Description
Truth informs much of the self-understanding of religious believers. Accordingly, understanding what we mean by 'truth' is a key challenge to interreligious collaboration. The contributors to this volume, all leading scholars, consider what is meant by truth in classical and contemporary Jewish thought, and explore how making the notion of truth more nuanced can enable interfaith dialogue. Their essays take a range of approaches: some focus on philosophy proper, others on the intersection with the history of ideas, while others engage with the history of Jewish mysticism and thought. Together they open up the notion of truth in Jewish religious discourse and suggest ways in which upholding a notion of one's religion as true may be reconciled with an appreciation of other faiths.
By combining philosophical and theological thinking with concrete case studies, and discussion of precedents and textual resources within Judaism, the volume proposes new interpretations of the concept of truth, going beyond traditional exclusivist uses of the term. A key aim is to help Jews seeking dialogue with other religions to do so while remaining true to their own faith tradition: in pursuit of this, the volume concludes with suggestions of how the ideas presented can be applied in practice.
CONTRIBUTORS: Cass Fisher, Jerome Yehuda Gellman, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Avraham Yizhak (Arthur) Green, Stanislaw Krajewski, Tamar Ross
About the Author
Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute. He is the author of Same God, Other God, Judaism, Hinduism and the Problem of Idolatry (2016), Religious Genius: Appreciating Outstanding Individuals Across Traditions (2017), Luther the Antisemite: A Contemporary Jewish Perspective (2018), and Coronaspection: World Religious Leaders Reflect on Covid-19 (2020), and the editor of Covenant and World Religions: Irving Greenberg, Jonathan Sacks, and the Quest for Orthodox Pluralism (Littman Library, 2024).
Reviews
'[Religious Truth] allows for a much more profound variety of interfaith dialogue than the mere comparison of doctrines. It allows a person belonging to one religion to appreciate (perhaps even ineffable) truths that are embodied in the lives of people belonging to another faith. [...] Goshen-Gottstein is to be congratulated for bringing these contributions together, for his insightful introduction, his own excellent chapter on the multiple possible meanings of Israel being a Kingdom of Priests, and his very helpful summary at the end of the book.'
Samuel Lebens, Religious Studies
"[Religious Truth] fleshes out a Judaic response to other faiths, with some contributors adapting ideas from the Chasidic masters."
Simon Rocker, The Jewish Chronicle
'[Religious Truth] is an extraordinary contribution to Comparative Theology ... displaying the richness of modern Jewish theological reflection as well as of Jewish contributions to and conceptualizations of Jewish / Christian theological dialogue.'
Kurt Anders Richardson, Ecumenical Trends
Book Information
ISBN 9781802071917
Author Alon Goshen-Gottstein
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Publisher Liverpool University Press
By combining philosophical and theological thinking with concrete case studies, and discussion of precedents and textual resources within Judaism, the volume proposes new interpretations of the concept of truth, going beyond traditional exclusivist uses of the term. A key aim is to help Jews seeking dialogue with other religions to do so while remaining true to their own faith tradition: in pursuit of this, the volume concludes with suggestions of how the ideas presented can be applied in practice.
CONTRIBUTORS: Cass Fisher, Jerome Yehuda Gellman, Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Avraham Yizhak (Arthur) Green, Stanislaw Krajewski, Tamar Ross
About the Author
Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute. He is the author of Same God, Other God, Judaism, Hinduism and the Problem of Idolatry (2016), Religious Genius: Appreciating Outstanding Individuals Across Traditions (2017), Luther the Antisemite: A Contemporary Jewish Perspective (2018), and Coronaspection: World Religious Leaders Reflect on Covid-19 (2020), and the editor of Covenant and World Religions: Irving Greenberg, Jonathan Sacks, and the Quest for Orthodox Pluralism (Littman Library, 2024).
Reviews
'[Religious Truth] allows for a much more profound variety of interfaith dialogue than the mere comparison of doctrines. It allows a person belonging to one religion to appreciate (perhaps even ineffable) truths that are embodied in the lives of people belonging to another faith. [...] Goshen-Gottstein is to be congratulated for bringing these contributions together, for his insightful introduction, his own excellent chapter on the multiple possible meanings of Israel being a Kingdom of Priests, and his very helpful summary at the end of the book.'
Samuel Lebens, Religious Studies
"[Religious Truth] fleshes out a Judaic response to other faiths, with some contributors adapting ideas from the Chasidic masters."
Simon Rocker, The Jewish Chronicle
'[Religious Truth] is an extraordinary contribution to Comparative Theology ... displaying the richness of modern Jewish theological reflection as well as of Jewish contributions to and conceptualizations of Jewish / Christian theological dialogue.'
Kurt Anders Richardson, Ecumenical Trends
Book Information
ISBN 9781802071917
Author Alon Goshen-Gottstein
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
Publisher Liverpool University Press
