Comp., introduction. article and commentary by A. V. Zhuravsky, Moscow: Bibleisko-bogoslovskiy inst. St. Andrew the Apostle, 2000. XVI, 558 p.) (c) 2002 One of the last articles of Archpriest Alexander Me (1935-1990) is called "The Difficult Path to Dialogue". Both the path and the process of dialogue between people who have different beliefs, different understanding of God, the universe, society and themselves is difficult, and it is difficult to determine one's own position in the dialogue when it is necessary to at least partially understand both oneself and the interlocutor. It is to understand, and not to turn into an object of attempts to appeal or, at the very least, revelations and pushings. It is also difficult to understand the very value of dialogue: to know oneself through the other and the dignity of the other through one's own inner experience. And yet, dialogue between dissimilar people, dissimilar configurations of faith, thought, and culture is not quite sufficient, but still necessary and essential for universal survival. Especially when it comes to the dialogue between the two great world religions - Christianity and Islam, whose entire history of relations consists, for the most part, of centuries-old clashes, often fiery and bloody. It is amazing how much knowledge and hard work is invested in this vital book, modestly called a textbook in the subtitle. In fact, it is an anthology of religious and religious studies thought of the second half of the XX century. Without it, all further discussions and research on the relationship between Christianity and Islam, the common and forever intertwined destinies of the three branches of Mediterranean monotheism - Judaism, Christianity and Islam (perhaps even Baha'i), the inseparable and at the same time inseparable destinies of religions, civilizations and peoples of the West and East-are no longer possible (at least in Russia).. Including the destinies of Russia, which reflect the connections and contra ... Read more