This is a note from our colleagues and friends at the Russell Berrie Foundation. We think it is a wonderful fellowship program and opportunity. Please share it widely among your contacts.

We are pleased to announce the call for applications for the Russell Berrie Fellowship in Interreligious Studies for the academic year 2013-14. The initiative, funded by the Russell Berrie Foundation and administered by the…

In January, Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School offered for the first time a joint winter seminar on Islam for rabbinical, cantorial and ministerial students. This one-week intensive course, “Experiencing Islam,” was led by Homayra Ziad, assistant professor of religion at Trinity College. Following her time on our hilltop campus, Ziad spoke with the staff at the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE) about her teaching experience at Hebrew…

In January, Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School offered for the first time a joint winter seminar on Islam for rabbinical, cantorial and ministerial students. This one-week intensive course, “Experiencing Islam,” was led by Homayra Ziad, assistant professor of religion at Trinity College. Following her time on our hilltop campus, Ziad spoke with the staff at the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE) about her teaching experience at Hebrew…

In January, Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School offered for the first time a joint winter seminar on Islam for rabbinical, cantorial and ministerial students. This one-week intensive course, “Experiencing Islam,” was led by Homayra Ziad, assistant professor of religion at Trinity College. Following her time on our hilltop campus, Ziad spoke with the staff at the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE) about her teaching experience at Hebrew…

Greetings,

The 2013 Spring Call for Contributing Scholars is now open! You are invited to nominate yourself or an emerging scholar!

Over the past two and a half years, emerging religious and ethical leaders from around the country and the world have engaged each other and readers by sharing their stories and views on State of Formation. Conversations once dominated by established leaders are now readily embraced by the up-and-comers, and accessible to contributors from many…

Hajj, an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, can be understood within the cyclical nature of ancient cosmology. The sun or light is the Platonic symbol of knowledge and a sign of the life-giving force of God; the light is also the Aristotelian unmoved mover that sets everything in motion just by being desired and sought after. This paper comes to see these symbols as part of the religious ritual of Hajj, with the Ka’aba, the shrine of God, representing the sun and God’s immanence, and the people…

Evangelicals deserve attention be­cause of their numbers, global influence, and missional, activist inclina­tions, but they typically believe the practice of inter-faith dialogue would compromise their self-understanding. This article deploys six sets of reasons to persuade them otherwise: biblical precedents for dialogue; a neglected biblical stream concerning the religions; Jesus as exemplar of dialogue given his openness to Gentiles and other “outsiders”; pragmatic and further theological…

This study examines an important part of Richard Swinburne’s case for the plausibility of Christianity, namely his Atonement theory. My examination begins by presenting Swinburne’s theory before alluding to the many criticisms it has attracted. I conclude with some lessons which can be learnt about philosophical theology and its use in inter-religious dialogue. My main contention is that if philosophical theology is going to be used for inter-religious dialogue, then it should not be used…

Francis X. Clooney is a seminal figure in the emerging approach to religious diversity known as Comparative Theology. Much of his work in this field has been concerned with engaging particular texts from Hindu and Christian traditions in the praxis of context-specific, in-depth comparison. Even though it begins with such particular, limited comparisons, Clooney maintains that comparative theology is still, first and foremost, a means of doing theology.…

How do we measure the importance of an event, the meaning of the difference it makes? As a scientist my answer is simple: the bigger the difference, the more important the event. By this measure the most important event by far must have been the beginning of the world of Nature of which we are a current part. Read more…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the theological and spiritual import of the image of the empty throne in early Buddhist and Christian iconography. While Byzantine representations of the Last Judgment and early Indian depictions of the Buddha’s teaching resort to the image of the empty throne, this iconic topos has a very different significance in the two traditions. The exploration of the points of contact as well as of the differences between the two iconographic traditions…

We add to a new feature introduced last issue, compiled and written by Sophia Khan in conjunction with professors, administrators, and students on campuses across the country, titled DivInnovations. This profile series aims to share innovative teaching and learning practices from seminaries, divinity schools, and other graduate theological settings in our communities. Read more here.…

Where does life begin and end? What role does the individual have to play in his or her own fate? Are we ever morally entitled to make decisions on behalf of loved ones? What does faith have to tell us about the relationship between body and soul? At what moral cost do we extend life through technology? In a society governed by legal doctrines, can religious belief admit exceptions to the law? Innovations in science and medicine, combined with increasingly pluralistic communities, create…

Interreligious Hermeneutics originated with a 2009 international symposium held at Boston College on interreligious dialogue. The second volume in Cascade Books’ Interreligious Dialogue Series, it is a worthy text for any student interested in the challenges of interreligious dialogue, both because of the insightful discussion by the author-contributors and because their individual essays engage the scholarly resources for thinking about these challenges, with a rich use of…

In this worthy addition to inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, Grace Ji-Sun Kim introduces the term “Spirit-Chi” and builds a strong case for her assertion that the Holy Spirit as present in Christian tradition is more resonant with than dissimilar to the Eastern concept of Chi found in Taoism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Though a compelling argument could have been made through only a theological or religious lens, Kim incorporates post-colonial theory and hybridity, enriching this…

Managing Director's Note: Occasionally our partners are interested in collaborating directly with writers and readers of State of Formation. If you are interested in the opportunity below, please follow up with Ed directly at foley [at] ctu.edu Thanks!

Dear Colleagues,

My name is Ed Foley, a Catholic priest and theological educator, who teaches…

Recently State of Formation Contributing Scholars addressed the tragedy that impacted us all in Wisconsin. Several pieces of Contributing Scholars were featured across the web. Please view the articles below.

Where’s the Blessing?, by Christina Yost

How Sikhs Made Me Who I Am: Part…