Christians and Jews in Dialogue: Learning in the Presence of the Other

How can members of different faith traditions approach each other with openness and respect? How can they confront the painful conflicts in their history and overcome theological misconceptions? For more than twenty years, Professors Mary C. Boys and Sara S. Lee have explored ways that Catholics and Jews might overcome mistrust and misunderstandings in order to promote commitment to religious pluralism. At its best interreligious dialogue entails not simply learning about the other from the safety of one's own faith community but rather engaging in specific learning activities with members of the other faith - learning in the presence of the other. Drawing upon examples from their own experience Boys and Lee lay out a framework for engaging the religious other in depth. With vision and insight they discuss ways of fostering relationships among participants and with key texts beliefs and practices of the other's tradition. In this groundbreaking resource they offer a guide for members of any faith tradition who want to move beyond the rhetoric of interfaith dialogue and into the demanding yet richly rewarding work of developing new understandings of the religious other - and of one's own tradition.

Table of Contents:
Foreword ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction xv 1. Jews and Christians: A Complicated Relationship 1 2. Sara's Story 18 3. Mary’s Story 39 4. Interreligious Teaching and Learning: The Experience 63 5. Toward a Theory of Interreligious Teaching and Learning 87 6. After Auschwitz: Conversations in a Krakow Park 114 7. Jews, Christians, and the Land of Israel 139 8. Participants Speak: Testimony to the Power of Interreligious Learning 173 Notes 178 Appendix 1 "Dabru Emet: A Jewish Statement on Christians and Christianity (2000)" 201 Appendix 2 “A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People” 206 Suggestions for Further Reading 214 Index 217

About the Author :
Mary C. Boys' books include Jewish-Christian Dialogue: One Woman's Experience; Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self-Understanding and Christians & Jews in Dialogue Learning in the Presence of the Other (SkyLight Paths). She is the Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and chairs the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations. Sara S. Lee edited Communities of Learning: A Vision for the Jewish Future. She is former director of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles and past president of the Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education. Dorothy C. Bass is director of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith and editor of Practicing Our Faith: A Way of Life for a Searching People.

Review :
SkyLight Paths Publishing has launched Christian Journeys, a new imprint for books "for the progressive Christian audience." Emily Wichland, VP of editorial and production for SkyLight Paths, will head the imprint, overseeing acquisitions and content development. In a statement, Wichland said, "Christian Journeys gives a clear and distinctive identity to the growing body of decidedly Christian books we're publishing. It creates a strong place from which we reach out to the liberal Christian audience." Among its authors will be Katharine Jefferts Schori, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; The Rev. Canon C.K. Robertson, canon to the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church; Rev. Susan Sparks, senior pastor of the historic Madison Avenue Baptist Church in New York City and Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, former executive director of the United States office of the World Council of Churches. The imprint will formally debut at the Episcopal Church General Convention July-10-12 in Indianapolis and at the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit May 29-31 in St. Charles, Ill.