What the International Society Of Christians And Jews Actually Does
It's an interfaith dialogue organization, nothing more dramatic than that. The core mission is straightforward: create structured environments where Christian and Jewish scholars, clergy, and laypeople can talk to each other about theology, shared history, and the differences that matter. They've been around for decades, mostly operating through conferences, academic publications, and local chapter events. Here's what most people miss when they first hear about this. The work isn't about convincing either side to convert the other. That's a persistent misconception that makes newcomers uncomfortable and often stalls conversations before they start. The actual goal is mutual understanding of theological positions, historical grievances, and where the two traditions genuinely overlap versus where they diverge. It's academic in nature, even when the participants are practicing clergy.
Getting involved with the International Society Of Christians And Jews
The barrier to entry is lower than you'd expect. You don't need a divinity degree or institutional backing. Most people get started by attending one of their public conferences or Symposia. These are typically held in university settings or theological seminaries, often in Europe and North America. The proceedings from these events get published, and that's where the real value sits. The papers are peer-reviewed and tend to be genuinely rigorous, not the kind of surface-level tolerance talk you see at a lot of interfaith events. If you want to participate actively rather than just attend, you apply for membership or associate membership. The application is usually minimal — a brief statement of interest and some background. I've seen theologians, history professors, pastors, rabbis, and complete outsiders all accepted into the same working groups. The diversity of background is actually one of their strengths, even though it creates friction sometimes.
The Practical Side Nobody Talks About
I attended a regional dialogue session a few years back and ran into a specific problem that illustrates how this work actually functions under the surface. The session was designed to explore the theological concept of covenant — something both traditions take seriously but define very differently. About forty minutes in, a participating rabbi made a passing reference to a particular Talmudic passage that several of the Christian participants interpreted through a supersessionist lens, which is to say they read it as meaning Christianity had replaced Judaism in God's plan. The room got tense fast. This isn't theoretical — supersessionism is a live wound in Christian-Jewish relations, and it came up uninvited. The workaround was surprisingly simple but not obvious to newcomers. The facilitator didn't try to smooth it over or declare a consensus. Instead, she asked the rabbi to read the passage in its full context, then asked one of the Christian theologians to articulate their interpretive tradition without framing it as correction. What happened next was twenty minutes of actual scholarly exchange rather than positional arguing. The key insight here is that these dialogues only work when people treat their own traditions as interpretable rather than fixed. That's harder than it sounds in practice, especially when historical trauma is involved. Another thing that catches people off guard: the publications. The society produces journals and edited volumes that are genuinely useful for anyone working in religious studies or pastoral theology. They're not popular-level books. If you're looking for something accessible, this isn't it. The writing assumes you've already read the primary sources. But if you're doing serious work in comparative theology or Holocaust education, the reference material from their conferences is solid.
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Where It Falls Short
I should be direct about the limitations. The organization tends to attract an academic crowd, which means the practical pastoral applications often get left on the table. A pastor reading the conference proceedings might come away with a deeper intellectual understanding of Jewish theology but still have no idea how to address supersessionist language in their own congregation's sermon series. The gap between scholarly dialogue and grassroots implementation is real and mostly unaddressed. There's also a geographic imbalance. The centers of activity are in Western Europe and North America. If you're working in contexts like Africa, Latin America, or parts of Asia where Christian-Jewish dynamics play out very differently, the literature and frameworks from this society don't always translate well. I've seen participants from those regions push back on this, and honestly, the feedback is valid. If you're looking for something more action-oriented, you might also consider organizations like the International Council of Christians and Jews, which has a broader institutional presence and more developed programs for educational outreach. The ISCJ is stronger on the academic side. Neither is wrong, they just serve different needs.
Bottom Line
The International Society Of Christians And Jews is a legitimate scholarly platform for people who want to engage seriously with Christian-Jewish theological differences without performing goodwill. It won't make you a better interfaith advocate overnight. It will give you better sources, sharper questions, and access to people who have been thinking about these problems for longer than most of us have been alive. That's a reasonable trade for the time and travel it requires. Just go in with your eyes open about what kind of work it actually does.
