In 2023/24, The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities established a Forum for the Study of the Abrahamic

Religions. The Forum, intended for scholars of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, is multi-disciplinary in nature. Its principal purpose is to facilitate the development of innovative approaches to the study of the Abrahamic religions, past and present, from the broadest possible perspective, and from historical, comparative and phenomenological points of view. A further purpose of the Forum is to bring together scholars from different fields of knowledge and encourage collaborative studies. The forum's activity is led by Academy Member Prof. Guy G. Stroumza and by Prof. Youval Rotman from Tel Aviv University.

 

The Forum integrates synchronic and diachronic analyses of religious phenomena, with the object of understanding the development of these genetically and structurally related religious cultures from the point of view of the cultural and social processes that take place within them. The group’s working assumption is that examining this religious triad will make possible a deep, complex and rich description of the interreligious dialectic in its various contexts, beyond what can emerge from an analysis of developments within any one religious tradition in and of itself, or even of the connections between any two of them. Also to be considered are the mutual influences between the Abrahamic religions and other religions, outside the Abrahamic triad.

 

In its first year, the Form divided into three study groups, each focusing on a specific subject: interreligious polemics; kinship relations and gender; and the relationships between religious and political systems, as well as between religion and violence. The Forum also invited three outstanding scholars from abroad to deliver lectures (via Zoom) on the topics chosen for discussion. The year concluded with a seminar in which the members of the study groups summed up the conclusions of their discussions.

 

In its second year, the Forum will focus on transitions from states of hostility and violence between the religions to states of coexistence and tolerance (and vice versa). The year will conclude with an international workshop, with the participation of the Forum’s members along with several scholars from abroad.

 

 

 

Scholars convene at the Forum for the Study of the Abrahamic Religions