If the Vatican would drop claims of exclusivity over religious truth, and reexamine dogmas such as the Nicene Creed, it would pressure other denominations of Christianity to follow suit.

At a time when conflict is already lethal and interreligious understanding is more urgently needed than ever, some might argue that we should gloss over the points of difference. I agree about the need for interreligious understanding; I disagree about the recipe for achieving it.

I suspect that people who have made such statements doubting that Islam is a religion often do have knowledge and a real conception of what a religion is and they are able to listen to a discourse if it is respectful.

Rather than encourage people to focus on similarities, Scriptural Reasoning helps people learn how to live with differences and how to engage in civil disagreement.

In our studies of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, one thing has been particularly striking: the exclusivism of the Abrahamic religions. Jews are the "chosen people," the path of Jesus is the "only way" and Muhammad's was the "final revelation."

Is it religion that specially tempts people to intolerance or just plain old human nature? Are human beings as such tempted to intolerance?

The significance of such an approach to dialogues is not dependent upon whether both sides agree or disagree on a given issue; rather, that we are comfortable accepting these differences as a starting point.

Some Middle East church leaders, it seems, never embraced the Vatican's denunciation of theological anti-Semitism.