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Cambridge Forum for Jewish Studies

 

Research

Edward Kessler’s early research focused on the relationship between Jews and Christians in the first 6 centuries CE, particularly the interpretation of Scripture and wrote Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians and the Sacrifice of Isaac (CUP, 2004).  Since then, he has focused more on contemporary relations between Jews and Christians, co-editing A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations (CUP, 2005). In 2010, Cambridge University Press published An Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations. In the last few years, his research interests have extended to include relations with Islam, and he wrote Jews, Christians and Muslims in Encounter (SCM, 2013). 

Presently, he is Co-Principal Investigator with Shana Cohen on a research project entitled ‘Intelligent Trust Research Project: placing trust and mistrust in interfaith Europe’ which seeks to examine the meaning of trust in practice, in this case, interfaith relations in Europe under austerity.  A second research project underway consists of an examination of the effectiveness of interfaith initiatives.  In 2011, Kessler was awarded an MBE for services to interfaith relations. 

Publications

Key publications: 

• 2013 Jews, Christians and Muslims, London: SCM
• 2010 Introduction to Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• 2006 Challenges in Jewish-Christian Relations, eds., J. Aitken & E. Kessler, New York: Paulist Press
• 2006 What do Jews Believe? London and New York: Granta Publications
• 2005 A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations, eds., E. Kessler & N. Wenborn, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• 2004 Bound by the Bible: Jews, Christians and the Sacrifice of Isaac, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
• 2004 Themes in Jewish-Christian Relations, eds., E. Kessler & M.J. Wright, Cambridge: Orchard Academic

Other publications: 

• 2013 'Judaism and the Religious Other', Understanding Interreligious Relations, Edited by David Cheetham, Douglas Pratt, and David Thomas, OUP, 2013 pp 64-87
• 2013 "'I am Joseph your brother': a Jewish perspective on Christian-Jewish Relations since Nostra Aetate No. 4'' Theological Studies 74, No 1, pp 48-72.
• 2013 "Muslims and Jews in the West Today: Minority Transformations" Welcome to the Cavalcade: A Festschrift in honour of Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet, pp 276-285.
• 2013 ''Social Media and the Movement of Ideas'' European Judaism 46, No 1, pp 25-36.
• 2012 "A Jewish response to Gavin D'Costa" Theological Studies: 73, No 3, pp 614-629.
• 2011 "Rethinking the Christian-Jewish relationship: some reflections from a Jewish Theologian" Pastoral Review 7:4, pp 16-23.
• 2011 "Jewish-Muslim Dialogue in Light of Jewish-Christian Relations", Theology Vol 114, No 1, pp 23-31.
• 2011 "Mary the Jewish Mother", Irish Theological Quarterly Vol 76, pp 211-223.
• 2010 "Jewish Religious Tradition", A Guide to Religious Thought and Practices, ed., Santanu K. Patro, London: SPCK, pp 90-116.
• 2010 "Changing Landscapes: Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations Today", Melilah, Vol 3, pp 1-23.

MBE, Founder Director of the Woolf Institute
Fellow of St Edmunds College
Dr  Edward  Kessler

Contact Details

Not available for consultancy

Affiliations

Classifications: 
Departments and institutes: 
Person keywords: 
Abrahamic Relations
Inter-faith dialogue
Jewish-Christian Relations