The Interfaith Movement

In 1942, in the shadow of the inhumanity of World War II, Archbishop William Temple co-founded the Council of Christians and Jews. Fast forward nearly sixty years and the question of Christian relations with Jewish people, and now more commonly with Muslims and other minority religions, remains pertinent. Circumstances and contexts have changed, but the difficulty of interreligious or interfaith relations is one which many people of faith (and indeed, many from non-religious backgrounds) are still grappling with.

In the fifth book in this first Temple Tract series on religion and public life, Philip Lewis and Charlotte Dando offer a critical introduction to the “Interfaith Movement”. The authors track the historic development of interfaith work at both institutional and grassroots levels, with a special focus on Anglican-Muslim relations in England. From reflecting on successful interfaith work the authors move on to asking difficult questions about the role and sustainability of the interfaith movement, and propose a series of recommendations aimed at ensuring that this significant work has a strong and positive future.