Receptive ecumenism is a new current in contemporary ecumenism. By focusing on unilateral learning and by dissociating itself from presuppositions of mutuality, receptive ecumenism inspires rethinking and provokes new thought in the field of ecumenical theology. This article pays special attention to the non-expectation of mutuality in receptive ecumenism and analyses its consequences with regard to asymmetrical relations. The analysis is carried out in consideration of other currents of contemporary ecumenism where mutuality is associated with the struggle for justice and equality. Guided by feminist philosophical and theological insights on negative and positive understandings of asymmetry, the article discusses the nature of receptive ecumenism in view of a wider ecumenical terrain. It explores the underlying understanding of asymmetry in receptive ecumenism. It moreover inquires into the receptive ecumenical approach to mutuality with a view to the roots of this new ecumenical current in spiritual ecumenism and interfaith engagement. Attending to the factors of agency, diversity, and listening, the article identifies challenges to the viability of receptive ecumenism. Simultaneously, it expounds the role of receptive ecumenism in revitalizing ecumenical theological reflection.

This article highlights the imperative of building defences of peace in the human mind, articulated in the Constitution of UNESCO. Pursuing the question of how such defences can be built in contexts of religious antagonism, the article explores the work of ecumenical theologians who seek to find ways of building defences of peace in the minds of believers. The exploration involves intersecting ecumenical theology with the fields of religious education, cognitive science, and peace studies. In this way, the article brings introductory perspectives to interdisciplinary research that considers pressing questions of how to overcome violence and build peaceful communities. Throughout the investigation, hope and imagination serve as guiding concepts. Hope is discussed with regard to memory, change of perceptions, and the building of trust and peace. However, the article also considers the tendency towards constructing imagined enemies. Elucidating how empathetic imagination can provide resistance to this tendency, it discusses the way dialogue might break destructive habits of imagining the religious other as an enemy. With a view to this capacity of dialogue, the article considers the role of longstanding endeavours of ecumenical exchange in processes towards overcoming violence and constructing defences of peace in human minds.

This study takes its starting point in the questions of whether and how theology might serve as a faith-basedpeacebuilding resource. Based on an exploration of the textual process towards an international ecumenicaldeclaration on just peace in the World Council of Churches, it suggests that theology can indeed serve as sucha resource and it sketches how theology can make such a contribution. The exploration, which takes place intwo stages, focuses on the theological development of the concept of just peace and is guided by the researchquestion “What are the prospects for theology in peacebuilding?”. The first stage seeks to discern how thediscourse presented in the textual process makes a contribution to the theological construction of the just peaceconcept. The second stage investigates how the theological construction of the just peace concept provides anexample of theology as an essential, faith-based peacebuilding resource. The exploration constitutes aconstructive theological analysis of the just peace concept, carried out in view of the four perspectives oftheological ethics, biblical interpretation, spirituality, and ecumenical vision. It is guided by the pursuit ofidentifying theological resources for religiously motivated peacebuilding endeavours in our time.

This article explores how the pursuit of peace can inspire ecumenical theological discourses. Discussing the theme of the approaching Swedish Ecumenical Centennial in 2025, “Time for God’s Peace,” the article calls attention to voices of ecumenists who gathered in Sweden in the interwar and postwar periods, in the context of the Life and Work and the Faith and Order movements. By means of taking the endeavours of pioneers in ecumenical history into regard, the investigation focuses on how theology can be constructed with a peacebuilding purpose. Considering that the churches have not only played a peaceful role in face of conflict and war, the article entails exploring the role of self-critical introspection in such ecumenical theological work. Moreover, with regard to the future oriented nature of this work, the article pays particular attention to how it has engaged young ecumenists.