Overview

From October 24 to 25, 2010, The Witherspoon Institute, The Institute for Theological Inquiry (ITI), and Yale University celebrated the completion of the first research of ITI scholars on the topics of "Covenant, Mission, and Relation to the Other" and "Hope and the Responsibility for the Human Future" as viewed from the perspectives of both Christianity and Judaism. The Witherspoon Institute is an ongoing partner with The Institute for Theological Inquiry (ITI) to support research in areas critical to Judaism, Christianity, social values, and world culture.  

At the sessions of the conference, ITI scholars discussed their work with scholars from the Yale Divinity School and the Yale University faculty. The conference also included a public event for the New Haven and Yale University communities that was devoted to a discussion of the current state of Christian-Jewish relations and contemporary challenges for both faiths. The Thomas More Catholic Center at Yale University hosted this event.

The conference steering committee consisted of Harold Attridge (Dean, Yale Divinity School), Steven Fraade (Chair, Yale Program in Judaic Studies), Robert Jenson (ITI), Rabbi Eugene Korn (ITI), and Miroslav Volf (Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture). More information on the topics of the conference, including the complete set of papers delivered, can be found here. The research will be published by Eerdmans Press in an edited volume in early 2011.

Papers and Presenters:

"What Kind of God Can Make a Covenant?"
Robert Jenson, The Institute for Theological Inquiry and Princeton University

"Covenant, Mission, and Relating to the Other"
Gerald McDermott, Roanoke College

"Covenant and Mission"
Rabbi David Novak, University Of Toronto

"Covenant Renewed: Josef Ratzinger, Theologian and Pastor"
Very Rev. Richard Sklba, Auxiliary Bishop of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

"Three Forms of Otherness: Covenant, Mission, and Relation to the Other in Rabbinic Perspective"
Naftali Rothenberg, Van Leer Institute of Jerusalem

"Judaism, the Political, and Monarchy"
Michael Wyschogrod, University of Houston; CUNY

"The People Israel, Christianity, and the Covenantal Responsibility to History"
Rabbi Eugene Korn, The Institute for Theological Inquiry

"Hope and Responsibility: The Assembly with the Promise of God"
Douglas Knight, King's College, London

"Messianic Hope"
Alan Mittleman, Jewish Theological Seminary

"The Antinomian Threat to Human Flourishing"
Russell Reno, Creighton University

"Covenant and Conversion: The United Mission to Redeem the World"
Shlomo Riskin, Ohr Torah Stone Institutions

"God, Hope, and Human Flourishing"
Miroslav Volf, Yale University

"Moral Agency, Sin, and Grace: Prospects for Christian Hope and Responsibility"
Darlene Weaver, Villanova University

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures. To support the Witherspoon Institute, please follow the contribution instructions or donate online via PayPal.