Journal of Ecumenical Studies

PRECIS:

“Theology without walls” will need its own theoretical basis. One eminently relevant potential contributor to formulating this will be Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1916–2000), who was vitally involved in providing basic concepts for the burgeoning interfaith dialogue programs of the 1970’s and 1980’s. This essay highlights many of these: the singularity and universality of faith, faith as the foundational category for all human life, “religion in the singular,” and the conceivability of a “world theology.” As we pass from a stage of tentative and intermittent exploratory interfaith dialogue to a time when all of us are gladly involved in “colloquy” (Smith’s term), there is much in Smith’s writings to guide us as we share together in the search for “ultimate value” and “ultimate truth.”