Friends on the Way
Jesuits Encounter Contemporary Judaism
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The largest order of religious in the Roman Catholic Church, the Society of Jesus has been at the forefront of the Church’s efforts at dialogue across religions.
Understanding and improving relations between the Church and the Jewish people has been a major focus of the Holy See and the Society of Jesus for many years. This book, the fruit of a major conference on the history, nature, and dynamics of relations between Jesuits and contemporary Jewish life, brings together a rich, wide-ranging selection of essays by Jesuit scholars and pastoral leaders, a leading Jewish studies scholar, and a leading rabbi.
Drawing on a variety of approaches in historical and constructive theology, literary criticism, and spirituality, the contributors explore historical, philosophical, theological, cultural, and institutional themes—from Ignatian perspectives on Halakhic spirituality and the role played in Jesuit history by Jews forced to convert to Christianity to Jesuit perspectives on Hannah Arendt, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Harold Bloom.
For the past several years, members of the Society of Jesus have been studying together and meeting with Jewish guests to explore the relationship between Jesuits and Jews both historically and theologically. Partially this involves a reckoning with the past denigration of Jews, but it also generates profound spiritual enrichment for those involved. In the volume are collected insightful essays about this exciting undertaking, which consider biblical, historical, and theological topics. Everyone interested in Christian-Jewish relations will be intrigued by this engagement with the more focused subject of Jesuit-Jewish relations.
"The ten papers in this volume were prepared for the Third International Colloquium of Jesuits in Jewish-Christian Dialogue held in 2005 at Zul, Switzerland.---—New Testaments Abstracts
This is a strong collection of individual essays that will prove useful to theological educators and dialogue participants.---—Catholic Library World
Presents a cadre of talented Jesuit thinkers addressing a range of Jewish questions with familiarity and depth.
This volume deepens the conversation between Jesuits and Jews as the Society of Jesus acknowledges its history—both its pride in Ignatius' stance and the need for contrition for its antisemetic role in the years that followed.---—Shofar