‘The Other’ Doing God’s Work: Exploring the Interfaith Crossroads of the Ancient Middle East

FREE Afternoon Version, Tuesdays at 2PM – 3:30PM at the Tri-Faith Center from Aug. 27 to Sept. 24

Seeing the beautiful and dutiful ways in which our neighbors practice their faith and live out their values can inspire us to be more engaged in our own faith; indeed, this is the kind of inspiration that can be (and so often is) drawn from the Tri-Faith Commons.

But how were the Abrahamic religions as we know them today shaped by this kind of inspiration, this “holy envy,” as Krister Stendahl called it? To find out, we must journey back to a time when prophets and scribes believed a Zoroastrian Persian emperor served as a prime example of expressing Jewish values.

Leveraging fascinating content about the Persian period that Dr. Lucas Schulte has curated, as well as some new knowledge that he has contributed to the field throughout his career, this five-session course aims to move audiences beyond limiting misconceptions (ex: “The Middle East has always been embroiled in bloody religious conflict”) and offer them a fresh perspective on a critical, transformative period for Judaism — and later, a pivotal point of reflection for Christianity and Islam.

When we discover that the interfaith relations of the past were far more interesting and experimental than we thought, we tend to approach the perceived limitations of the present with renewed hope!