Ecumenical and Interreligious Identities in Nigeria : Transformation through Dialogue

Dialogue can bring about transformation. That conviction grounds Ikenna Paschal Okpaleke’s argument concerning dialogue between groups and ecumenical and interreligious dialogue in particular. In Ecumenical and Interreligious Identities in Nigeria: Transformation through Dialogue, he examines the fundamental question: What are the additional assets and transformed views which Christian denominations committed to ecumenical dialogue can bring to the table of interreligious dialogue? If Christian dialogue partners, particularly in Nigeria (in this case, Anglicans and Roman Catholics), can change how they perceive one another—moving from antagonism to friendship, division to unity—then they, as ecumenically transformed Christians, can better engage in fruitful and transforming dialogue with the religious other, particularly Muslims. This book addresses (a) the constituents of communal identity and the impact of dialogue on such identity; (b) how the Anglican–Roman Catholic dialogue has (or has not) transformed the communal identities of the dialogue partners, particularly in the local context of Nigeria; (c) the ways in which the perceived advantages of a transformative model of dialogue, shaped by ecumenical encounter and dialogue, can be applied to interreligious encounter and dialogue; and (d) how theological reflection interacts with praxis in promoting transformation through dialogue.