Uneasy Allies? Evangelical–Jewish Relations Today

Cosponsored by the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, Temple University; the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies, The Jewish Theological Seminary; and the Center for Religious Inquiry Across the Disciplines of Baylor University.

Conference Program (PDF, 397KB)

November 30–December 1, 2005
Mendelson Convocation Center,
The Jewish Theological Seminary
3080 Broadway
New York City

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Registration 12:30–1:00 p.m.

Welcome
Alan Mittleman, The Jewish Theological Seminary
Byron Johnson, Baylor University
Nancy Isserman, Temple University

Panel One 1:05–3:00 p.m.
What Do Evangelicals Think About Jews?
John Green, Director, Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, University of Akron

How Wide Is the Social Distance Between Jews and Evangelicals?
Barry Kosmin, Director of the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, Trinity College

Respondent:
Jack Wertheimer, Provost, The Jewish Theological Seminary

Moderator:
Byron Johnson, Professor of Sociology, Director, Center for Religious Inquiry Across the Disciplines, Baylor University


Panel Two 3:20–5:00 p.m.
The Organized Jewish Community and the Evangelical Community
Lawrence Grossman, Coeditor of the American Jewish Year Book and Associate Director of Research for the American Jewish Committee

Respondent:
George Mamo, Executive Vice President and CEO, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

Moderator:
Bob Guzzardi, Vice Chair Advisory Board, Feinstein Center

Dinner Break 5:00–7:30 p.m.
Panel Three 7:30– 9:00 p.m.
Conversation on Current Issues
Alan Wolfe, Professor of Political Science and Director, Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, Boston College

David Neff, Editor, Christianity Today

Moderator:
W. Bradford Wilcox, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Virginia

Thursday, December 1, 2005

Registration and Continental Breakfast 8:30– 9:00 a.m.

Panel Four 9:00–10:30 a.m.
Evangelicals and Israel
Gerald R. McDermott, Professor of Religion, Roanoke College

Respondent:
Rabbi Yehiel Poupko, Judaic Scholar, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago

Moderator:
Shari Dollinger, the Donor Forum (Atlanta, Georgia), Assistant Director


Panel Five 10:45 a.m. –12:15 p.m.
Christian America?
Yaakov Ariel, Professor of Religion, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Respondent:
Richard Cizik, Vice President of Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals

Moderator:
Shuly Rubin Schwartz, Acting Dean of Academic Affairs, Dean, List College, Associate Professor of Jewish History, The Jewish Theological Seminary

Lunch Break 12:15–1:30 p.m.

Panel Six 1:30–3:30 p.m.

Jews and Evangelicals in American Public Life: Looking to the Future
Gary Dorrien, Reinhold Niebuhr Chair of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary

Mark Silk, Professor of Religion and Director, the Leonard E. Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Trinity College

Respondent:
Michael Cromartie, Director, Evangelicals in Civic Life, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Moderator:
Michael Alexander, Murray Friedman Professor in American Jewish History, Director, Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, Temple University

This conference has been funded by contributions from Bob Guzzardi, Robert M. Segal, Jeffrey Orleans, Edward L. Snitzer, the Finkelstein Institute, the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History, and the Center for Religious Inquiry Across the Disciplines.