The ICPL has been a sponsor and host of the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life. Current information regarding the Summer School can be found at www.issrpl.org.

Border Crossing: Inside Christianity, Islam and Judaism

Evening Classes for Adults

Join us for a series of eye-opening short evening courses to learn about the three Abrahamic traditions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Talmud 101: An Introduction to the Mind of the Talmud
Reuven Cohn
Mondays: November 6, 13, 20, 27; December 4, 11
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Hebrew College, Rooms 106-107

If you come across the Talmud on a library shelf, you will be confronted by at least 20 oversized volumes with millions of words. What is this work and why does it continue to engage students throughout the world? The Talmud, developed during the time of the Roman Empire, is meant to embody the Jewish oral tradition that accompanied and provided clarity to the laws of the written Torah. It was committed to writing some 1,500 years ago and, since that time, numerous works have been devoted to understanding it.

But Talmud is not just content. It is also method. In particular, it is a method of preserving knowledge, while at the same time expanding that knowledge to fit newly arising situations that develop over time. In this course, we will aim to discover the method of the Talmud, what it chooses to elucidate in the laws of the Torah, why it considers the laws themselves to be so central to an ethical Jewish life, and how its mode of transmission and preservation is itself worthy of study. In reading talmudic text closely and carefully, we will try to enter the "mind" of the Talmud, a mind very different from the 21st century Western mind, but one that may be of increasing relevance, as people of all faiths are inundated by information overload from modern technology.

Reuven Cohn is an adult educator and an attorney. He is a veteran teacher in the Center for Adult Jewish Learning at Hebrew College, Hebrew College Online and the Maimonides School. Among his areas of scholarly interest are Jewish interpretations of the Bible, the literary development of the Mishnah and Talmud, and the history of the prayer book. Rabbi Cohn holds rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University and a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Tolerance and Tradition
Adam Seligman
Tuesdays: October 17, 24, 31; November 7, 14, 21
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Andover Newton Theological School, Davis Hall, Room 302

In today's world, where religious and ethnic clashes dominate the headlines, it seems the main opposing forces to intolerant and violent religious movements are those who represent liberal secular attitudes of human rights and individuality, in which religion is often positioned as a negative force. This course will take a radically different tack by exploring Christian, Islamic and Jewish sources to uncover specifically religious arguments for tolerance and acceptance. These texts do not hide the differences between people and cultures, but rather acknowledge differences amd uncover new models for toleration.

Adam Seligman is Professor of Religion at Boston University and Research Associate at Boston University's Institute for the Study of Economic Culture. A Fulbright Fellow from 1990- 1992, his books include Modernity's Wager: Authority,The Self and Transcendence and Modest Claims, Dialogues and Essays on Tolerance and Tradition. Dr. Seligman is also Director of the International Summer School on Religion and Public Life, an annual program that has met in Bosnia, Croatia, Israel and the United States—most recently, at Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School.

A New Beginning: Christian and Jewish Relations in the Past Fifty Years
Philip Cunningham
Tuesdays: November 7, 14, 21, 28; December 5, 12
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Andover Newton Theological School, Davis Hall, Room 301

Since the second century of the Common Era, there was increasing hostility between nascent Christian and Jewish communities, resulting in centuries of conflict, mutual suspicion, persecution of Jews and the rise of anti-Semitic ideology. Following the Holocaust and the Second Vatican Council in 1963-1965, the dynamics between the two communities dramatically changed. In this course, we will explore the revolution that has occurred in the interactions and attitudes between Judaism and Christianity, and how the relationship has evolved among the various denominations and movements in each tradition. The course will also examine the difficulties and challenges confronting both Jews and Christians, as they strive to build a new relationship.

Philip A. Cunningham is Executive Director of the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Boston College. Dr. Cunningham is a member of the Advisory Committee on Catholic-Jewish Relations for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and has served as a representative for the Vatican at international conferences concerning Catholic-Jewish relations. A member of the Christian Scholars Group on Christian-Jewish Relations, he contributed to their 2002 statement "A Sacred Obligation: Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People" and their 2005 publication, Seeing Judaism Anew: Christianity's Sacred Obligation. His most recent books are A Story of Shalom:The Calling of Christians and Jews by a Covenanting God and Sharing the Scriptures.

An Outsider's View of the Gospels
Greg Mobley
Wednesdays: October 18, 25; November 1, 8, 15, 29.
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Andover Newton Theological School, Davis Hall, Room 301

How were the Gospels understood by the Jewish and early Christian communities of the first century? How are they understood by 21st century Jews and Christians—especially by those who have a more fundamentalist, exclusive perspective and by those in more liberal, inclusive communities? These are the questions that will guide our study of the New Testament Gospels, especially designed for Jews, Christians and others who are curious about how these world-changing texts have been interpreted, perceived and acted upon by different groups through the ages.

Gregory Mobley is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Andover Newton Theological School. A participant in the Jewish-Christian dialogue group sponsored by the American Jewish Committee and the Massachusetts Council of Churches, he is author of The Empty Men: The Heroic Tradition of Ancient Israel, and, with T. J. Wray, The Birth of Satan: Tracing the Devil's Biblical Roots. Dr. Mobley has a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University.

Spirituality and Healing: Exploring the Connections through Spiritual Practices
Brita Gill-Austern
Thursdays: October 19, 26; November 2, 9, 16, 30
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Hebrew College, Rooms 106-107

In a time when religion is at the root of some of the most intractable conflicts of our world, it is important to understand what constitutes healthy spirituality and to identify the spiritual practices that promote healing and well-being for individuals and communities. This course will show how specific spiritual practices from the Christian, Jewish and Buddhist traditions can help enhance personal healing, reconciliation and communal well-being.We will look for the commonalities that promote healing in the sacred writings of these traditions and learn spiritual practices drawn from all three religious systems.We also will draw upon research in the field of psychoneuroimmunology to see how science informs our understanding of the impact of spiritual practice on our minds and bodies.

Brita Gill-Austern, M.Div., Ph.D., is Austin Philip Guiles Professor of Psychology and Pastoral Theology at Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS). She is Faculty Director of the Faith, Health and Spirituality Program at ants and the author of several chapters and articles in the field of pastoral theology. She is co-editor of Feminist and Womanist Pastoral Theology.

Major Islamic Movements: Where They Came From, Where They Are Going
Rumee Ahmed
Thursdays: October 26; November 2, 9, 30; December 7, 14
7:30-9:00 p.m.
Andover Newton Theological School, Davis Hall, Room 301

To see beyond many of today's headlines, we need to understand the major theological and political movements in the Islamic world. This course will examine the major schools of thought in the Muslim world within their historical context. We will study pre-Islamic Arabia, the rise of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula and the reactions to the First Caliphate.We will explore the political and theological movements that resulted from the first major split in the Muslim world, and the genesis of the Sunni-Shi'a split, then analyze the interplay of these developments. Finally, we will examine the effects of colonialism and the fall of the Ottoman Empire to understand the resulting political and theological movements of today— and how they might develop in the future.

Rumee Ahmed is the Muslim chaplain at Brown University. A board member and lecturer for several national Islamic organizations, such as the Muslim Youth of North America and the Islamic Organization of North America, he has also been active interfaith groups, such as the Children of Abraham Institute, an international forum for disseminating scholastic religious thought and promoting dialogue among faith traditions, and the Society of Scriptural Reasoning, involving scholars from Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions. He has studied in traditional Islamic learning institutions, delving into Arabic language studies, Urdu literature and Islamic jurisprudence. He is currently completing his doctorate at the University of Virginia.