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Inter-Religious DialogueEach BTI school gives different shape and meaning to Interfaith or Inter-religious dialogue. The following is a survey of some of the work being undertaken. This page is subject to reconstruction. I. Inter-Religious Dialogues in the BTI Schools The most extensive work among affiliates of the BTI consortium is being done by the Pluralism Project, Harvard University and Divinity School. The work being carried out at Andover Newton Theological School is focused upon identities of faith, increasingly concerned about the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Boston College has had a long-standing program in Jewish-Christian learning. Additional patterns exist in other BTI schools. Andover Newton Theological School has recently launched a major initiative with Hebrew College and its Rabbinical School called Journeys on the Hill, under the auspices of the Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE). Circle was founded in 2008 with a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. The Center for Interreligious and Communal Leadership Education (CIRCLE) is a joint initiative of Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) and Hebrew College. CIRCLE’s mission is to nurture a new generation of moral and spiritual leaders equipped for service in a religiously diverse world. See http://www.ants.edu/joint-programs/ Boston College The Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College is dedicated to the growth of new and mutually enriching relationships between Christians and Jews. The Center applies the scholarly resources of a Catholic university to the task of encouraging mutual knowledge between Christians and Jews at every level. See: http://www.bc.edu/research/cjl/ Harvard University See the website of the Pluralism Project (www.pluralism,org) on the identity and nature of their work. II. Inter-Religious Dialogue and the Consortium (BTI) The Inter-Religious Dialogue Program of the Boston Theological Institute not only involves a variety of activities among the member schools throughout the year, but work through the consortium with student programs, faculty colloquia, special lectures, and university-based research centers. BTI work extends back to the foundation of the consortium in 1967. It has included programming such as the "Religious Neighbors" work, an experimental program designed to enrich the education of seminarians and other graduate students through a voluntary year-long series of visits to a variety of religious communities. Participants experience important aspects of a different religious tradition during each visit, and are given the opportunity for reflection and discussion. Programs have included, 2000-2001 Religious Neighbors "Conversion and Love" (2000-2001), and "Spirituality vs. Religion" (2001-2001). The BTI was supportive of the move of Hebrew College in 1995 from Brookline, Massachusetts, to property adjacent to Andover Newton Theological School in the expectation that special forms of dialogue and cooperation might emerge. A special relationship was begun between the BTI and the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities with the beginning of The Inter-Religious Center on Public Life [ICPL], established in 1999. The ICPL was created to be a forum for the dissemination of the principles and ideas of the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam as they relate to the great domestic and international issues of the day. Initially, a joint venture of Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School, the Center has widened its constituency while retaining a special role for these two schools. (See website.) In Academic Year 2009-2010 interfaith work is being highlighted through the consortium in a number of ways that include the following: 1) Course at Boston College: “Toward an Abrahamic Family Reunion,” taught at Boston College by Fr. Raymond Helmick. Dr/ Abdel-Rahman Mohamed, Dr. Rodney Petersen, and Rabbi Sanford Seltzer 2) Exploration of deeper patterns of Jewish, Christian and Muslim forms of engagement and an “enhanced” role for Islamic theological education. 3) Regional Conference: “Educating Jewish, Christian and Muslim Leaders in an Age of Religious Diversity,” June 15-16 on the campuses of Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College (See BTI Magazine, Fall 2009.) 4) Support given to the Parliament of World’s Religions 5) National Conference: “Educating Jewish, Christian and Muslim Leaders for a Multi-Religious World: The American Seminary Context,” April 14-16 on the campuses of Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College. Islamic Education: In 2009-2010 discussions began with the International Institute of Islamic Thought concerning the possibility of establishing Islamic curricula and programming in the context of the consortium. Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College were particularly interested in establishing and “Abrahamic” campus on “Faith Hill.” Conversations continue. Through all of this activity, the work of the consortium is to see appropriate programming owned by and indigenized in the particular schools of the consortium in line with the BTI Mission Statement. III. Civic Organizations in the Greater Boston Area (examples of local activity) expressive of Muslim, Christian and Jewish Dialogue (Leadership as of 2009)
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