed through the Evangelical Students' Community. The Inter-Religious Dialogue Circle was also represented at the Church Congress in Hamburg with contributions on spirituality, ethics, economy and society. Once the Circle had the opportunity to introduce its work in a series of lectures at the Evangelical Academy. In critical times like the 2nd Gulf War and the war in Bosnia, the desire was felt not just to talk about things but to do something together; in this context, Christian-Muslim meditations were arranged in cooperation with the Evangelical Students' Community, consisting of passages from the Scriptures, reflections and prayers from each religion. Finally the topic "Education in the Religions" built up the link with the Institute for Pedagogics and Theology which lead to a cooperation of the religious communities in the development of religious education in schools.

Opening an exhibition

Although the opportunities for students of theology and comparative religion to meet authentic teachers from the different religons and to get first-hand informations are increasing in most Western countries today, this approach is unique in Germany. It would be desirable to extend it in order to open the opportunity for this experience to more students since theologians and teachers will have to deal with an increasing multi-religious variety which has already materialized in modern metropolitan areas.

After a lecture in a church

Since the meetings are generally held in German, the semester programme is not available in English. For details, please contact

Seminar für Missions- Religions- und Ökumenewissenschaft
Sedanstr. 19,
Hamburg,
Phone +49 (0)40-41233775

Back to Inter-Religious Dialogue Index
Home Page