In the last decade or so there has been more attention paid to inter-religious dialogue. Which is a very good thing. The obvious focal point has been on Christian-Muslim conversation, but everything from Evangelical-Mormon to Atheist-Orthodox dialogue seems to be on the rise.

In the midst of this a young man uniquely qualified to add his voice has written Loving Our Religious Neighbors: How Christians can Bear the Fruit of the Spirit with Conviction in a Pluralistic Culture. Joshua Daneshforooz has a Christian mother, a Muslim father, a Buddhist step-father. Raised in an Evangelical tradition at a church in Las Vegas, Josh attended a bible college before transferring to Westmont College. From there he headed to Harvard to do his post-graduate studies and now works at Northwood Church in Dallas where he focuses on building interfaith teams. He’s an impressive young man with a unique voice in the inter-faith dialogue.

Loving Our Religious Neighbors draws on his background and presents a loving, gentle approach to building relationships within different religious traditions. The chapters are built around the Fruits of the Spirit — Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, etc. Josh draws out the meaning of these concepts and then applies them to inter-faith dialogue. It is clever in a very positive way.

The book’s approach allows it to be used as a study book, a sort of “how to” guide for building conversations with our religious neighbors. Actually, the sub-title of the book says it well with, “How Christians can Bear the Fruit of the Spirit with Conviction in a Pluralistic Culture.”

This is a very solid first book from a fresh voice. I look forward to seeing more from Josh in the future!

By the way, if you decide to buy a copy, click the link above or the cover below, and Amazon will give me a few cents …  which I will then give to PathLight International. I know that would make Josh happy!