Scriptural Reasoning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scriptural Reasoning is an emerging practice among and between Christians, Jews, and Muslims, of reading their sacred Scriptures together, and reasoning together on particular contemporary issues. The practice grounds debate in the respective religious texts, encouraging participants to be both self-critical and deeply rooted in their commitments to their own particular faith.

Participants in the process meet together, and read and discuss passages from the Tanakh, the Bible, and the Qu'ran on a given topic -- say, the figure of Abraham, or consideration of legal and moral issues of property-holding. The conversations that grow out of this practice lead to the growth of friendships, even while they also preserve differences between the practitioners of the various faiths. Unlike some inter-religious dialogues, far from being an encounter in which the participants agree that they are all basically saying the same thing, Scriptural Reasoning sessions display passionate commitment in the context of careful listening to the other, and so occasionally even feature argument.

The key to Scriptural Reasoning is the element of relationship among the participants. This enables honesty and openness; it also inculcates in the practitioners a 'feel' for the other's Scriptures, while remaining committed to one's own.[1] In order to encourage these relationships, the practice of Scriptural Reasoning is intentionally undertaken in settings which belong to none of the three faiths -- so they do not meet in churches, synagogues or mosques. Instead, they think of the places they do meet as a Biblical 'tent of meeting', drawing on imagery from Genesis 28.[2] As a result, the context for the meetings is one of mutual hospitality, as each participant is both host and guest.

The founding participants of the Societies for Scriptural Reasoning include David F. Ford, Daniel W. Hardy, and Peter Ochs.

In these conversations, and in this deep engagement with the sacred texts of these three faiths, it is hoped that new light might be shed on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

Historical precursors to the modern practice of Scriptural Reasoning may be found in the Late Medieval period in parts of Western Europe, notably in Muslim Spain and in medieval France and Italy.[3]