This coedited volume brings together top scholars in the fields of the theology of religions and comparative theology. Its title mentions neither of these disciplines, however, and this absence suggests to me a progressive insight in the literature. The volume moves beyond without neglecting the soteriological focus of many theologies of religions and displays a more expansive vision for interreligious engagement and its repertoire of goals. Similarly, it anticipates the integration rather than isolation of studies in comparative theology with respect to larger, collaborative theological projects. As a whole, the book suggests that contemporary, religiously plural contexts require Christian theologians to mine the resources of tradition faithfully and creatively, while also responsibly acknowledging “otherness” and the potential for that acknowledgment to displace normal patterns in Christian discourse. In short, the volume delivers in a way that suggests a constructive rather than historical reading of the title: “The Past, Present, and Future of Theologies of Interreligious Dialogue.”

The volume divides into three parts according to what coeditor Terrence Merrigan calls “the triple axis … at the heart of any and all theological reflection, namely, ‘tradition,’ ‘experience,’ and the ‘encounter with otherness’” (3). The first part, “The Reappropriation of the Christian Doctrinal Tradition,” includes contributions that address (1) Christology (Merrigan), (2) pneumatology (Dermot A. Lane), (3) theological hermeneutics of commonality and difference (Annemarie C. Mayer), (4) postconciliar understandings of Jews and Judaism (Gavin D'Costa), and (5) trajectories in postconciliar thinking about the religions (Ilaria Morali). Each of these essays engages the theme of tradition and its capacity for change or development; their varying sensibilities create a more challenging, provocative consideration of the issues than what a single contribution could accomplish. Where Lane, for example, presses the tradition for resources suitable to faithful discernment of the Spirit within the church and other religions, Moralia incisively questions the very possibility of a “theology of interreligious dialogue.”

The second part, “The Appeal to (Religious) Experience,” suggests a return to the lived reality of believers and a renewal of attention to the meaning of doctrine. It begins with coeditor John Friday's constructive interrogation and retrieval of the rather fraught category of religious experience and its potential for facilitating connections across religious borders. The essay by Wouter Biesbrouck offers a stimulating evangelical perspective to this largely Roman Catholic collection. He suggests strategies for evangelical theology to legitimize a spirits-filled cosmology in interreligious contexts and challenges theologians of the Global North to take seriously the expressions of the majority of Christians, who now live in the Global South. Michelle Voss Roberts underscores the crucial role of the body in the performance of theology. She argues compellingly that a comparative engagement with (Hindu) rasa theory can inform a richer, more complex appreciation of how experience serves as a source for Christian theology.

The final part of the book is titled “The Acknowledgment of Otherness,” and includes some of the most interesting, well-known academics currently writing in the fields of comparative and interreligious theology: Jeannine Hill Fletcher, Francis X. Clooney, Marianne Moyaert, Catherine Cornille, and Felix Wilfred. The essays by Fletcher and Moyaert push theology to move (or move further) in important, new directions. The former uses the famous 1893 World's Parliament of Religions as a case study for interrogating how a theology of religious pluralism always does the kind of work in social and political milieu that requires critical analysis of the intersections of race, gender, and religious difference; the latter explores the possibility of expanding the compass of comparative theology beyond preoccupation with religious texts as to include rituality. It thus gives priority to vital themes that in fact (and to its credit) surface at several places in this volume, for example: embodiment, experiential forms of learning and symbolic practices, “lived religion,” and the politics of representation.

Though these relatively short essays may appeal more immediately to readers with relevant background knowledge, they will serve well for both graduate and advanced undergraduate seminars in their explorations of constructive directions in the field. On a final note, a couple of the chapters refer to a 2014 symposium at KU Leuven, entitled “Between Doctrine and Discernment,” as their initial context. The theme of discernment runs throughout the volume and effectively anchors the many reflections, which, taken together, challenge theologians to find new ways forward in interreligious engagements.