Claritas: Journal of Dialogue and Culture

"Together for Jerusalem": Introduction

Dominik Berberich — 2021-05-30

An introduction to the "Together for Jerusalem" seminar held in March 2020.

God Gathers God's People and the Peoples of Every Tongue in Jerusalem (Isa 2 and 66)

Giovanna Porrino — 2021-05-30

The city of Jerusalem occupies a central place in the Jewish Bible. It is the city loved by the Jewish people because God resides there in the Holy Temple. The purpose of this article is to revisit the theme – announced in Chapter 2 and taken up again in Chapter 66 – which is the framework for the entire prophetic book presenting the great pilgrimage of the peoples of the earth to the new Jerusalem. The inaugural vision presents the fresco of the pilgrimage of the people to Jerusalem and of universal peace, with the use of two metaphors: the pilgrimage and the cosmic shalom. The ﬁnal vision, in Is 66:18-24, describes the eschatological gathering. The ﬁnal chapter of the book is divided into three sections: 1. the true temple of God; 2. the refounding of Jerusalem and its motherhood coming from the Lord; 3. the pilgrimage of peoples. These great prophetic visions allow us to understand, even today, God’s plan for the holy city.

Psalm 87: Jerusalem, Mother of Peoples

Franz Sedlmeier — 2021-05-30

Psalm 87 personifies the city of Jerusalem which, as the Mother of Peoples, becomes the icon of a reconciled and united humanity. The universal significance of Jerusalem is ultimately founded in the love of God, which wants to shine out in his city Jerusalem and be known to all peoples. The Psalmist sketches the real utopia of a reconciled humanity, joyfully celebrating its happiness in having discovered God as the source of life.

The Ancient History of Jerusalem in Jewish Oral Tradition

Rabbi David Goodman — 2021-05-30

The early biblical texts do not give a particular signiﬁcance to the city of Jerusalem. In this article, Rabbi David Goodman explores the history of Jerusalem as evidenced in the extra biblical Jewish traditions known as the Midrash.

The Witness of Two or More in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible

Giovanna Czander — 2021-06-06

Within the broader field of the laws of testimony in the Torah[1], the requirement of "two or three" witnesses in order to establish the truth of a claim appears three times (Deut 19:15-19; 17:6; Num 35:30). I argue that this requirement stemmed from the legal realm and developed a theological meaning. This goal will be achieved by briefly illustrating the development of the concept of witnesses and the requirement of "two or three" from the first five books to Second Isaiah. The theological meaning developed from the legal meaning of the requirement of two or three witnesses may offer insight with regards to the future of the Center for Unity and Peace[2].

The article is organized into three parts: 1) Premise: Witnesses in the Torah 2) The legal requirement of two or three witnesses; 3) Theological developments in the concept of "witness" in Second Isaiah. The conclusion will offer a hypothesis on the connection between this requirement of two or three and Mt 18:20.

[1] The laws of testimony in the Bible address the following topics: 1) False accusation (Exod 23:1,7; Deut 22:13-21) 2) False testimony (Exod 23:1) 3) Obligation to testify (Lev 5:1) 4) Required number of witnesses (Deut 17:6; 19:15-16; Num 35:30) 5) Absence of witnesses (Exod 23:7, 9; 22:10; Num 5:13; Deut 21:1-9),

[2] By development, I don't necessarily mean strict "chronological development" but the acquisition of theological meaning in addition to the legal prescriptive meaning.

Urban living spaces for all peoples

Margareta Gruber — 2021-06-06

One of the most powerful religious narratives about completion and life after death in the New Testament is the visionary view of the New Jerusalem that descends from heaven to earth. The New Testament concludes with the vision of the Heavenly Jerusalem. In Christian tradition, it is therefore the keystone of the Sacred Scripture, the two-in-one canon of the Bible.

The great symbols of life and salvation in the Scripture are collective symbols: the meal, the wedding, and here: the bride-city, which does not show a city for people but people as a city. The seer sees a new polis; he speaks about it in visionary terms but thinks of it in a very concrete way. The focus is not on escapism – escaping the world and seeking something new and better above, but, in the light of the promised eschatological completion, a new view on a human society with an urban character on this earth.

This paper examines the images of the Revelation of John, their prophetic intention and esp. their relevance for the design of the contemporary human civilization, for our cities with their beauty and their aguish and pain.

Bringing the "heavenly Jerusalem" closer to the earthly Jerusalem

Ron Kronrish — 2021-06-06

I don't know if the abstract is necessary

Book Review of The Priority of the Person

John McNerney — 2021-06-06

A book review of David Walsh's The Priority of the Person: Political, Philosophical, and Historical Discoveries, Notre Dame Press, 2020.