Understanding Religion through the Eyes of Others

Stanley offers a different way of cultivating the empathy necessary for religious
pluralism. Move across time and space to understand religion and religious di\erence
through someone's else's eyes—and discover our own world anew.
Rabbi Dr. Rachel S. Mikva, Herman Schaalman Professor in Jewish Studies
Stanley models a deeply human approach to the study of (inter)religious encounter through vivid case studies drawn from diverse religious traditions. With meticulous care and rigorous empathy, he engages not only the ideas of these key historical thinkers but the lives and contexts from which they arose, with an eye to the religious diversity they embody and confront. By striving to see through the eyes of others, to the extent such a thing is possible, Stanley offers a compelling model for how we can study religion more deeply and critically in human-centered ways - especially for living well in religiously diverse secular democracies.
Dr. Hans S. Gustafson, Director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interreligious Studies, University of St. ThomasStanley offers us a unique and original book. Combining both a historical exegesis of texts and contexts with a focus on how we live in contemporary multicultural societies, his book attempts to help us see through other’s eyes while also understanding how past situations of diversity might be relevant to us. Accessible to upper undergraduates and graduate students, this challenging book can bring a new vision to the classroom for teaching religion to promote deliberative democracy.
Professor Paul Hedges, Professor of Interreligious Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore