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14.07.2021

Forgiveness and Repentance in Judaism, Christianity and Islam

Example photo "Mosque of Peace" in Wuppertal (Germany) - a meeting place for the exchange between religions. (Photo: M.Pauly/UEM)

On Sunday, July 11, 2021, another Jewish-Christian-Muslim exchange on Zoom from the series "Jews, Christians and Muslims" (JCM) took place. This time the topic was "repentance and forgiveness" in Islam, Christianity and the Jewish religion.

As is customary at the UEM's JCM events, the afternoon event began with an interfaith meditation. This was followed by the various presentations. Prof. Issa Ziddy from the State University of Zanzibar (Tanzania) introduced the conference topic from a Muslim perspective. The religious education teacher, Mrs. Marion Haass-Pennings from Germany, approached the issue around forgiveness and repentance from a Christian perspective, while Prof. Moshe Lavee from the University of Haifa (Israel) presented the Jewish perspective.

Part of the presentations addressed questions such as " Can and will God forgive people who have caused great suffering to humanity? If so, how do we explain this forgiveness to the victims of their bad deeds?" and "Are there prerequisites for forgiveness?" Prof. Moshe Lavee pointed out, for example, that in the Middle East, in times of crisis, the narrative that one must be stronger than the enemy in order to survive always prevails. He suggested instead a narrative of repentance and forgiveness as an alternative, which would then be "to survive, we must be able to repent and forgive." 

In the discussion session that followed, participants were divided into several small groups to discuss the presentations they had just heard and their own experiences on the topic. The continuing group discussions allowed participants to gain a deeper understanding of what repentance and forgiveness mean in each other's religions.
The digital event was attended by a total of 35 participants from Germany, England, Israel, Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania. The next JCM event will be held in November and will have the theme: "the concept of light" in the Jewish religion, Christianity and Islam. 

Rev. Lusungu Mbilinyi (UEM Education Coordinator for Global Learning)

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