Reclaiming the Center Projects
The Scandal of Particularity
Participants in the Scandal of Particularity
Following the completion of the planning phase of the "Reclaiming the Center" project, the ICJS moved on to phase two, the scholarly conversation. In collaboration with the Institute for Reformed Theology at Union Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School for Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia, and with the active support and participation of First Presbyterian Church and The Temple: Hebrew Benevolent Congregation of Atlanta (Georgia), the ICJS launched a Colloquium entitled "The Scandal of Particularity." This phrase was coined by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard and designates religious beliefs that clash with modern sensibilities.
Reflections on the Scandal of Particularity
Rev. Andrew Foster Connors
Pastor, Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD
Instead of looking for those places where our faith convictions overlap, we went directly to conversations about difference. What was shared was not always a common approach, or common faith conviction, but rather a desire to understand our differences, to grapple with ways those differences have led to harm in the past, and to bring fresh, imaginative approaches to ways in which our differences might lead not to harm but to healing, and a deepening of our respective traditions ...
Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin
Rabbi, Baltimore, MD; General Consultant for COEJL and Director of BJEN
It is rare indeed to find such trusted outsiders; and it is rarer still to be gifted with their presence for so many days over such an extended period of time. By the third gathering, we were already becoming these trusted friends—seeking to understand the others' traditions, hearing anew the stories we tell of our own. We were learning how to say hard things in ways that made them easier to hear. We were seeing how we can hold fast to the distinctiveness of our traditions' answers, all the while acknowledging the commonality of our search. Our next step is translating all that we learned, and even more, what we did, so it may be replicated to benefit others ...
Dr. Mark Douglas
Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Columbia Theological Seminary, Atlanta, GA
To begin such conversations ... is to allow each participant to enter interreligious conversations as full persons (or at least as full as any of us can figure out how to be): partly believing and partly doubting; partly in consonance with the historic faith and partly dissonant to it; partly as a representative for others and partly as an individual, but in all cases as people who think that their religious identity is at least as deep as any other part of their identity. And in the process of such conversations, we do more than discover what we share. We discover who the other is as someone who really is other than us—someone who is the neighbor we've been commanded to love rather than a reflection of ourselves that, Narcissus-like, we've chosen to adore. And we discover that we may know less of ourselves than we thought because we're pushed to answer questions about ourselves that we've never thought of asking. Such a project is exciting, scary, hopeful, and, as the project's name suggests, scandalous. Or, at least, so my time in this group has been for me ...
The Rev. Joanna Adams
Pastor, Morningside Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, GA
The experience was demanding. The lectures and discussions brought out important differences, but also provided heretofore nonexistent bridges of understanding. Each and every one of us was changed forever. What more can one ask, other than that the communities from which we come will be similarly enlightened and transformed? My hope more than ever is that the values and power of religion be used in this nation and around the world to unite, rather than divide, to build up and not destroy ...
Rabbi Eugene Korn, Ph.D.
North American Director, The Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, Efrat, Israel
I learned much from the readings and guest scholars, but most from my colleagues, both in the unexpected agreement on matters of faith, values and worldview with those Christians externally very far removed from my home in Orthodox Judaism, and in my ever-growing awareness that my own faith is nurtured by understanding the differences between my beliefs and those of others and, most importantly, that there is no need for those differences to be resolved—or dissolved. An ancient Mishnaic text written by the rabbis about 1800 years ago teaches that human differences testify to the infinite glory of God. Convening a group of colleagues, each of whom shared his particularity with others, caused me to appreciate more deeply the wonderful complexity of a pluralistic religious world and the wisdom of God for creating it that way. During the project, I was blessed to experience what the late sainted Krister Stendahl called "holy envy"—seeing something beautiful about another's faith and realizing that it is not yours ...
Essays on the Scandal of Particularity
One of the educational resources that has come out of this project is a series of essays published in academic journals. These essays encourage seminaries, universities, and colleges to delve into the challenges at the heart of this enterprise. We are convinced that this project offers a daring model for interfaith learning, and we hope to demonstrate that this kind of intellectual and spiritual engagement is essential in today’s world. Our future depends on educating leaders who will step out of the comfort of their own religious enclaves and develop the aptitude to handle competing, if not conflicting, religious worldviews. This work is essential for those who hope to reclaim the center and demonstrate that our traditions can contribute constructively to the common good.
CrossCurrents
June 2009 • Volume 59 • Issue 2
The Scandal of Particularity:
Re-Examining Jewish-Christian Relations
View the Table of Contents (PDF)
Issues can be ordered directly from the publisher. Please direct inquiries to cs-journals@wiley.com.
© 2009 Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies
Reclaiming the Center materials may not be duplicated or used without the express permission of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies.
