Phenomenology and dialogue: A methodological consideration

Dialogue between religions, if it is to advance beyond polite posturing and into the arena whereby mutual mis‐perceptions are corrected and old dogmas transcended, requires a particular framework for discourse, a language that belongs to neither religion in isolation but to both in the context of the dialogical encounter. With the specifics of Christian‐Muslim dialogue in mind this paper asks the question: What methodological tools are required such that dialogical engagement may take place at the conceptual and ideological level? We argue that the theological dimension of dialogue requires the particular tools of the phenomenologist of religion; indeed that the path to a dialogue that seeks to address the deep and thorny issues requires, in fact, the complementary methodologies of the theological and phenomenological approaches. To this end, the matter of defining the term ‘religion’ is addressed, various approaches to the study of religion are noted, and the phenomenological method outlined and discussed.