A TIO Interview by Megan Anderson
This month, TIO “sat” down via Zoom with Matthew Fox and Lama Tsomo to talk about compassion and the role it plays in our world today.
Matthew Fox & Lama Tsomo Explore Compassion
The Man Behind The Way: Lao Tzu & Daoist Spirituality
by Stephen Hill
Little is truly known about the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu, the guiding figure in Daoism (also translated as Taoism), which is still a popular spiritual practice.
Review: The Life of Yogananda by Philip Goldberg
by Paul Chaffee
The religions of India – Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism – are less familiar and stranger to most Americans than the Abrahamic religions, which have dominated America since Columbus.
Exploring the Inner Journey of Kahlil Gibran
by Paul-Gordon Chandler
A hushed reflective silence filled the dark cinema as the world premiere of The Prophet finished its animated adaptation of Kahlil Gibran’s inspiring book of prose poetry
A Tribute to Bill Lesher
by Joseph Prabhu
The Reverend William E. Lesher – Bill to his friends – was a man of many parts and roles. Seminary president, theological scholar and educator, pastor and religious leader, civil rights advocate and marcher, pioneer of the modern interfaith movement, and toward the end of his life, a tireless promoter of a possible new civilization for humankind.
Donna Bollinger Tapped to Lead Religions for Peace-USA
by Paul Chaffee
She was raised in a home on a dirt road in rural western North Carolina, without indoor plumbing or a telephone. The family lived off the land and had never sent a child to high school before. Asked if there was some seminal moment, a particular experience as a youngster that influenced her for the rest her life, Donna Bollinger says “Yes!”
Despina Namwembe and Grassroots Interfaith in Africa
A TIO Interview
Despina Namwembe is a force of hope to be reckoned with when it comes to grassroots interfaith work in Africa. A social scientist with a masters in peace and conflict studies, she coordinates the work of more than 30 grassroots interfaith organizations doing different social action projects in the Great Lakes countries of Africa.
Bede Griffiths – Interfaith's Interspiritual Pioneer
by Marcus Braybrooke
Brother Bede Griffith’s (1906-1993) life of physical and spiritual exploration has been important in the spiritual journeys of many, many people, including myself. He was one of the first spiritually resonant models for those of us engaged in interfaith activities more than 50 years ago. His life suggested that one could be spiritually grounded and thriving in more than one tradition at the same time.
Teilhard de Chardin – Envisioning a Unitive Evolution
by Marcus Braybrooke
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-55), a distinguished paleontologist, theologian, and visionary, held a unitive vision that covered a wide canvas. He tried through his writings to bring the worlds of science and religion together, believing their combined insights held the key to creating a greater sense of global community.
John B. Cobb Jr. – Environmental “Evangelist”
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
No ivory tower has ever been able to contain Dr. John B. Cobb, Jr. Even at 92, the premier “eco-theologian” of our times is a man on a mission. He urgently wants to convert us. But not in the conventional sense. He wants us all – regardless of our religious orientation, our racial, national, and cultural origins – to “evangelize” for an “ecological civilization”
Rabbi David Rosen: Building Global Interfaith Communities
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
Tension can be at a rolling boil during interfaith encounters, but Rabbi David Rosen, a modern Orthodox Rabbi, born and educated in England, who lives with his family in Israel, has never been intimidated by the heat.
True Grit: A Profile of Marium Mohuiddin
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
You can understand the power of one individual to make a difference when you meet 39 year-old Marium Mohuiddin – feisty, independent, and articulate – proud to be a Muslim and not afraid to take on the big issues of our times.
Bahá’u’lláh – Founder of the Bahá’í Faith
by Marcus Braybrook
At this turbulent time, we need to hold on to Bahá’u’lláh’s message of hope. Voiced some 150 years ago, it deserves a high place among those who will influence the future story of the human spirit. In his teachings, Bahá’u’lláh anticipated many of the creative developments of the twentieth century.
Bill and Jean Lesher's Lifetime Interfaith Partnership
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
In the past 30 years of grassroots labor, I’ve occasionally encountered couples as devoted to interfaith activism as they are to one another. Such is the case of Jean and William Lesher, two people who live, breathe, and exemplify what it means to be in partnership and to share a lifelong commitment to the interfaith movement.
In Memory of Father Albert Nambiaparambil CMI
by Marcus Braybrooke
Father Albert Nambiaparambil, “the prophet of religious harmony,” as The Malayala Manorama, Kerala’s leading newspaper, called him, died on February 6 after a brief illness. He was 86. Albert made an important contribution to interfaith fellowship in Kochi (or Cochin), where he lived for many years...
When Did "Interreligious Dialogue" Begin?
by Thomas Albert Howard
It is hard to find today a major city that does not have an “interfaith” or “interreligious” council or a university that does not sponsor some sort of “dialogue” among world religions. But when and where did “interreligious dialogue” begin? Most scholars would point to Chicago in 1893 when the first “Parliament of the World’s Religions” met in conjunction with the World’s Columbian Exposition of the same year. But most things in history have antecedents.
Huston Smith – The Passing of a Giant in Our Midst
by Paul Chaffee
If Swami Vivekananda’s clarion voice at the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions introduced us to the challenge of living happily in an interfaith world, it was Huston Smith’s voice in The Religions of Man (1958) which taught us what that meant.
Michael Servetus – the Martyred Interfaith Prophet
by Marcus Braybrooke
Michael Servetus, who wrote for Jews and Muslims as well as Christians, has been called by Jerome Friedman, “a prophet of interfaith dialogue.” He was a man of prodigious intellect, a scientist and a free-thinking theologian
The Interfaith Legacy of Guru Nanak
by Marcus Braybrooke
An overwhelming sense of the Glory and Oneness of God made Guru Nanak (1469-1539), the founder of Sikhism, impatient with religious divisions, doctrines, and rituals. This sense of the Oneness of God is for me at the very heart of the interfaith journey. There are many practical reasons why interfaith cooperation is vital and as many attempts to find a theological or philosophical justification for it.
Joseph Prabhu's Anatomy of Wisdom
by Ruth Broyde Sharone
“Wisdom includes action as well as knowledge,” maintains Joseph Prabhu, a professor of philosophy and religion for four decades, a passionate interfaith activist, and Mother Teresa’s first altar boy in India. “Action brings insight into dynamic motion,” Prabhu explains, “and insight without thoughtful action, to my mind, is seriously incomplete.”