Muslim-Christian Interfaith Dialogue

This week Saint George's College has been hosting 14 Christian and Muslim religious leaders for a conference aimed at creating greater understanding between the two faith traditions.  13 of the 14 are from the UK, and 6 are Muslim.  Bishop Richard Cheetham has called the group together and is leading the development of the dialogue.  We've heard from Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders and scholars as we have visited sites holy to the three faith traditions.  The heart of the dialogue has been focused on the Muslim-Christian interface within the Abrahamic traditions.  Yesterday we visited the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth--on the feast of the annunciation!  There we read the account of the annunciation as found in Luke's Gospel.  Last night we sort of got down the the "nitty-gritty" as we heard a reading from the Koran about the birth of Jesus.   The heart of the story is similar enough for Christians to recognize it, but the last few verses turn the story a little side-wise as they become a intentional correction to the Christian understanding that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  This started the conversation!

I'm very happy to say that the conversation was completely respectful on both sides, and that the group seems to genuinely have a great deal of affection and respect for everyone who has been brave enough to come here to this focal point of so much religious strife--Jerusalem.  I think the honesty and openness of this conference is a very hopeful sign of what can be done to promote understanding and peace in our world.

Palestine of Jesus Course 3 Complete, a Little Break

We completed our third Palestine of Jesus Course last week to a new phenomena for us--rain.  Since we arrived in Jerusalem back in January there has been almost no rain in Israel, and last week it rained almost every day.  I don't know how much rain fell, but the fig tree outside our window has sprouted new leaves and the grass in the garden under it seems to have grown inches.  I think mother nature is saying thank you.

We took a short break this weekend to visit Tel Aviv.  The contrast between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is dramatic in almost every aspect.  Jerusalem is in the mountains, the climate is very dry, and religion seems to dominate life.  Tel Aviv is on the Mediterranean Sea, the air is always humid, and having fun seems to dominate life.  We stayed in a hotel near the beach, and saw lots of folks walking their dogs, roller-blading, jogging, playing "beach tennis," and riding their bikes.  We even ate in a non-kosher restaurant that had a cheese burger!

While there we visited one of the world's oldest sea ports in Jaffa, and saw the place tradition holds to be the house of Simon the Tanner of Acts fame.  We might regard Simon's house as the place where Peter received God's message that the Good News of Christ was also for the gentiles, but our walking-tour guide saw it as the place where Christianity broke with Judaism.

It felt really good to get back to Saint George's College today, and to dive back into preparations for the Christian-Muslem Interfaith Dialogue Course that starts later this week.