INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED THEOLOGY AT BARD COLLEGE OFFERS A WEEKLY LECTURE-DIALOGUE SERIES ON MONDAY EVENINGS FROM SEPTEMBER 18 TO OCTOBER 2 Rev. Dr. Bruce Chilton and Professor Jacob Neusner lead discussions about "Comparing Spiritualities—Christianity a

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College will hold a series of public lecture-dialogues on the topic "Comparing Spiritualities—Christianity and Judaism; or Finding Life and Meeting Death," Monday evenings, September 18 to October 2. The lecture-dialogues, free and open to the public, will begin at 6:00 p.m. in Room 102 of the F. W. Olin Humanities Building.

In the series of three lecture-dialogues the Reverend Dr. Bruce Chilton and Professor Jacob Neusner will examine a theological exchange between Christianity and Judaism. They will discuss three dimensions of the religious life—knowing God, dying in good faith, and bearing faithful witness to God through martyrdom. The first two are more common human experiences, the third an exemplary one. Against the backdrop of the Holocaust and in an age when Christians in Africa and Asia suffer for their faith, they will share knowledge of what the martyr exemplifies for all of us. These three dimensions of the inner, spiritual life of faith take the human measure of what it means to live life in the Torah, for Judaism, or in Christ, for Chrisitianity.

The Reverend Dr. Bruce Chilton is Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion and director of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He is a scholar of early Christianity and Judaism, whose principal focus is understanding Jesus within his Jewish context. Chilton is the author and editor of fifty books, including The Temple of Jesus, Pure Kingdom: Jesus' Vision of God, the recent James the Just and Christian Origins, and the forthcoming Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography. Chilton, Class of '71, received his master of divinity degree from General Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and a doctorate from Cambridge University. He has taught at Yale University, the University of Münster in Germany, and St. John's College of Cambridge University and the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Jacob Neusner is Research Professor of Theology and Judaism and senior fellow of the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College. He received his Ph.D. in religion from Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary and his rabbinical degree at the Jewish Theological Seminary. In addition, he holds seven honorary doctorates and numerous academic medals and honors. He has published more than eight hundred books and countless articles. Neusner has taught at Bard College since 1994, prior to accepting this full-time appointment. He has also taught at Dartmouth College, Brown University, and the University of South Florida, among others. He is a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, and life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge University, in England. Neusner was president of the American Academy of Religion, a member of the founding committee of the Association for Jewish Studies, and founded the European Association of Jewish Studies. He served as a member of the National Council on the Humanities under President Carter and a member of the National Council on the Arts under President Reagan. The position Neusner holds as Research Professor of Religion and Theology at Bard College is supported, in part, by a grant from the Tisch Family Foundation of New York City.

The Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College was established to foster critical understanding based on scholarship that will make true religious pluralism possible. Since its inception in 1996, the Institute's work has focused on how religions influence history, society, and other religions, and are in turn influenced by them. The Institute gratefully acknowledges support provided by the Crohn Family Trust, the Tisch Family Foundation, and grants from The Jerome Levy Economics Institute of Bard College, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Bard College.

For further information about the lecture series or the Institute of Advanced Theology at Bard College, call 845-758-7279.

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(8.17.00)

This event was last updated on 03-02-2001

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