Viewpoints: The Value of Inter-Faith Dialogue

The purpose of inter-faith dialogue is evidently not to arrive at or achieve a common set of beliefs giving up for the sake of unity one\u27s own religion\u27s cherished doctrines. Its aim is not to accomplish a merger, as of two political parties or groups, nor to arrive at the lowest measure of agreement in religious beliefs. If the participants in a dialogue are only light half-believers in a casual creed who never deeply loved or deeply felt their dialogue will remain at only a superficial level. The paradox therefore in such meetings is that those who dialogue must be persons of deep conviction and personal commitment to their faith and yet are eager to keep their minds open to beliefs and traditions other than their own, ready to learn from them and to fill up gaps in their own religious experience and knowledge