Interreligious Theology From A Jewish Vantage Point

Ephraim Meir, Professor for modern Jewish Philosophy at Bar-Ilan University, gave
a fascinating lecture about his approach towards an Interreligious Theology from a
Jewish viewpoint. Prof. Meir sees the need for such a concept for two main
reasons: On the one hand the existence of different religions in close neighborhood
and on the other hand the inherent ambivalence of religion, which he describes
with the metaphor of the Janus face: religion has the power to contribute for the
good of society, but also has the potential to be a destructive force in society. He
therefore advocates for a religious and philosophical approach with a dialogical
structure. One of the central ideas in this dialogical Philosophy is “Trans-
Differences”. An idea, which does not annihilate the existing and important
differences between the religions, but tries to transcendent them. According to Meir
this bridging between religions is not only possible but also a necessity for a more
peaceful society.
In his lecture Prof. Meir shows that his concept of Interreligious Theology is deeply
rooted in the Jewish tradition. He not only describes which Jewish sources inspired
him in his thinking but also explains how and which Jewish thinkers influenced his
approach, namely four: the relational thinking of Martin Buber, the dialectic of
institutional religions from Franz Rosenzweig, the alterity of the Other from
Emmanuel Levinas and the idea of connectedness and humanism from Abraham
Joshua Heschel.
Prof. Meir not only succeeds in weaving these four highly interesting notions
together in his own conception of dialogical philosophy, but also presents it in a
vivid and informative way. The lecture can be found online and is well worth
watching.