Page 270 - Encyclopedia Of World History

620 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Indian religious leader Vivekananda who
played a leading role in bringing Hinduism
to the attention of the western world in the
early 1900s.

meaning in a disenchanted modern world, and for poten-
tial allies in an era of growing secularization. This inter-
est in the non-Christian traditions is loosely analogous to
the way the study of world history itself has been broad-
ened, and the effort to overcome earlier Eurocentrism in
how Westerners made sense of their place in the world.
Adam K.Webb

See also Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement

Further Reading
Kryanev,Y. (1980). Christian ecumenism. Moscow: Progress Publishers.
Panikkar, R. (1964). The unknown Christ of Hinduism. London: Darton,
Longman, and Todd.
Rizvi, S.A.A. (1975). Religious and intellectual history of the Muslims in
Akbar’s reign, with special reference to Abu’l Fazl. New Delhi, India:
Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers.
Ronan, C. E., & Oh, B. B. C. (Eds.). (1988). East meets West:The Jesuits
in China, 1582–1773. Chicago: Loyola University Press.
Rouse, R., Neill, S. C., & Fey, H. E. (Eds.). (1970). A history of the ecu-
menical movement, 1517–1968. London: Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge.
Sagovsky, N. (2000). Ecumenism, Christian origins and the practice of
communion. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Schuon, F. (1975). The transcendent unity of religions (P. Townsend,
Trans.). New York: Harper and Row.
Till, B. (1972). The Church’s search for unity. Baltimore: Penguin Books.
strong among Evangelicals and others who consider it
misguided to downplay core doctrinal commitments, or
who for various reasons dislike the political agendas that
ecumenicism has embraced. Often the strongest voices of
present-day religious resurgence, such as born-again Education
Christians, have affirmed their identities in a way that
leaves little room for ecumenical bridge-building. ducation is a process or the result of a process by
Ewhich people acquire knowledge, skills, habits, val-
World Religions and the ues, or attitudes. It may also be defined as growth—the
Broadening of Horizons cumulative effect of changes in behavior resulting from
In the last few decades, the scope of ecumenicism has experience, both planned and unplanned, and may be
also expanded to include openness to non-Christian reli- defined as learning acquired through formal and informal
gions. Theological dialogues with Jews and Muslims, processes. This would include directed learning from a
who share many of the same historical and metaphysical teacher, mentor, priest, or other adult specifically charged
reference points, are one example.The broadening of ecu- with instructional duties, but much education also takes
menicism also reflects a growing Western interest, espe- place outside the classroom through interaction with fam-
cially since mid-century, in Asian religious traditions such ily, peer groups, and community.
as Buddhism. Ecumenically minded clergy and layper- Ideally, education should help people to become more
sons alike often look beyond Christianity for sources of productive members of society, both as citizens sharing