As this edition of The Institute reaches you, we will have just completed our September mini-course (When Violence is a Virtue).

As Chris Leighton pointed out in The Institute's feature article, this year's ICJS thematic core examines the tendency toward violence present in every religious tradition. When Violence is a Virtue, taught by Rabbi Charles Arian, Dr. Rosann Catalano, and Dr. Christopher Leighton, kicked off our academic year with three evenings of lively discussion at Brown Memorial Woodbrook Presbyterian.

Jews and Christians are heirs to complex understandings of violence. The Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament pre-serve stories that seem to encourage or reward acts of violence done in the name of God. The fall mini-course intro-duced fifty students to the entanglements of religion and violence through a close and careful study of these proble-matic biblical texts.

The theme of violence and religion will continue throughout the year and will include an April public lecture by Dr. Charles Kim-ball, author of When Religion Becomes Evil. Details will be mailed to our members and friends. Dr. Kimball's book is reviewed by Associate Scholar John Roberts in this edition of The Institute.

For more information on our mini-courses and the spring public lecture, please call Laura Riger at 410-523-7227.