Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-262) and index.

"Not as competitors but as pilgrims in search of the truth" -- Engaging religious difference: hospitality, hostility, charity -- Hermeneutics -- Christian interpretations of scripture in relation to Jews and Judaism -- Christian interpretations of scripture in relation to Muslims and Islam -- Christian interpretations of scripture in relation to Hindus and Hinduism -- Christian interpretations of scripture in relation to Buddhists and Buddhism -- Conversion: transformations in interpreting scripture in light of interreligious understanding.

When believers read the sacred texts of other religions through a "hermeneutic of hostility," the consequences can be deadly. Christian history shows that the Bible is no exception. In recent decades, however, many Christian traditions have radically refashioned their approach to other religious traditions and to biblical interpretation. This new "hermeneutics of generostiy" seeks to uncover what can be learned from other holy texts and the communities that treasure them, and also seeks to find common ground on important issues such as human rights and religious liberty. Lefebure offers Christian readings of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist holy texts that suggest new bases for friendship and understanding. Noting the challenges and tensions in the relationship between Christians and these four other religious communities, he also examines the specific issues involved in interpreting the Christian Bible in interreligious dialogue. He concludes with a reflection on the experience of conversion in light of the theology of Bernard Lonegan and the mimeisis theory of Rene Girard.