The Role of Islam and Christianity in Public Space. Perspectives from Indonesia and Germany

This presentation argues that ideological criticism offers a vital hermeneutical resource for Muslim–Christian relations. The Bible, when read as an ideological text, is revealed to be both a source of integration and distortion: it shapes communal identity but also legitimates domination. Recognizing this ambivalence enables Christians to confront the complicities of their scripture while retrieving liberating counter-voices. In dialogue with Muslim approaches to the Qur’an, ideological criticism provides a shared posture for interreligious hermeneutics. I illustrate this through several case studies and then draw implications for theological education, church life, and interreligious praxis in Indonesia.