ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

                A three-day symposium with Christian, Islamic and Jewish scholars was held at the Catholic University of America in June, 1995, on the theme, Scriptural Faiths, Ethnicity and Ethnic Conflict. Twenty-one assigned papers were presented and discussed. The theme was the apparent paradox that the three scripture-based faiths descended from Abraham -- Christianity, Islam and Judaism -- though proclaiming visions of universal shalom, themselves continue at times to become parties to ethnic conflict and violence. Why is this? What can we learn from past failures in this regard, and how can the healing potential of our several traditions be realized in the transformation of conflict?

                Participants included theologians and philosophers as well as social and political scientists. Theologians were asked to respond in terms of their respective scriptures, the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, and the Qur’an. While topics were assigned under the headings listed in the Contents below, inevitable contingencies resulted in variations in outcomes. In the editorial process, several transpositions were made.

                The ensuing discussions were lively and insightful. While not reproduced in this volume, in part they are reflected in subsequent revisions by authors and editors, and in part in a summary chapter at the end. The symposium was designed in the first instance as three parallel conversations, with Christians, Jews and Muslims, each engaged with their own texts and history. This afforded a range of conversational freedom more difficult to attain where differences are addressed directly. We, the conveners, feel profoundly indebted -- to the sponsoring agencies and academic departments listed below; to the many persons whom we consulted in organizing this event, particularly those from the three traditions who assisted in the planning sessions; and above all to the writers who generously donated their energy, time, and proficiency to the venture.

                The symposium was initiated by the Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community (Harpers Ferry, WV) and the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (Washington, DC) and co-sponsored by the School of Religious Studies and the Department of Sociology at Catholic University of America; the Department of African Studies at Howard University; the Institute for Christian - Jewish Studies (Baltimore); the Meyerhoff Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Maryland; the Mennonite Central Committee; the National Center of Urban Ethnic Affairs; Oblate Mission Center; the Washington Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values.

                Grateful acknowledgement for permission to reprint is made to: Abingdon Press for "Distance and Belonging" by Miroslav Volf from his Exclusion to Embrace: A Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation ¤1996; the Commonweal Foundation for "The New Nationalism and the Gospel" by Vigen Guroian from Commonweal, July 14, 1955; Nationalism and Ethnic Politics for "Belief Ethnicity and Nationalism" by David Little published in vol. I, 2 (March-April, 1995), pp. 284-301; and The Catholic University of American Press for "Liberal Intimations of Transcendence" from The Growth of the Liberal Soul by David Walsh.

The Conveners:

Paul Peachey

George McLean