From time to time I like to spotlight on this blog books and authors that I am finding interesting and/or compelling. These days, one such author if Perry Schmidt-Leukel.
Schmidt-Leukel is Professor of Religious Studies and Intercultural Theology at the University of Münster in Germany, where he serves as the head of the Institute for Religious Studies and Inter-Faith Theology. He has also taught at the Universities of Munich, Innsbruck and Salzburg, as well as the University of Glasgow. Much of his writing explores topics such as Buddhist-Christian dialogue, the theology of religions and interfaith theology. He is the author of books like Transformation by Integration: How Inter-Faith Encounter Changes Christianity (SCM Press, 2009); Religious Pluralism and Interreligious Theology: The Gifford Lectures—An Extended Edition (Orbis Books, 2017), and his latest book, The Celestial Web: Buddhism and Christianity, A Different Comparison (Orbis Books, 2024).
He has grabbed my attention because of two ideas associated with him: the pluralist approach to inter-religious theology, and the fractal interpretation of religions.
In his writing, Schmidt identifies three ways in which adherents of a faith — any faith — relate to the adherents of other faiths:
- Exclusivism is the belief that your faith is the only “true” faith, and that all other faiths are erroneous in some major way;
- Inclusivism is the idea that your faith is the best or “most true” faith, so all other faiths might have some measure of truth or value, but they are all inferior to the “truest” religion;
- Pluralism starts from a place of recognition that all faiths have different strengths and weaknesses, and that it is a waste of time to try to prove or argue over which faith is objectively the best or most true.
I think I tend to equate religious exclusivism with fundamentalist or conservative theology, while inclusivism seems to me often to be an expression of more liberal theologies — most liberal Catholics, for example, tend to be inclusivists, respectful of other faiths but still insisting that their faith is the best or most true. Finally, inter-religious pluralism is often hard to find in religious circles, but what a beautiful perspective it is, radically respecting all faiths even while adhering to one faith in particular.
His ideas about pluralism would be enough for me to consider Schmidt-Leukel an important voice in contemporary theology, but his fractal approach to religion and theology is even more exciting, in my opinion.
Schmidt-Leukel’s “fractal theory” of religions in a nutshell: just as fractal art represents the logical repetition of patterns although each one in slightly different form, so too is fractal theology a recognition that elements found in any one religion can typically also be found in all religions — which means that all the religions of the world have much more in common than what separates them from each other. It’s a fascinating theory of religious pluralism, and I believe a compelling one, and has certainly impacted my commitment to interspirituality as a radical expression of love and respect for all.
“Love your neighbors,” as Jesus was fond of saying. Religious pluralism and fractal theology make that more possible.
Finally, if you’re interested in exploring deeper Schmidt-Leukel’s fractal approach, check out this book: New Paths for Interreligious Theology: Perry Schmidt-Leukel’s Fractal Interpretation of Religious Diversity, edited by Alan Race and Paul Knitter (Orbis Books, 2019).
