A cornerstone of all interfaith dialogue is that world religions an be paths, rather than obstacles, to peace. Religions can jointly contribute to the process of peacemaking by sharing the depth of their accumulated wisdom and reflective resources.
Through education and meaningful interaction in settings of openness, dignity and respect, people of faith can bring about significant societal transformation.
Dialogue, however, is insufficient. Without initial deep introspection, reflection and self-examination of one's own tradition and theological positions, it is impossible to truly reach out to the "other". Critical self-examination is the precondition to any meaningful dialogue.
The Elijah Interfaith Institute has embarked on a major project of critical self-examination within the religious thinking of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism as the basis for dialogue between these faiths as the project progresses. The five processes of introspection and reflection were initiated by a conference held at the University of Scranton, Pennsylvania, in June 2005, entitled, "Towards a Contemporary Jewish Theology of World Religions." Since then it has developed into a multi-year project. To read more, please click here.
In 2006 a planning meeting was initiated for the Muslim track, which has also developed into a multi-year project. In 2007 the group convened for a major meeting in Ifrane, Morocco. To read more, please click here.
