April 28, 2006

MINNEAPOLIS – Much of the rampant violence in the world today seems rooted in religion, and daily we see its vast potential for both creation and destruction. In the face of religious extremism, religious pluralism, and globalization, it has become profoundly important to reassess what the three often-conflicting Abrahamic traditions affirm about being human before God.

In the newly-released Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics, distinguished thinkers from Islam, Judaism, and Christianity-philosophers and theologians, historians and social scientists-examine their sacred texts, narratives and symbols, ritual practices, legacies and exemplars to lift up vital aspects of the character and value of being human. They are seeking not a common denominator among the traditions but how the unique insights of each tradition intersect. Their work offers hope that the global encounter of world religious traditions can forge a creative new religious appreciation of human life with God and in the world. Humanity Before God was edited by William Schweiker, Michael A. Johnson and Kevin Jung.

Contributors include:
Azizah Y. al-Hibri
Lisa Sowle Cahill
Michael Fishbane
Tikva Frymer-Kensky
Michael A. Johnson
Kevin Jung
John Kelsay
David Little
Paul Mendes-Flohr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Hilary Putnam
Abdulaziz Sachedina
William Schweiker
Lawrence Vogel

William Schweiker is Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago, author most recently of Theological Ethics and Global Dynamics (2004), and editor of The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics (2005). Michael A. Johnson is a doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago whose work is primarily in the field of Ethics and the Philosophy of Religions.

Kevin Jung recently received his doctorate in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago and is Visiting Professor of Religious Studies at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Humanity Before God: Contemporary Faces of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Ethics, Format: Paperback, 6" x 9," 336 pages, ISBN: 0-8006-3822-2, Publisher: Fortress Press, Price: $22.00.

To order Humanity Before God please call Fortress Press at 1-800-328-4648 or visit the Web site at http://www.augsburgfortress.org/.

Fortress Press