George C. Papademetriou, Editor – Two Traditions, One Space: Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Dialogue. Reviewed in The Hellenic Voice

(Hellenic Voice, January 18, 2012.)

“Two Traditions, One Space: Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Dialogue” is now available as a paperback. The Rev. Dr. George C. Papademetriou, edited the book, which includes a foreword from an Orthodox perspective, by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I and a foreword from a Muslim perspective by Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub.

For centuries Orthodox Christians and Muslims have co-existed in close proximity to each other. This volume gathers scholarly studies about their historic connections, as well as contemporary efforts at dialogue that promote understanding between adherents of these two world religions.

Dr. Rodney Petersen, Boston Theological Institute executive director, said that the book draws “together articles that sketch important areas for dialogue - Jesus as prophet, categories for historic Byzantine and contemporary inter-religious dialogue, reflection on key players such as John of Damascus and St. Gregory of Palamas, the role of Aristotle in Islamic and Christian thought, and the Jesus Prayer and Dhikr in comparative piety - to name but a few.”

The book also offers “rich insight into the theological dialogue between Orthodox Christianity and Islam that goes back centuries in the land where Muslims and Orthodox Christians first interacted as neighbors,” said Dr. Antonios Kireopoulos, associate general secretary, faith and order and interfaith relations for the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA.

The front cover image is a contemporary mosaic (ca. 1980s) depicting Patriarch Gennadios in dialogue with Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror after the capture of Constantinople in 1453. It is located at the Orthodox Christian Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul, Turkey.