INTERRELIGIOUS RELATIONS
Occasional Papers of The Studies in Inter-Religious Relations
in Plural Societies Programme
Editors:
Professor Abdullah Saeed, University of Melbourne, Australia, and Advisor to the SRP Programme,
RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Dr Paul Hedges, SRP Programme, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Editorial Assistant: Luca Farrow, SRP Programme, RSIS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
ISSUE 35: August 2026, 19 pp.
Perry Schmidt-Leukel: The Pluralistic Potential:
An Interreligious Theology for Truth and Peace
— Mehr zu Perry Schmidt-Leukel (IRB-Materialzusammenstellung) >>>
— Der vollständige Beitrag (englisch) hier >>>
Abstract
The paper provides a concise synthesis of Perry Schmidt-Leukel’s key ideas in the theology of religions
understood as an interreligious theology. Starting with an analysis of the challenge of religious diversity
to each of the religious traditions, he argues that their traditional approaches are incapable of seeing
religious diversity as a religious value, which constitutes a significant part of the religious conflict
potential. While the imperative of tolerance is important to domesticate the religious conflict potential,
true peace between the religions can only be achieved by a religious appreciation of religious diversity.
This requires a pluralist theology, which can and needs to be developed from within each of the religious
traditions and will lead to an interreligious theology. The awareness of religious diversity as not only an
inter-religious but also intra-religious phenomenon that is even observed at the smallest level of
individual religiosity leads to the discovery of recurrent, i.e. fractal patterns in religious diversity. This
discovery is highly relevant to the question of how to appreciate religious diversity religiously, because
it may provide insights into possible complementarities of religious differences and has the potential to
foster interreligious learning. In conclusion, the paper highlights some features of a spirituality congenial
to this conception of interreligious theology.
Introduction
My first published monograph was a study in the understanding of death in the Pāli-Buddhist
tradition. [1] Since then, Buddhist Studies remained one of my major research fields.[2] But it soon expanded
to studies in Buddhist-Christian relations.[3] This, then, triggered two further, closely interconnected
strands of research: interreligious relations in general and the challenge that religious diversity presents
to each of the major religious traditions.4 The present paper5 gives a concise synthesis of my key ideas
in the latter field. Within Christianity this is often called “theology of religions.” Here, however, I use the
term in the sense of Wilfred Cantwell Smith who suggested that it should mean a theology about religions
as done by the religions,[6] “a theology that will give intellectual expression to our faith, the faith of all of us”[7]
– in other words, a “collaborative” (John D’Arcy May[8] ) or interreligious theology.
I will also include some reflections on which features of spirituality might be congenial to such an understanding of theology.[9]
My ideas are based on the work of pioneering thinkers such as Wilfred Cantwell Smith, John
Hick and various others. So, they are “my” ideas only in the sense that I try to elaborate on what I learned
from those thinkers.
Herein I will not explicate new ideas. However, the synthesis ties together and collates the key
theories and concepts that I have developed over many years and shows their connections and
underlying patterns in new ways. As such, this stands as the primary summary of my thinking on
pluralism and the theology of religions in the widest context. The argument will proceed via several
steps. First, explaining why religious diversity is a challenge to the religions and setting out my version
of the theology of religions typology. I then address the social challenge raised when religions do not
adopt a pluralist stance and why mere tolerance is not enough, rather we need a pluralist interpretation
of religious diversity. I will show that pluralism is compatible with religious worldviews and then show
why my fractal interpretation of religion helps demonstrate how it can be understood. This leads to me
addressing the complementarity of religions and how this can lead to an interreligious theology as the
logical result of this pluralist stance that avoids the potential for violent antagonism between religions