APPROACHING RAMADAN - CHRISTIANS READING THE QUR'AN

With Ramadan fast approaching I thought I would repost this article I wrote last year on Christians reading the Qur'an

It was during the Ramadan fast of 2005 that I first seriously engaged with the Qur'an and haven't put it down for long since. And I have received much spiritual insight from reading the Qur'an.

What is the nature of the Qur'an for Christians willing to openly engage with it?

It has been argued that in the latter years of the last century three lines of explanation developed amongst Christian readers of the Qur'an - beyond the negative dismissals of simplistic Christian apologetics - on its value to Christians (1)

The first position recognises that the Qur'an is of spiritual benefit to Muslims but tends not to explore its possible spiritual benefit for Christians. It emphasises the differences between Qur'anic statements and Christian conviction. Jacques Jomier in The Bible and the Qur'an has said 'According to Islam, God's message has not been incarnated in a man, Jesus Christ, but rather delivered in a book, in the Qur'an. This book gives guidence to Muslims to follow the path of obedience to God's law, which they believe, leads to salvation. For Christians, public revelation is full. complete and concluded in Jesus Christ. And because the Incarnation and Redemption are denied in Islam, the whole idea of salvation is different in this religion'. For Jomier the benefit of reading the Qur'an for Christians is simply to help them better understand their Muslim neighbour.

The second position argues that the text is divinely inspired and can be read with spiritual benefit by Christians but tends to recruit the Qur'an as a Christian text. its proponents argue that Islamic tradition has misunderstood the Qur'anic revelation and emphasises a Christian influenced interpretation or appeals to a 'higher' level of truth/reading in which the differences between the Qur'anic and Christian revelation are overcome. Franciscan, Giulio Basetti - Sani's The Koran in the Light of Christ - Islam in the plan of History of Salvation (1977) is an example of such an approach.

The third and to my mind most interesting position takes a mediating path between these two, trying to respect the Qur'an as Islamic scripture and to respect Islamic traditions of interpretation, whilst showing how it might also function as spiritually beneficial to Christians.

Hans Kung has argued that the Qur'an can act as a 'prophetic corrective' for Christians to the overly 'high christology' of concilliar Christianity and aid the recovery of an earlier Jewish Christianity with a lower Christological perspective. Although I think there is some merit in this argument the way Kung goes about it appears a little too much like recruiting the Qur'an to his modernist Christian theological project.

On the other hand Kenneth Cragg seeks to work in the other direction to Kung. Whilst being steeped in a deeply appreciative understanding of the Islamic interpretation of the Qur'an Cragg argues that Christians can interpret the Qur'an from within the perspective of Christic revelation. Cragg arguesthat certain Quranic themes can be illuminated more fully through an engagement with the Christian gospel. Whilst Islamic scholar Fazlur Rahman was very appreciative of Cragg's encounter with the Qur'an, if not uncritical, other Muslims have argued more forcefully that he reveals an overly Christianizing and indeed orientalizing tendency in his approach.

Perhaps the most interesting mediating perspective is found with the long term Muslim-Christian Research group - a European- North African initiative of the 1980s that brought together Christian and Islamic scholars to read the Qur'an and the Bible together over a number of years. The small but richly engaging book The Challenge of the Scriptures - The Bible and the Qur'an was one of the results of this dialogue. The Christians in the group, at the end of the process, when asked to reflect on the meaning of the Qur'an said:

'We see the Qur'an as an authentic Word of God, but one in part essentially different from the Word in Jesus Christ'

Peter Ford argues that ' these Christians have thus been willing to be drawn in into a certain spiritual tension, to live with a measure of paradox. it cannot be denied that their approach, at once honest and respectful, holds an excellent prospect for constructive dialogue with Muslims, and not least because such statements are formulated within such dialogue.'

The first decade of the 21st century has seen a new phenomenon the Scriptural Reasoning movement developing amongst Jews, Christians and Muslims. This movement may be said to share the same spirit as the earlier Muslim-Christian Research Group but this time including Jews. A very interesting film showing one such scriptural reasoning group in process can be found here.

Reading the Qur'an as a Christian and listening to and reading about how Muslims understand and interpret the Qur'an has been a challenging and enriching spiritual experience. I find myself drawn to the tension ridden paradoxical position of the Christians in the European - North African initiated dialogue of the 1980s.

Below I recommend some resources for any Christians who would also like to step out on a journey of their own into the Qur'an

(1) See F. Peter Ford Jnr 'The Qur'an as Sacred Scripture: An Assessment of Contemporary Christian Perspectives' in The Muslim World April 1993

Some resources for engaging with the Qur’an written by Muslims or taking an approach that is sensitive and knowledgeable about how Muslims engage with the Qur’anic revelation, that I have found helpful.

Books on the Qur’an by Muslims

Farid Esack, The Qur’an – A Users Guide (One World 2005)

A very good all round introduction from a Muslim committed to a faith activist and liberationist perspective but who also undertook traditionalist Islamic studies. Esack was a leading Muslim activist in the anti Apartheid struggle in South Africa and has been involved in activism on war, imperialism and Aids. Esack’s more academic earlier work based on his PhD thesis at Birmingham University and drawing particularly on his involvement in the anti-apartheid struggle is Qur’an, Liberation and Pluralism (One World 1997) and very much worth the effort.

Mona Siddiqui, How to Read the Qur’an (Granta 2007)

Muslim academic’s accessible introduction to the Qur’an. An interfaith practitioner who has featured in recent years as one of the main speakers at the Greenbelt Arts Festival

Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes of the Qur'an, (1989)
A modern classic probably better read after some time of engagement with the Qur'an.

Asma Barlas, Believing Women in Islam: Unreading Patriarchal Interpretations of the Qur'an (University of Texas Press 2002)
A brilliant reading of the Qur’an from a woman’s perspective emphasising the radically egalitarian and anti-patriarchal nature of its teachings. Asma Barlas is amongst a leading group of women scholars challenging readings of Islam based on western media stereotypes and cultural patriarchy.

Reading/Hearing the Qur’an

Approaching the Qur’an – The Early Revelations Michael Sells (White Cloud Press 2007)

This is an excellent starting place. The book goes through each of the Surahs - the shorter Meccan surahs of early Qur’anic revelation - that a young Muslim would learn as they first became familiar with the Qur’an. Sells translates these surahs and has a scholarly but accessible commentary on each. The book also contains a CD with recitations of some of surahs by world renowned reciters.

The Light of Dawn - Daily Readings from The Qur'an - Camille Helminski (Shambhala 2000)

A lovely accessible but scholarly translation of key parts of the Qur'an organised into daily readings

The Book of Revelations: A Sourcebook of Themes from the Holy Qur'an edited by Kabir Helminski (The Book Foundation 2005)

A good next step with commentaries by respected modern commentators on a large number of selected passages .

The Qur’an translated by M A S Abdel Haleem (Oxford World Classics 2008)

A good modern accessible translation of the whole Qur'an

The Message of the Qur'an (Book Foundation 2008)

The Arabic text with transliteration, translation and commentary by modern scholar Muhammad Asad - for deeper engagement.

Cambridge Inter Faith Summer School Visits Birmingham

While the Feast were off in Istanbul meeting with folk from Beirut. I welcomed on Sunday morning a group of Muslims, Christians and Jews from USA, Middle East and Europe who are on the Cambridge Inter Faith Programme Summer School. The Group were visiting Birmingham for the day touring places of worship of the three faith traditions utilising the Faith Encounter Programme's Faith Guides.The above picture was taken outside their first port of call The Ghamkol Sharif Masjid in Small Heath. They went on to visit Birmingham Anglican Cathedral and Singers Hill Synagogue

QUESTIONS WITHOUT BORDERS - A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY IN ISRAEL & PALESTINE

Forum for Discussion of Israel & Palestine (FODIP) still have a few places available on their Autumn study tour. Click on link for details
A journey of dialogue and encounter in Israel and Palestine

BIRMINGHAM MEETS BEIRUT....IN ISTANBUL!

 The folks at THE FEAST have gone international!

Birmingham based interfaith youth project The Feast - who bring together Christian and Muslim teenagers  to encourage dialogue  and joint action in their communities, is taking a group of young people to Istanbul this weekend to meet up with Muslim and Christian youth from Beirut. Andrew Smith Chair of Feast Trustees who will be leading the trip said

The aim is to build some good relationships and to help the group from Beirut look at how we have faith conversations between Muslims and Christians. The trip promises to be both exciting and challenging for the leaders and the young people.

Check out the news story about the group here

You can follow the groups adventures on twitter at #brummeetsbeirut

METHODIST - JEWISH DIALOGUE DEEPENS AT CONFERENCE FRINGE

One of the least reported on events at this years Methodist Conference held in Southport at the beginning of this month was the remarkable turn out for the Inter Faith fringe meeting which involved a visit to a synagogue and the experience of a Seder. In a guest post Revd Bruce Thompson, Chair Designate of the Lincoln and Grimsby District of The Methodist Church reports on the event and offers his own thoughts as to its significance for the developing relationship between Methodism and the Jewish Community.

Who’d have believed it? A year ago formal relations between the Methodist Church of Great Britain and the Jewish community sank to an all time low following the much-maligned Justice for Palestine and Israel Report. But at this year’s Conference more than a third of the representatives greatly enjoyed a demonstration Seder at a Southport Synagogue.


The event was originally conceived by a small group of Christians and Jews who wanted to do something to heal the hurts inflicted by the debate on Israel/Palestine at last year’s Conference. It had been hoped that 30-50 people might attend but more than 100 sat down to hear Rabbi Saunders of the Southport Hebrew Congregation give an introduction to the Seder. Following the meal constructive and very moving speeches were made by Jonathan Arkush, Senior Vice President of the Board of Deputies and Christine Elliott, Secretary for External Relationships at the Methodist Church. An upbeat and warm keynote address was made by Chair of the Liverpool District the Revd Jim Booth.



Birmingham District's Gareth Jones in dialogue at the Seder



So did we achieve our intentions? I believe we did. It was a real joy to have so many Methodists drawn from right across the Connexion coming together in a synagogue expressing their desire to know more about Judaism, seeking to build a better relationship and pledging to continue dialogue despite the obvious differences of opinion over all sorts of issues.



If you live within travelling distance of a Synagogue why not invite the rabbi and members of the community to demonstrate a Seder at your place of worship, or better still, if at all possible, at the synagogue. There is no more conducive way of developing a relationship than eating and drinking together around a table.

And what of next year’s Conference? Within minutes of the Southport Seder ending participants were asking what we are going to do when we next meet in Plymouth. Already suggestions are being made – one of them being Jewish festivals in an hour through song, comedy and texts! Let’s wait and see!

There was also a report in the Jewish Chronicle and the Methodist Recorder

 

 



'Always, always you alone are the One Reality' - Exploring Sikhism

I recently enjoyed reading Nikky Guninder Kaur Singh's Sikhism: An Introduction. I had previously encountered her lovely translation of verses from the Sikh Gurus The Name of My Beloved. The book is a great introduction to Sikh tradition from someone who clearly loves and cherishes her faith but is also willing to caste a critical eye over some of its inherited practices. The writer is one of a number of interesting Sikh Scholars, Birmingham's Jagbir Jhutti-Johal  and her book Sikhism Today is another, who are wanting to highlight the potentially egalitarian nature of the Sikh tradition and bring this into critical encounter with historical and contemporary patriarchal and discriminatory practice, as well as into dialogue with contemporary ethical and social issues. These writers also see immense resources within the Sikh tradition for making a particular Sikh contribution to an understanding of interreligious dialogue and religious plurality as Nikky Guninder points out:

"The Sikh monotheistic vision is different from that of the West. As a continuation of the Abrahamic traditions, Islam penetrated India with the concept of the 'One God', which conflicted with the polyphonic imagination of the diverse schools of the Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. In the Sikh belief, there is no opposition between the One and the many, nor is there any dualism between unity and plurality. The Guru Granth claims 'ikkasu te hoio ananta nanak ekasu mahi samae jio - from the One issue myriads and into the One they are ultimately assimilated' (GG:131). Unity becomes plurality, and plurality eventually becomes unity.........it is not an exclusivist monotheism, but rather an inclusive Oneness of Being that the Guru Granth reiterates over and over: 'Always, always you alone are the One Reality - sada sada tun eku hai' (GG: 139). Persian terminology is used to emphasize the unity of being: ' asti ek digari kui ek tui ek tui' - only the One is, who else could there be? Only you, you only' (GG:144). Again: 'hindu turk ka sahib ek - Hindus and Muslims share the One sovereign' (GG:1158). Since everything is a manifestation of that One being, every manifestation would be part of it. No god, no body and no thing is excluded from this all-pervasive being. The arc of the Oan flying off launches the imagination to intuit the unintuitable One, and everybody is welcome to perceive that One in their own way. Blotting out conventional icons and images that created divisions and animosities, the mathematical One embraces the Tao, Yahweh, Ram, Allah, Parvati...this numerical symbol has the potential to end conflicts over my god/ your god."

Nikky-Guninder Kaur Singh An Introduction to Sikhism (I B Tauris 2011) p61

SALMA STEPS DOWN

A good interview with Salma Yaqoob in last weeks Birmingham Mail. It's sad to see that Salma has had to resign as councillor due to ill health. I worked with Salma on a number of occasions including a Peace Vigil for Israel & Palestine, campaigning against the EDL, her campaign to become an MP and  campaigns against the spycams and the closure of Sparkhill Baths. I was particularly pleased when Salma agreed to write the Forward for my book and then speak at the launch last year. Salma will be greatly missed in both local and national politics, her performances on BBC's Question Time ( see above) and BBC Radio 4 Any Questions were often outstanding, challenging the neo-liberal and pro war political consensus of the three main parties. It's good to see that she will not be totally leaving public life, on her own web site she says

For the time being, I have to take a step back and give myself the time and space to concentrate on regaining my health. However, I am not retiring from politics just yet! I still have things to say and - health permitting - I hope to continue with occasional media appearances, writing and public speaking.I may have been forced to resign as a councillor. But I remain as committed as ever to the struggle for a world free of war, racism and poverty.

CHRISTIAN WITNESS IN A MULTI RELIGIOUS WORLD

The World Council of Churches along with the Pontical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and The World Evangelical Alliance have just issued a document called Christian Witness in a Multi-Religious World
- Recommendations for Conduct.

The opening preamble says

Mission belongs to the very being of the church. Proclaiming the word of God and witnessing to the world is essential for every Christian. At the same time, it is necessary to do so according to gospel principles, with full respect and love for all human beings.


Aware of the tensions between people and communities of different religious convictions and the varied interpretations of Christian witness, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID), the World Council of Churches (WCC) and, at the invitation of the WCC, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), met during a period of 5 years to reflect and produce this document to serve as a set of recommendations for conduct on Christian witness around the world. This document does not intend to be a theological statement on mission but to address practical issues associated with Christian witness in a multi-religious world.


The purpose of this document is to encourage churches, church councils and mission agencies to reflect on their current practices and to use the recommendations in this document to prepare, where appropriate, their own guidelines for their witness and mission among those of different religions and among those who do not profess any particular religion. It is hoped that Christians across the world will study this document in the light of their own practices in witnessing to their faith in Christ, both by word and deed.

The full document can be downloaded here

FAITH STORYTELLING IN LOZELLS

Faith Storytelling Event is an evening of inspirational stories from the faith groups in North Birmingham.

Spiritual stories play an important role in all religions, traditions and cultures as they help us to remember the wisdom transferred from one generation to another.

Date: Friday 23 Friday September 2011
Time: 7.45 - 9.00pm
Venue: Faizul Quran Jamia Mosque Lozells, 213-217 Lozells Road. B19 1RJ
Cost: This is a free event for all faith groups to attend

Please come and share an encouraging story from your personal spiritual journey or your Holy Scriptures for 5-10 minutes.

It could be in the form of a thanksgiving for an answered prayer or blessings you have received from God's loving hands.

You might want to share a short story from your Holy Books or a spiritual leader who has motivated you.

Please share freely with an open heart while respecting the faith of others present on the evening.

Organised by the 'Faith in Lozells' group in partnership with faith leaders in North Birmingham and the Lozells Project.
Pall Singh
Community Development Worker
Lozells Project
92 Lozells Road
Lozells Birmingham B19 2TB
0121 523 8726/ 0781 3038756
http://www.lozells.org.uk/

A SACRED OBLIGATION

A version of the following article has appeared in today's Methodist Recorder

Methodist theologian Kendall Soulen points out that because Christianity is concerned with the God of the Hebrew Bible and because Jesus was a faithful Jew, ‘the question has never been whether Christians should speak and act with reference to the Jewish people. Rather the question has been how they should do so, and how what they would say and do would affect the existence of the Jewish people.’(1)

A Rabbi friend when first confronted with the passage in John’s Gospel, ‘the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews,’(2) reflected ‘How ironic, as for most of the last 2,000 years it has been Jews who have been hiding behind locked doors for fear of Christians’. The truth of Christian – Jewish relations for much of the church’s life has been a story of oppression and violence inflicted by Christians upon Jews. This violence was located within the very self -understanding of Christians in relation to their Jewish neighbours. It was built upon a theology of supersessionism that saw Christianity as having displaced the Jewish people in their covenant with God. This interpretation of Christianity is still widely preached in our churches.

Soulen outlines three types of supersessionism that have dominated the church's theology - punitive, economic and structural.(3) The first argues that the Jewish people rejected Jesus and are therefore being punished for this rejection, God has abrogated the covenant made with the Jewish people and has replaced Israel with the ‘New Israel’ of the Church, the Jews became a wandering people who in their homelessness witnessed to the consequences of disobedience to God. In the second version sometimes aligned to the first but not always, Israel is merely the preparation for the coming of Christ. Israel’s relationship with God based on ‘worldly’ limitations such as a specific people, land and way of life is replaced by a ‘superior’ more 'universal and spiritual' salvation brought in Christ. Finally, structural supersessionism is perhaps the most deeply ingrained in the Christian consciousness – it is the way we often read the biblical story in prayers, liturgy, lectionaries and preaching. Soulen calls it the Standard Canonical Narrative – a story in four movements -The creation, the fall, Christ’s redemption and the future consummation. All other characters and events of the diverse and complex biblical narrative are co-opted (or ignored) to fit this overarching narrative.

All these ways of reading our relationship with the Jewish people represent attempts to assert the superiority of Christianity. We tend to see the church as growing out of a moribund and degenerate second temple Judaism. The truth was quite different.(4) The Jesus movement was one of a number of movements associated with the diversity of Judaism in the 1st century of the Common Era (CE) – a pluralistic tradition that sought to survive and continue to stay true to the God of the covenant under the heel of a vicious Roman occupation of their land. Following the destruction of the temple in 70 CE and the later failed Jewish revolts it was the quietist siblings of the Jesus Movement and the embryonic Rabbis that survived the further brutal oppression of empire. In the events that followed these two movements developed different trajectories: the Rabbinical movement resourced the Jewish people - renewing the tradition after temple destruction and led to the Judaism we have today. On the other hand the Jesus Movement increasingly orientated itself as a missionary movement taking the God of Israel into the gentile world and became the Church. Where the two movements met there was theological conflict and the echoes of this often acrimonious intra Jewish debate can be heard in the gospels and the epistles. But when these largely Jewish texts became the Scripture of an exclusively gentile movement the nature of the conflict changed. An eventually powerful gentile church, allied to empire, sought to shame or destroy its weaker sibling and supersessionism became the theological rationale for the dismissal of the Jewish people and the preaching of contempt the norm. It was this continual message of contempt in varying degrees that filled the preaching of the early church fathers, the medieval church, the reformers, the 19th century liberal protestants and their later neo-orthodox detractors alike. This contributed to the rise of Nazi ideology in a culturally Christian Germany and the murder of 6 million Jews. So deeply rooted was the theology of supersessionism that the church stood by at best and joined in the Nazi obscenity at worst. The small organised Christian resistance to the Nazis was not because of their treatment of the Jews but because they sought to interfere with the Church.(6)

The reality of the Shoah has led to a re-examination of the theology of supersessionism in the churches of Europe and North America particularly(7) But despite many Church statements supersessionism remains embedded in the consciousness of Christians and is often at the heart of much of our preaching and worship. To challenge this we must continually ask ourselves the questions posed by Soulen above: How are we speaking of the people who gave us Jesus and whose scriptures we share and what are the implications of our speaking for the Jewish people today? As one group of Christians has argued it is A Sacred Obligation.

Ray Gaston is the Inter Faith Enabler of The Birmingham District of The Methodist Church and the Inter Faith Tutor at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education

Footnotes
1. R. Kendall Soulen The God of Israel and Christian Theology (Fortress Press 1996) p1
2. John 20:19 (NRSV)
3. Op Cit pp29-33
4. See for instance Mary C Boys Has God Only One Blessing? Judaism as a Source of Christian Self Understanding (Paulist Press 2000) pp83- 85
5. Robert P. Ericksen and Susannah Heschel Betrayal – The German Churches and the Holocaust (Fortress Press 1999)
6. An excellent and accessible ecumenical example is The Christian Scholars Group
‘A Sacred Obligation - Rethinking Christian Faith in Relation to Judaism and the Jewish People’ available at http://www.jcrelations.net/en/?id=986

LIFE OF MUHAMMAD ON BBC TWO

 I haven't had the chance to watch it yet but from the initial reviews BBC's Life of Muhammad presented by Rageh Omar (pictured left) looks worth watching. The Metro and The Daily Telegraph each in their own particular ways give the series an initial thumbs up! You can watch it on BBC Iplayer

Ruth Tetlow reports on the recent Birmingham Peace Walk in Lozells

I was one of about 40 people who enjoyed taking part in the annual Birmingham Peace Walk on Saturday. Thanks to Lozells Project and the Faith in Lozells interfaith group, and to Pall Singh in particular, we visited four different places of worship within the morning. At each one we were welcomed and friendships were made and strengthened as we walked through the streets of Lozells together. The purpose was to recognise that all faiths have much in common, and that they can live and work together for peace.


The starting point was the Buddhist Maha Vihara in Hockley. Yann Lovelock, Secretary of the Vihara, told us the story of the Buddhist community in the area and how the Maha Vihara serves Buddhists from several different national origins. The Maha Vihara also serves the local community, under the able leadership of the Ven Kassapa. Although Buddhism is recognised as a faith, Buddhists do not worship God, but practise meditation to free themselves of worldly attachment. This enables them to live with compassion and selflessness.

We followed the Peace Walk banner on to St Mary’s Convent in Hunters Road, where we were welcomed by Sr Helen, the leader of the Roman Catholic community there. The Sisters of Mercy follow a long tradition of service to the poor, and are able to use their beautiful premises for conferences and retreats. At present they are trying to involve local young people in setting up a food bank, to serve the community. Sr Helen explained that they are following the way of Jesus Christ, who had a special empathy with those who are excluded.

We then went to the Faizul Quran Mosque in Lozells Rd. We were warmly welcomed by Matloob Hussein and also met Imam Shabraz Khan. They told us how they worked for 10 years to build the beautiful mosque they now have and about the prayers and classes that take place there. They also spoke about the effect of the riots in the area a few years ago and their efforts to prevent such disturbances happening again. We should have liked to have learnt more about the beliefs which motivate Muslims.

Finally, we walked to the Sri Dashmesh Sikh Temple in Wheeler St. We all willingly covered our heads in accordance with Sikh practice. We were welcomed into a small prayer hall, with the Guru Granth Sahib as its focal point. This is the Sikh scriptures, which to them is a living Guru. We were addressed by two prominent Sikh community leaders, Dr Jagjit S. Taunque and Mr Sohal. We then experienced the famous Sikh hospitality of the langar, or community dining room, where home cooked vegetarian food is freely available to all comers.

At each place we read the famous prayer attributed to St Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make us an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let us sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon,
Where there is doubt, faith,
Where there is despair, hope,
Where there is darkness, light,
Where there is sadness, joy.

We felt we had made another small step on behalf of harmony in Lozells, through praying for peace at each place, and encouraging places of worship to be open to others in the community. We were very aware of how much we still had to learn about our neighbours’ beliefs and customs.


Ruth Tetlow: Faith Encounter Programme

http://www.faithencounter.org.uk/

EVEN MORE RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

Added links to a debate between Uri Avnery and Ilan Pappe on Boycotts and One or Two State solutions to RESOURCES FOR REFLECTING UPON 'JUSTICE FOR PALESTINE & ISRAEL' REPORT & INTER FAITH RELATIONS

HAGEE HATE SPEECH COMING TO BIRMINGHAM

John Hagee is coming to Birmingham this August to peddle his particularly perverse theology. If you don't know about this man it's worth consulting Rachel Tabachnick's very good article Saving Jews from John Hagee and her collection of articles on Hagee's particularly odious form of Christian fundamentalism that have been posted by the Jewish journal Zeek over the last few years. Hagee's vitriolic  hate speech against Muslims is well known and documented. People might want to join one local politician and consider asking the Symphony Hall why they want to play host to such a man?

PLAYING WITH THE PLANET - A POSITIVE AND CREATIVE RESPONSE TO CLIMATE CHANGE

An interfaith and interactive fun event this Sunday 2pm - 5pm with drama, art, poetry and music organised jointly by Birmingham Council of Faiths and sponsored by Oxfam. more details here

Pawlikowski Seminar at Queen's in October

I've been asked by the Council of Christians and Jews to host a seminar at Queen's featuring one of the world's leading Christian Scholars on Christian - Jewish Relations. John Pawlikowski will be speaking on 19th October on the subject of   'The Continuing Israel - Palestine Conflict: is it now defining the relationship between Jews and Christians?' You can read about Pawlikowski's work here and read a recent article of his here and for a list of his publications see here

Full Details are

Wednesday 19th October 2011

11.00 am to 13.00 pm.

The Council of Christians Jews and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland

invite you to a special seminar by Dr John Pawlikowski.

If you wish to stay for lunch in the College refectory you are most welcome, but please indicate this with your RSVP, stating if you are vegetarian, RSVP by 30th September 2011.

Places are limited to 40 so book early.

Cost: The cost for lunch is £5, the seminar is free

For more information, contact:

Lindsay at CCJ

Telephone: 0207 015 5160

E-mail: mailto:cjrelations@ccj.org.uk