Christopher Dawson and Ayatollah Khatami and ‘The Dialogue of Civilizations’: A Christian–Muslim Conversation1

Abstract

The English Catholic historian Christopher Dawson (1889–1970) and the former president of Iran, Ayatollah Mohammed Khatami (b. 1943) have made passionate appeals for an international programme of order and dialogue that transcends nationalism, power politics, and strictly materialist ends. Although Dawson's musings were written over half a century before Khatami's speech to the United Nations in 2000, his tone and choice of themes are remarkably similar to those in Khatami's paper: Western culture; metahistorical dialogue; art as dialogue; cultural intrusion and homogenization; religious mysticism; and the resurgence of religion in global politics. A comparison of the vision of these two men is a timely and important contribution to interreligious dialogue. Further, Dawson's thoughts on global history, Europe, and international relations provide excellent insight into the changes in the Western mind which occurred during the twentieth century, Pope Benedict XVI's views on Europe and Muslim–Christian dialogue, and possibilities for common ground between religious groups and cultures. Perhaps most important of all, the parallels between Dawson's and Khatami's concerns and hopes, in spite of their differences, represent an important conversation between Christians and Muslims at a time when it is desperately needed by both groups.