Peacemaking and the Challenge of Violence in World Religions

Peacemaking and the Challenge of Violence in World Religions is a comprehensive exploration of the history, beliefs and practices around peace and violence in seven of the world’s major religions. Written by expert practitioner–scholars, this textbook provides clear and systematic coverage of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Native American religions.

Each chapter introduces a different religion and its sacred texts; discusses ideas of peace, war, nonviolence, and permissible violence; recounts historical responses to violence; and highlights individuals working within the tradition toward peace and justice. At the end of each chapter there are critiques by practitioners of two other religions that create a rich dialogue between traditions. Other student–friendly pedagogical features include definitions of key terms, discussion questions, further reading sections, and a list of additional resources. This textbook is uniquely committed to discussing issues of peace and violence within their religious context in order to give readers a better understanding of the values, motivations, and ethics involved in these complex components of religion around the world.

Irfan A. Omar is Associate Professor of Islam and World Religions at Marquette University, USA. He teaches courses on Islam, interfaith dialogue, and World Religions and his research interests include Christian–Muslim and Hindu–Muslim dialogue. He is the editor or co–editor of several books, including The Judeo–Christian–Islamic Heritage: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives (2012) and A Christian View of Islam: Essays on Dialogue (2010). In 2006, he was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Muhammadiyah University Malang in Indonesia. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Ecumenical Studies and the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. He is also a member of the steering committee of the Ethics Section of the American Academy of Religion.

Michael K. Duffey is Associate Professor of Theology at Marquette University, USA. He is also Director of the Interdisciplinary Major in Peace Studies and founder of the Marquette Center for Peacemaking. He holds degrees in government and in religious studies and his research interests include post–conflict healing, interreligious peacemaking, and the history of nonviolence. He has been published widely in scholarly journals and is the author of three books: Sowing Justice, Reaping Peace: Case Studies of Racial, Religious, and Ethnic Healing Around the World (2001), Peacemaking Christians: The Future of Just War, Pacifism, and Nonviolence (1995), and Be Blessed in What You Do (1988).