Overview

The essays collected here, prepared by a think tank of the Elijah Interfaith Academy, explore the challenges associated with sharing wisdom—learning, teachings, messages for good living—between members of different faith traditions. In a globalized age, when food, music, and dress are shared freely, how should religions go about sharing their wisdom? The essays, representing six faith traditions (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist), explore what wisdom means in each of these traditions, why it should be shared—internally and externally—and how it should be shared. A primary concern is the form of appropriate sharing, so that the wisdom of the specific tradition maintains its integrity in the process of sharing. Authors reflect on specific wisdoms their tradition has or should share, as well as what it has to receive from other faiths. Special emphasis is placed on the themes of love and forgiveness and how these illustrate the principles of common sharing. Love and humility emerge as strong motivators for sharing wisdom and for doing so in a way that respects the tradition from which the wisdom comes as well as the recipient. This book offers a theory that can enrich ongoing encounters between members of faith traditions by suggesting a tradition-based practice of sharing the wisdom of traditions, while preserving the integrity of the teaching and respecting the identity of the one with whom wisdom is shared.

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9781498545570

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Reviews

Alon Goshen-Gottstein has assembled a collection of gem-like essays on the theme of 'sharing wisdom,' with contributions from brilliant scholars on the nature of wisdom and whether it can be shared outside the traditions, in Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, with a fine summary essay by the editor. The authors are critically sharp about the real differences among the traditions and work hard, as the result of working together, to address one another's concerns. Love and forgiveness seem to be common conditions for sharing, though even these are interpreted in interestingly different ways. This volume is accessible to beginners and enlighteningly fresh for scholars. -- Robert Neville, Boston University, Past President of the American Academy of Religion How can religions engage with each other in a way that not only respects each other's integrity but also draws on their depths and brings them into fruitful conversation? Sharing Wisdom is a remarkable response to that question. The distinguished authors together tackle a series of difficult questions posed to their traditions, and they succeed in opening up a wisdom of multiple depths that resonate with each other. There are differences as well as agreements, but the outcome is to enhance mutual understanding and inspire both further conversation and practical collaboration. Alon Goshen-Gottstein has drawn the strands together with profound sensitivity and perceptiveness. He is now one of a very small number of senior global interfaith statesmen and stateswomen. Through the work of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, together with many publications, he offers a vision of how to bring religions together for good in ways that address some of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. -- David F. Ford, University of Cambridge

Alon Goshen-Gottstein has assembled a collection of gem-like essays on the theme of 'sharing wisdom,' with contributions from brilliant scholars on the nature of wisdom and whether it can be shared outside the traditions, in Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, with a fine summary essay by the editor. The authors are critically sharp about the real differences among the traditions and work hard, as the result of working together, to address one another's concerns. Love and forgiveness seem to be common conditions for sharing, though even these are interpreted in interestingly different ways. This volume is accessible to beginners and enlighteningly fresh for scholars. -- Robert Neville, Boston University, Past President of the American Academy of Religion

Religious leaders often come together for a statement of their respective beliefs seeking a false satisfaction that they are working for world peace by a disparate series of talks meant to only emphasize differences among faith traditions. This book is a welcome departure from such meaningless exercises and hopes to create a tradition of sharing wisdom among the followers of different world religions.... Sharing Wisdom is not a simplistic putting together of the beliefs of different faith traditions but a systematic approach to bring about a culture of actively sharing wisdom without sacrificing the unique features of a particular faith tradition but trying to absorb more from the others. * Reading Religion * Alon Goshen-Gottstein has assembled a collection of gem-like essays on the theme of `sharing wisdom,' with contributions from brilliant scholars on the nature of wisdom and whether it can be shared outside the traditions, in Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism, with a fine summary essay by the editor. The authors are critically sharp about the real differences among the traditions and work hard, as the result of working together, to address one another's concerns. Love and forgiveness seem to be common conditions for sharing, though even these are interpreted in interestingly different ways. This volume is accessible to beginners and enlighteningly fresh for scholars. -- Robert Neville, Boston University, Past President of the American Academy of Religion How can religions engage with each other in a way that not only respects each other's integrity but also draws on their depths and brings them into fruitful conversation? Sharing Wisdom is a remarkable response to that question. The distinguished authors together tackle a series of difficult questions posed to their traditions, and they succeed in opening up a wisdom of multiple depths that resonate with each other. There are differences as well as agreements, but the outcome is to enhance mutual understanding and inspire both further conversation and practical collaboration. Alon Goshen-Gottstein has drawn the strands together with profound sensitivity and perceptiveness. He is now one of a very small number of senior global interfaith statesmen and stateswomen. Through the work of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, together with many publications, he offers a vision of how to bring religions together for good in ways that address some of the greatest challenges of the twenty-first century. -- David F. Ford, University of Cambridge

Author Information

Alon Goshen-Gottstein is founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute. A noted scholar of Jewish studies, he has held academic posts at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University and has served as director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, Jerusalem.

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