Trialogue: Jews, Christians & Muslims in Dialogue

Authors: Leonard Swidler, Reuven Firestone, and Klalid Duran

6 X 9" -- 232 pages

The word "trialogue" derives from the popular use of the term "dialogue," which comes from the two Greek words dia (across) and logos (word), and literally means "words across." Just as di-a-logos means "words between two persons," tri-a-logos means "words among three persons. --From the Foreword

Author Leonard Swidler himself is one of the American originators of the term "trialogue" and here he raises it to a new level as he shares "the podium" with professors Reuven Firestone and Khalid Duran. These three professors, beginning with Firestone and Judaism, present their faith traditions and the challenges as well as possibilities for genuine trialogue. Each offers invaluable insights into the ways they share Hebraic roots and Abrahamic traditions and how their beliefs and practices have evolved through the centuries up to and including the present. Throughout the text, readers are encouraged to pause for reflection and/or discussion of the key points presented by the authors. This is a fascinating, enlightening, and highly recommended introduction to these three great faith traditions and how they evolved and are practiced today.

ABOUT THESE DISTINGUISHED AUTHORS:

Leonard Swidler has been Professor of Catholic Thought and Interreligious Dialogue in the Religion Department at Temple University since 1966. He and his wife Arlene Anderson Swidler founded the Journal of Ecumenical Studies of which professor Swidler is still editor. In 1978, he founded and is President of the Institute for Interreligious, Intercultural Dialogue and he is co-founder of the International Scholars' Annual Trialogue (ISAT). He is the author or editor of over 70 books and 180 articles.

Reuven Firestone is professor of medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. In 1992 he was awarded the Yad Hanadiv Research Fellowship at the Hebrew University, where he spent the year conducting research on holy war in Islamic tradition. In 2000, he was awarded a fellowship for independent research from the National Endowment for the Humanities for his research on holy war in Judaism. He has authored five books and more than 60 articles on Judaism, Islam, and scriptural interpretation and is a member of the International Scholars' Annual Trialogue.

Khalid Duran has taught at the Free University of Berlin (where he earned his Ph.D.), Hamburg University, University of Oslo, Islamabad University, the Catholic University of America, University of California-Irvine, American University, United Nations University, and Temple University. He is the author of seven books on Islam, including most recently Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Islam for Jews, and Osama bin Laden und der internationale Terroismus. He, too, has been a member of the International Scholars' Annual Trialogue.