Interreligious Dialogue between Muslims and Christians in Indonesia

The Constitution of Indonesia has a special provision called Pancasila (Five Principles) written into it with the specific scope of facilitating the peaceful coexistence of the country’s 207 million Muslims, 23 million Christians, 4 million Hindus, 1.7 million Buddhists and others in smaller numbers. The main objective of this book is to explore the possibilities of furthering dialogue within the framework of the Pancasila, especially between the followers of Islam and Christianity, who together constitute 97% of the country’s population. The Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, both representing Islam, and the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference (KWI) and the Union of Protestant Denominations (PGI), have already integrated the Pancasila into their respective statutes. Therefore, in Indonesia Christians and Muslims have a formally institutionalized common platform for carrying out interreligious dialogue.