Conference Description
D.R. Sharpe Lectures
October 21-23, 2003
Humanity before God:
Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics
Then
God said, ‘Let us make adam (humankind) in our own image,
according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his
image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created
them. (Genesis 1:26)
With
the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men,
who have been made in God's likeness….this should not be.
(Jas 3:9-10)
He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things
visible and invisible…” (Col 1:15)
Behold
thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I will create a viceregent on
earth.’ They said: ‘Wilt thou place therein one who
will make mischief therein and shed blood?’ He said, ‘I
know what you know not.’ (Qur’an 2:30)
Conference
Objectives
The
D.R. Sharpe Lectureship on Social Ethics of the University of Chicago
Divinity School was established “to provide the opportunity for
the best and most creative minds to explore society’s social needs
and present an ethical standard for modern life.” The desire of
D. R. Sharpe was that content of the Sharpe lectures “relate in
the broadest sense and in the context of religion to the social and ethical
principles of the prophets of Judah and Israel and of Jesus of Nazareth
as they apply to modern life and public policy….” These words
convey the intended spirit of the present conference.
The
objective of 2003 D.R. Sharpe Lectures is to re-examine the shared ways
in which the three monotheistic faiths in the Abrahamic tradition conceive
the idea of humanity before God, and how each conception contributes to
contemporary understandings of fundamental claims about the inalienable
sanctity and dignity of human life. In many ways, the idea of humanity
before God is informed by certain central narrative figurations of the
creation of humanity within the Torah and the Qur’an. With a view
toward these narratives, the conference will explore various problems
and dimensions of the idea of humanity before God within the Abrahamic
traditions and in relation to our contemporary situation.
Conference Overview
The
Abrahamic Traditions
In
the Torah, the Genesis creation story depicts human persons as created
in the image of God (tselem elohim or imago dei). The terms ‘image’
or ‘likeness’ in the Torah passages, according to some exegetical
scholars, refer not simply to a similitude but signify also the institution
of a special set of relations between God, humanity and creation. In the
direction of the divine, humanity is created for fellowship with God.
Toward creation, humankind is commissioned to manifest God’s rule
on earth. The Qur’an employs a different but related figure: humankind
as the ‘viceregent’ (khalifah) of Allah, authorized to represent
God on earth as the caretaker of creation. But amidst such similarities,
significant differences exist among the ways in which these figures or
ideas function within the overall trajectories of the three traditions.
The conference will convene scholars— philosophers, theologians,
ethicists and legal thinkers—who work within the Jewish, Islamic,
and Christian traditions to present papers that examine this topic from
these different perspectives.
The
goal of the conference is dialogue among a diversity of viewpoints. Points
of divergence—as well as convergence—may likely emerge between
the views presented. Indeed, even within the different traditions themselves,
interpreters acknowledge an internal plurality of readings of these textual
figures or themes. In fact, the central texts themselves attest to the
reality of already differentiated horizons of memory and expectation during
the periods of their original formation. But thus mindful of the pluralistic
situation of any real dialogue, the conference seeks to pose the following
question:
Even
as we must acknowledge the significant differences among the core
ethical visions of the three monotheistic faiths, is there nevertheless
common ground to be found within the Abrahamic tradition in the
idea of the humanity before God?
The
Contemporary Situation
The
conference seeks to address issues of immediate and utmost importance
in the contemporary global situation. The tragic events and aftermath
of September 11, 2001 underscore the need for theological ethicists to
reflect on the moral calling of their vocation in light of the fact of
religious and cultural pluralism. At the beginning of this new century,
forces of globalization continue to grow in strength. Communication in
this increasingly networked world takes place now often in an instantaneous,
decentralized, and unmediated fashion. Once distant peoples are now close.
Nascent communities with ‘transnational’ bonds spring newly
into existence. As a result, the diverse religious traditions confront
anew the old problems of preserving the integrity of their faiths but
in novel and intensified forms. Today more pressing than ever becomes
the question of how to preserve the integrity of one’s own faith
while at the same time respecting and enhancing the integrity of the traditions
of other peoples. Any adequate self-understanding of theological ethics
must reflect on and respond to this transformed situation of otherness
and pluralism. By fostering a dialogue between Jewish, Christian, and
Islamic conceptions of moral life amidst human diversity, this conference
seeks to develop such critical self-awareness in the arena of theological
ethics.
In the
latter decades of the twentieth century, there has taken place an unprecedented
but welcome shift in Jewish and Christian relations. The catastrophic
events of the Holocaust have compelled Christians to look inside their
own traditions and examine the often distorted picture of Judaism within
historical Christian theology. In turn, Jews have responded by reflecting
on what the Jewish faith can say constructively about Christianity. From
each perspective, the two communities of faith have begun to articulate
understandings of what it means to worship the same God and seek authority
from shared texts. Central to this dialogue is the common acceptance of
the core moral principles of the Torah—at the heart of which one
finds the recognition of the inalienable sanctity and dignity of every
human being. According to this shared tradition, the dignity of persons
is grounded in the reality that each human person is created in the image
of God. A similar kind of dialogue needs to be encouraged between these
two traditions and the Islamic tradition. This conference hopes to provide
an opportunity for just such a conversation. The Qur’anic story
of the creation of humanity expresses a similar fundamental belief about
the dignity of the human person but through a different but—perhaps—related
figure: the human person as the ‘viceregent of God,’ entrusted
to a position in creation higher than the angels and other beings, and
possessing a special relation to God.
The
Structure of the Conference
In
addition to a keynote lecture, the conference is divided into three panels,
each consisting of 3-4 papers presented by scholars representative of
all three Abrahamic traditions—Jewish, Christian, and Islamic. The
three panels correspond to the following three dimensions of the complex
idea of human life before God: (1) the distinctiveness of human being;
(2) natural and embodied life; and (3) the social, political, and cultural
dimensions of life. For each panel, the Divinity School has invited scholars
of international renown to reflect on and explore one of these three dimensions
of human life before God, specifically in connection to the image of God
motif in Genesis or the theme of viceregency in the Qur’an. This
multi-dimensional structure reflects the working hypothesis of the conference
that these narrative figurations—as they function within or across
the traditions—contain a surplus of meaning irreducible to any one
of the dimensions of human life or experience.
How
do the focal meanings expressed by the various figurations of the human-divine
relation (e.g., imago dei; viceregency) inform, on the one hand, our respective
understandings of the dignity of human being itself and, on the other,
our responsibility to the created world, including other persons and other
traditions? In what manner, at what times and places, have our respective
traditions violated these ideas or enacted violence in their name?
Panel
1: The Distinctiveness of Human Being.
The first session will inquire, from both philosophical and theological
perspectives, how the idea of human life before God informs metaethical
reflection on various questions of fundamental anthropology and value.
What is distinctive about human being? What is the fundamental nature
of moral personhood? What are the sources of human value? What is
the relation between ethico-moral discourse and other modes of human
discourse—scientific, literary, etc? How should we understand
the status of a plurality of value perspectives?
Panel
2: Natural and Embodied Life.
The second section will inquire how the idea of the sanctity
of persons should be applied in our natural and embodied life. How
have past ways of construing embodied life in the image of God, for
example, been distorted by patriarchal images? How do we apply the
idea of the dignity of persons to practical problems in various areas
of human activity and ethics, such as biomedical or environmental
ethics; stem cell research, cloning, or genetic engineering; or questions
of euthanasia and abortion.
Panel
3: Social and Cultural Life.
The third session will explore how the ideas of humanity
before God as portrayed within the three Abrahamic faiths shape our
communal existence—social, political, and cultural. Topics here
may range from normative questions of justice, human rights, and political
theory, on the one hand, to issues of literature, culture, and mass
media, on the other hand. How should the discourse of theological
ethics function vis-à-vis the discourse of public policy or
the mass media in an open and pluralistic society?
The
conference will conclude with a panel of theologians and ethicists convened
to discuss directly how the themes raised in the various presentations
might contribute to a rapprochement between Jewish, Christian and Islamic
understandings of ethics. Though all three sections of the conference
will encourage direct interaction between the panelists and the different
traditions on the topics under discussion, the task of the closing panelists
will be to reflect specifically on what the conference has contributed
to a dialogue between the traditions in the arena of theological ethics.
|
