The Diane and Guilford Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies will host its first conference at Pepperdine “Finding Common Ground: Reconciliation Among the Children of Abraham.” The conference will highlight the uniting similarities between the three major monotheistic faiths — Christianity Islam and Judaism.
“Everyone will leave the conference knowing something they didn’t know before said Provost Daryl Tippens.
The conference will be held in Elkins Auditorium on Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It will feature a number of speakers varying from rabbis to professors in theology, whose talks will be divided into four panels. Each panel will be followed by a question-and-answer session open to guests.
The purpose of the conference is to try and talk about common issues that all three monotheistic religions share said Roger Alford, director of the Glazer Institute.
The Glazer Institute’s mission is to pursue reconciliation among the Abrahamic faiths, by understanding others while at the same time remaining committed to one’s own beliefs.
After some opening remarks by Alford, Finding Common Ground will commence with its first panel, Interpreting Sacred Texts in which three speakers will address the challenge of interpreting religious literature in a way that is relevant for the modern age.
There’s a huge amount of viewpoints about interpretation. Alford said. All adherents to the three great faiths are committed to the authority of God under those scriptures. It doesn’t mean it’s easy to interpret what those mean.”
According to Alford the second panel titled “Dealing With the Outsider in Our Midst will address the challenge of interfaith dialogue, such as that between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Orthodox and Reformed Jews, or Catholics and Protestants.
In a place like LA one of the most religiously diverse cities in the world we’re constantly rubbing shoulders that are of a different religious tradition. And yet we don’t really know much about those other religious or how to interact with them Alford said.
The third panel, Finding Common Ground’s keynote address, will be given by Rabbi David Wolpe, best-selling author of Why Faith Matters.” Wolpe said he was an atheist in college but later found that approach failed to explain the mysteries of life.
“All three of [the monotheistic religions] struggle with the question of modern secularism Alford said. Keynote speaker David Wolpe is going to talk about his own process of discovering the relevancy of faith.”
The fourth panel will take a more political stance. Israeli Consul General Jacob Dayan and Turkish Consul General Hakan Tekin will lead the talk “National Identity and Religious Pluralism addressing the issue of religious pluralism and extremism in their own countries.
Students from the faiths being presented expressed interest in its goals, and the potential it has to enlighten students with different spiritual stances.
The reason that Pepperdine is [having the conference] is because we’re unapologetically Christian in our orientation. It’s particularly useful for a school like this to talk about interfaith dialogue because in doing so it’s not compromising our own religious tradition or in any way trying to water down our own faith perspective Alford said.
Students anticipate and welcome the dialogue on campus. It sounds really cool sophomore Rachel O’Connor said, An event like this appeals to both traditionally religious students as well as those who are just searching for a better understanding of different religions.”
Sameer Khan junior and finance director of Middle Eastern Peace and Awareness (MEPA) sees how his Muslim faith shares commonalities.
“I think primarily it could just show how similar the religions are and how they overlap. I’ve found that just from studying at a Christian university attending convocations and listening to the speakers I can adapt their messages to my own faith and create my own meaning.”
In light of the often antagonistic and sometimes extreme lengths taken because of differences between the three monotheistic faiths the primary goal of the conference is to provide proof that reconciliation between these belief systems is a definite possibility.
“I think it’s a great fit with our mission. We’re trying to do good in our world — what can be better than encouraging peace among religious groups and ethnic communities?” said Tippens. “Jesus said ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’ Seems to me this is one of many ways Pepperdine is involved
in peacemaking.”