Elaine Pagels - The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion - Jewish/Christian/Muslim dialogue

Divisions have often led violence and religion is not immune. National power and nationalism can obscure the ethical issues in times of division. We see this in our country as well as internationally. It is current as well as being observed throughout history. These themes will be addressed in The Challenge of Power, Morality, and Religion, featuring three leaders from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities.
Featured Speakers:
Elaine Pagels, Ph.D. is is an American religion historian. She is the Harrington Spear Paine Professor of Religion at Princeton University. Pagels conducted extensive research into early Christianity and Gnosticism as a part of her graduate study at Harvard University. Her best-selling book The Gnostic Gospels examines the divisions in the early Christian church, and the way women were viewed throughout Jewish and Christian history. Modern Library named it as one of the 100 best books of the twentieth century.
Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman is President of the Shalom Hartman Institute and author of the highly regarded 2016 book, Putting God Second: How to Save Religion from Itself. Donniel is the founder of some of the most extensive education, training and enrichment programs for scholars, educators, rabbis, and religious and lay leaders in Israel and North America. He is a prominent essayist, blogger and lecturer on issues of Israeli politics, policy, Judaism, and the Jewish community.
Mustafa Akyol is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, where he focuses on the intersection of public policy, Islam, and modernity. He is the author of acclaimed books such as “The Islamic Moses,” “The Islamic Jesus,” and “Reopening Muslim Minds: A Return to Reason, Freedom, and Tolerance .” He was a longtime contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and teaches classes at Boston College and Foreign Service Institute. He is also an affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute’s Collins Center for Abrahamic Heritage. In July 2021, the Prospect magazine of the UK listed him among “The world’s top 50 thinkers.”
Links to each session:
Rabbi Donniel Hartman - Does Power Threaten Morality - Jewish Presentation • Rabbi Donniel Hartman ...
Elaine Pagels - Does Power Threaten Morality - Christian presentation • Elaine Pagels - The Ch...
Mustafa Akyol - Does Power Threaten Morality - Muslim Presentation • Mustafa Akyol - The Ch...
Owning Power and its Challenges panel discussion • The Challenge of Power...
Naming the Problem: Religion and Nationalism panel discussion • The Challenge of Power...
West Michigan has a rich history of engagement in interfaith dialogue, largely because of the organizations Sylvia Kaufman, a respected community leader, has founded. Sylvia initiated the first community dialogue on interfaith issues through the former West Shore Committee for Jewish/Christian Dialogue in 1989. Since that time, hundreds of premier scholars, clergy, citizens, and students from the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths have come together every three years for a conference, now known as the Jewish/Christian/Muslim Triennial Interfaith Dialogue.