Making Sense of Shifts in Perspectives: Perceiving and Framing Examples of Interreligious Learning in Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on aspects of epistemological questions in religious and intercultural studies. It draws on results from research into two interreligious education formats for young adults in Java, Indonesia: ‘Sobat Muda’ in Salatiga, and ‘Sekolah Lintas Iman’ in Yogyakarta. After a reflection on issues of intercultural research design, the article identifies formative influences regarding formation, and changes in perspectives on interreligious relations and perceptions, on the basis of information from respondents participating in those programmes. Observations of a strong connection between the use of the term ‘truth’, with its derivations, and the societal value of harmony in the description of such change processes in Indonesian contexts, lead to an attempt at intercultural translation, carried out as an inquiry into classical truth concepts within the European thought tradition. Inspired by the findings of the study, in conclusion, the term verifiation is introduced, which may prove useful in intercultural epistemological efforts.