Historical Truth? Not so easy to find.

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm By Robert Hunt

History isn’t necessarily an independently verifiable account of what has happened in the past. For many religious people history is the unfolding of timeless revelation and the ideals that it engenders. Recently I attended a dialogue between religious leaders where this became manifestly clear. The Muslim speaker made a number of assertions about the history of Muslim-Jewish relations that could not be taken seriously by anyone who has studied history, even the history written by Muslim sources. But I know... Read more

Inter-Religious Marriage and God’s Blessing

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm By Robert Hunt

Decisions about whether particular couples who wish to be married will live their lives as a witness to God’s grace cannot be made by institutional fiat. On a Saturday evening not long ago I presided over the marriage of a Muslim man and a Christian woman. I could add some nuances, but I think its helpful to take this at face value. It was a marriage between two people of different religious beliefs and communities. Do note, however, that I... Read more

Blaspheme and Freedom of Speech

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm By Robert Hunt

Last night (March 24) I moderated a dialogue between Rabbi Hana Schlesinger, Imam Zia, and Pastor Doug Skinner on Blaspheme and Freedom of Religion. Below are the notes from my closing remarks. Blaspheme and Freedom of Speech 1. The three religions have different views regarding the capacity of human reason and the degree to which it is subject to delusion. AND these differences are based on different understandings of not merely the degree to which human reason is uniformly incapacitated,... Read more

A Living Story is the Death of Arrogance

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm By Robert Hunt

Arrogance isn’t hard to find in Christian circles. It comes from believing that I, or my church, knows better than you know what you need. And this is based on some belief that I’ve been authorized by God to speak not only to you, but about you. I know you better than you know yourself. In the last blog I suggested that this comes from believing we Christians have a grasp on a universal human problem called sin. Or more... Read more

Its All About Us

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:07 pm By Robert Hunt

Its all about us isn’t it? At least one source of our Christian arrogance comes from construing Christianity as the union of a particular revelation and a particular human need, or as a divine answer to a particular human question. The very historical/cultural particularity of the revelation of God’s love for all humanity in Jesus Christ appears to affirm the importance and universality of a particular historical/cultural formulation of the human need for that love. Christians depict that “salvation history”... Read more

Arrogant Monotheism

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Let’s be up front. There is something about the self-understandings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam that can sound pretty arrogant. In an interfaith dialogue event last night I heard the Jewish representative explain how Israel was called to be a “light to the nations,” a moral and spiritual example calling people to return to the covenant God made with all humanity through Noah. The Christian representative explained that Christians call all people to the truth Christ most fully and uniquely... Read more

Thoughts from the Holy Land 3

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Lets start with a headscarf, or scarves, so that you get some idea of Bethlehem. I know that I could talk about the giant, ugly, and much despised wall that Israel has built for its own security, yet which also turns Bethlehem into an apparent prison. The irony being that it also surrounds the tomb of Rachel – so that what was once a lovely site for Hassidic Jews to visit is now enclosed by a huge concrete box topped... Read more

Thoughts from the Holy Land 2

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

Let me start with a map. The distance from the Jordan river (border of Jordan) to the Mediterranean Sea in the center of Israel is just over 40 miles. Everything is compressed. There isn’t a lot of physical space. And that space holds a lot of history. Almost anywhere you dig, literally anywhere, you will find layer upon layer of different cultures and civilizations. And that space holds a lot of different peoples. The distinction between Arabs and Jews doesn’t... Read more

Thoughts from the Holy Land part 1

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

It is New Years Eve 2013. I am sitting in a bar drinking arak on the rocks. Alone, mostly. Next to me a table of well heeled, mature, Italians are popping bottles of prosecco and passing around photos of themselves in solemn procession with a huge cross on the Via Dolorosa. Since a priest is doing the honors with a couple of large panettone cakes I think its clear they’ve shifted gears. So in a world of mixed sentiments the... Read more

The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 8:08 pm By Robert Hunt

In his new work “The Covenants of the Prophet Muhammad” John Andrew Morrow offers both an argument for re-envisioning Islam’s relationship with non-Muslims, and an unfortunate measure of conceptual confusion. The latter greatly detracts from the popular and scholarly value of this volume, because authentic dialogue must be grounded in historical truth rather than idealizations and wishful thinking. The argument of this is based around six “covenants” purportedly made by Muhammad with different Christian groups. In the second section of... Read more