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Les Versets douloureux - (The Painful Verses) - The Bible, the Gospel and the Koran, from conflict to dialogue

Published on 2008-01-01 16:35:00

Noting that all too often interreligious dialogue does not start with a clear, in-depth look at one's own tradition David Meyer, Soheib Bencheikh and Yves Simoens have co-authored the book "Les Versets Douloureux" (The Painful Verses).
Publishers: Éditions Lessius, Publication date: February 2008.

 

Acting on an idea by Rabbi David Meyer, this book reflects the thoughts of three believers from the three great monotheistic religions who question their religion's basic theological writings. In the first three parts of the book, the authors, – a Jew, a Christian and a Moslem, – are interested in the "painful verses" of their scriptural tradition, more specifically the Torah, the Gospel according to Saint John and the Koran. The "painful verses" refers to the passages in the scripture that speak of rejection, violence and hate of others and of the other's tradition. Dialogue as such is dealt with in the last part of the book, with a chapter that describes a roundtable discussion among the three authors after reading each other's contributions to the book.

As it travels from self-criticism to consultation, the book adds a decisive step to interreligious dialogue and warns us against naive and perillous sanctification of the sacred writings themselves, just at a time when religious reinvestment sometimes takes the guise of dangerous fundamentalism.

The authors:

David Meyer (dir.) holds a licence in Mathematics, two masters degrees, one in Orientalism and Social Sciences from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris and the other in Hebrew and Jewish Studies from the University of London and the Leo Baeck Rabbinical Seminary of London where he was ordained as a rabbi. David Meyer seeks to bring the three great monotheistic religions closer together and has launched many projects to develop dialogue and cooperation. He has written numerous articles for the Belgian, French and British press and for various scholarly publications.

Soheib Bencheikh graduated in Islamic theology at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt and holds a doctorate in Religious Studies from the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Paris, France. He was Grand Mufti of Marseille until 2005 and is a founding member of the Conseil français du culte musulman (Council of French Muslims). For over ten years he was the president of CORAI (Conseil de Réflexion et d’Action Islamiques). S. Bencheikh is also well known for his participation in interreligious dialogue.

Yves Simoens teaches Holy Writing in Brussels, Paris and Rome, through courses, conferences, seminars and sessions. He practices his pastoral activities (Ignatian retreat and spiritual accompaniment) in Belgium, France, Central Africa, Haiti and other countries.

The preface has been written by Alexandre Adler, History Professor, editorialist at the Figaro and at France Culture.

CONTACT

www.editionslessius.be
Éditions Lessius – Bd St Michel 24 – B 1040 Brussels, Belgium
communication@editionslessius.be - 02 739 34 93

Distribution to bookstores and direct orders: Editions du Cerf – 29 Bd de la Tour-Maubourg – F 75340 Paris, France

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