Call for Papers

Date: May 25-28, 2020

Venue: Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem

Abstract Submission Deadline: January 6, 2020

The recognition of Jerusalem as a holy city within a holy land both unites and divides Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions. Each tradition shares with the other a reverence for the same ancient city, but this shared site of veneration also leads to multiple forms of tension and violence, serving as a source of both commonality and conflict between these three traditions. A similar dynamic is visible in the emphasis that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions place on the religiously envisioned past and future. In common between these three religions is an orientation toward collectively remembered sacred histories, and also toward religious visions of a redemptive future. This shared orientation toward the past and the future, as envisioned within each religious tradition, also serves to both unite and divide.

This conference invites selected scholars to gather in Jerusalem to reflect on these related paradigms, exploring how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions of the religiously remembered past and the religiously anticipated future shape understandings of Jerusalem within each tradition. This conference also aims to apply these reflections to an analysis of current views of Jerusalem within diverse religious traditions, through an investigation of how these sacred histories and eschatologies shape the way that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities understand the significance of the complex and conflicted city of Jerusalem today.

We invite scholars to submit paper proposals on this theme. Various methodologies are welcome, including historical, anthropological, theological, and sociological approaches to the study of religion. Preference will be given to papers that exhibit a scholarly expertise in the historical-critical study of Jewish, Christian, or Muslim theological traditions, with attention to related issues in interreligious relations.

The Swedish Theological Institute, located in the historic and beautiful Beit Tabor house in West Jerusalem, serves as the conference venue.

This conference is a joint project of the Swedish Theological Institute, the Center for Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations, and the Department of Religious and Theological Studies at Merrimack College.

Source: Merrimack College