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One cannot think of Judaism without taking some stance relating to Israel’s special status, its election. The present collection highlights the challenges that Judaism faces, as it continues to uphold a sense of chosenness and as it seeks to engage the world beyond it—nations, as well as religions. The challenge is captured by the dual implication of election: divine love on the one hand and enmity with others on the other. Israel’s election, mission and vocation are played out within this tension of love, grounded in God and extending to humanity, and the opposite of love, as this finds expression in Israel’s relations with others. Israel must work out the purpose of its election and its realization in history in the tension between these two extremes. This challenge takes on great urgency in the context of advances in interfaith relations. These lead us to reflect on the meaning of Israel’s election as part of developing a contemporary Jewish theology of world religions.
Truth informs much of the self-understanding of religious believers. Accordingly, understanding what we mean by ‘truth’ is a key challenge to interreligious collaboration. The contributors to this volume, all leading scholars, consider what is meant by truth in classical and contemporary Jewish thought, and explore how making the notion of truth more nuanced can enable interfaith dialogue. Their essays take a range of approaches: some focus on philosophy proper, others on the intersection with the history of ideas, while others engage with the history of Jewish mysticism and thought. Together they open up the notion of truth in Jewish religious discourse and suggest ways in which upholdi...
Hinduism has become a vital 'other' for Judaism over the past decades. The book surveys the history of the relationship from historical to contemporary times, from travellers to religious leadership. It explores the potential enrichment for Jewish theology and spirituality, as well as the challenges for Jewish identity.
Coronaspection is a groundbreaking series of forty video interviews concerning COVID-19 and its spiritual challenges, featuring major faith leaders worldwide. Coronaspection was created as a means of providing hope and inspiration to faithful of all religions, as humanity struggled, and as it continues to struggle, with the challenges posed by COVID-19. This volume seeks to answer questions that have emerged following the release of the video interviews: How is religion functioning during COVID-19? Do different religions respond to the crisis differently? These and similar questions require a synthetic view of the project, which in turn is based on an analysis of its themes and messages.
This book sets forth a new area in the study of extraordinary individuals in religious traditions. It develops the category of “Religious Genius” as an alternative to existing categories, primarily “saint.” It constructs a model by which to appreciate these individuals, suggesting key characteristics such as love, humility, and self-surrender. Religious geniuses transform their traditions and their legacies endure through these very transformations. They also inspire changes across religious boundaries and traditions. The study of religious geniuses in various faith traditions therefore advances interfaith engagement today. The book complements existing, primarily historical, studies of saints by offering a phenomenological approach that seeks to touch the subjectivity of these individuals, and how they have affected the unfolding of their religious traditions.
One of the biggest challenges for relations between religions is the view of the religious Other. The question touches the roots of our theological views. The Religious Other: Hostility, Hospitality, and the Hope of Human Flourishing explores the views of multiple religious traditions on how to regard otherness. How does one move from hostility to hospitality? How can hospitality be understood not simply as social hospitality but as theological hospitality, making room for the religious Other on theological grounds? What is our vision for the flourishing of the Other, while respecting his otherness? This volume is an exercise in constructive interreligious theology. By including Abrahamic and non-Abrahamic traditions, it approaches these challenges from multiple perspectives, highlighting commonalities in approach and ways in which one tradition might inspire another. Contributors: Vincent J. Cornell, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Richard P. Hayes, Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Deepak Sarma, Stephen W. Sykes, Dharma Master Hsin Tao, Ashok Vohra
Alon Goshen-Gottstein offers a spiritual framework for understanding Judaism from its beginnings until today. Incorporating biblical, rabbinic, mystical, and philosophical sources, Goshen-Gottstein argues that Judaism is a religious tradition characterized by the effort to live within God's presence.
Idolatry, or its Hebrew equivalent Avodah Zarah ̧ is a fundamental feature of a Jewish view of other religions. All religions must pass the test of whether they are compliant with a Jewish view of religions as being free from the worship of another God. With the advance in interfaith relations, positions have been affirmed that clear most major contemporary religions from the charge of idolatry. What remains of “idolatry” once it no longer serves as a tool for evaluating other faiths? Does the category continue to have theological appeal? What are its internal uses? A cadre of Jewish scholars and thought leaders explore in this volume what the continuing relevance of “idolatry” is and how it might continue to inform our religious horizons, allowing us to distinguish between good and bad religion, both within Judaism and beyond.
This book presents a comparative view of five religious traditions' resources for developing a positive appreciation for the religious other. Moving from hostility to theological hospitality and seeking the flourishing of the religious other, these traditions can offer the finest teachings on otherness and provide much needed alternatives to common perceptions of interreligious relations.
Coronaspection is a groundbreaking series of forty video interviews concerning COVID-19 and its spiritual challenges, featuring major faith leaders worldwide. Coronaspection was created as a means of providing hope and inspiration to faithful of all religions, as humanity struggled, and as it continues to struggle, with the challenges posed by COVID-19. This volume seeks to answer questions that have emerged following the release of the video interviews: How is religion functioning during COVID-19? Do different religions respond to the crisis differently? These and similar questions require a synthetic view of the project, which in turn is based on an analysis of its themes and messages.