Interreligious studies, also calledinterfaith studies, is theinterdisciplinaryacademic field thatresearches andteaches aboutinterfaith dialoguediplomacyinternational relations, anddevelopment cooperation without resorting toproselytism. It was developed as thesociological continuation of the efforts on the fields oftheology,theopoetics,religious studies,atheology,civil religion,peace studies, andfreedom of religion or belief (FoRB)law studies.

Thisacademic discipline is relevant for itsevidence-basedscientific method for therule of lawsocial development of interfaithnonviolencepeace culture,humanitarian aid,^[1]social servicesinternational non-governmental organizations,^[2]cultural diplomacy, andcivil rightspolicymaking,multi-religious literacy, andinterfaith education.

It was even recognized by theUnited Nations Education Science Culture Organization (UNESCO) through its foundation of the UNITWINNetwork for Inter-Religious Dialogue and Intercultural Understanding (IDIU).^[3] TheInstitute for Global Engagement (IGE) has reiterated the value of thecathedra forinternational relations with the publishing of theInterfaith on the World Stage special edition ofThe Review of Faith & International Affairs.^[4]

In 1893 theParliament of the World's Religions (PoWR) held the firstWorld's Congress of Religion in theWorld's Columbian Exposition.^[5]

In 1900 the firstInternational Congress for the History of Religions was held in Paris.^[6]

In 1903 theReligious Education Association (REA) was founded.

In 1964 theHoly See founded itsDicastery for Interreligious Dialogue with itsPontifical universities in Rome.^[7]

In 1973 theScarboro Missions was founded by theCatholic Church in Canada and developed the first series of interfaithpolicies andopen educational resources (OER) which are still a standard in the area.^[8]

In 1990 theArigatou internationalGlobal Network of Religions for Children (GNRC) was founded to research interreligious studies education possibilities for kids.^[9]

In 1996Diana L. Eck co-founded thePluralism Project at theHarvard University withRobert Wuthnow andRobert D. Putnam^[10] and theOneSpirit Interfaith Foundation started offeringordination-based training ininterfaith ministry in the United Kingdom.^[11][12]

In 1997 theAssociation of Religion Data Archives (ARDA) was founded.^[13]

In 2002Eboo Patel founded theInterfaith Youth Core (IYC) that developedmultifaith space andchaplaincy groups in universities. He coined the nameInterreligious / Interfaith Studies name for the area in the seminal book of the same name that founded the area officially.^[14]

In 2005 theEuropean Society for Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies (ESITIS) was founded.

In 2009 theJournal for Inter-Religious Studies (IJRS) was founded.^[15]

In 2011 theSearch for Common Ground developed theUniversal Code of Conduct on Holy Sites^[16] and theFuture for Religious Heritage (FRH) was also founded.^[17]

In 2012 theKAICIID Dialogue Centre founded theJoint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities (JLIF&LC).^[2]

In 2013 theInterfaith and Interreligious Studies Group was founded at theAmerican Academy of Religion (AAR) and theOffice of Religion and Global Affairs at theUnited States Department of State.

In 2017 due to the international growth of interfaith academic programs^[18]Jennifer Howe Peace founded theAssociation for Interreligious / Interfaith Studies (AIIS) which convenes annual meetings.^[19] It was pivotal to allow theUniversity of Wales firstdoctoral programme in the area.^[20]

In 2021 theHartford Theological Seminary founded in 1883 became theHartford International University for Religion and Peace.^[21]

In 2022 theFrankfurt–Tel Aviv Center for the Study of Religious and Interreligious Dynamics was launched by the IsraeliTel Aviv University and the GermanGoethe University Frankfurt.^[22][23][24]

In 2022 theTeachers College of the Columbia University founded the International Interfaith Laboratory (Interfaith Lab).^[25]

In 2023Hannah J. Visser organized a seminal research on the field'sbibliography.^[26]

"Interreligious Studies addresses the increasing societal and economic need for interreligious competence. Courses provide students with a comprehensive appreciation of issues which impact or inhibit the peaceful co-existence of varied religions, and equip students with an understanding of how interreligious understanding might be achieved." -Heidelberg University.^[27]

"Interfaith initiatives are seen as promising sites for societal change and personal transformation; however, many questions about the actual outcomes of such initiatives have remained unanswered." -University of Amsterdam School of Religion and Theology.^[28]

"Interreligious studies is a subdiscipline of religious studies that engages in the scholarly and religiously neutral description, multidisciplinary analysis, and theoretical framing of the interactions of religiously different people and groups, including the intersection of religion and secularity. It examines these interactions in historical and contemporary contexts, and in relation to other social systems and forces. Like other disciplines with applied dimensions, it serves the public good by bringing its analysis to bear on practical approaches to issues in religiously diverse societies." -Katie McCarthy.

"Interreligious studies is everything that religious studies cannot be, the analysis of relations the common values to religious traditions. What they have in common, not their identity traces." -United Religions Initiative (URI) directorWilliam E. Swing.^[29]

• International relations diplomacy andcultural diplomacy.
• Interfaith marriage.
• Interfaith workers justice.
• Interreligious organisations.
• Religious diplomacy.
• Religious law.
• Religious persecution andreligious warpeacemaking.
• Religious studies.
• Religious psychology.
• Religious humanism.
• Religious philosophies.
• Religious heritage,^[30] includingsacred natural sites andreligious art.
• Religious experience.
• Civil religion.
• Ireligion Studies.
• Anthropology of religion.
• Religious advocacy groups.
• Multifaith spaces.
• Religious education andreligious literacy.
• Coloniality andDecoloniality studies.
• Chaplaincy.

It is said to be aone world religion plan of thenew world order (NWO)world governmentdeep state in someconspiracy theories.^[31][32]

It has been criticized for having insufficient neutralityskeptical detachment from religiosity.^[33]

It has been accused of being but a masked form ofcomparative theology andtheology of religions byAlon Goshen-Gottstein.^[34]

It wrongfully appears in the Wikipedialist of unaccredited institutions of higher education that theHartford International University for Religion and Peace is not accredited, but it is dually accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE).^[35]

It has dubiously accredited educational institutions like theGlobal Interfaith University (GIU) andInterfaith University (IU) that still need assistance in their regulamentation.

• Religious studies
• Academic disciplines

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