Wednesday, June 11^th 2025 | 6:00 pm | HS 107 Faculty of Catholic Theology| Universitätsplatz 1 | Salzburg

Dr.  Edward Kessler MBE is a leading figure in interfaith dialogue, particularly in relations between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He is the founder and president of the Woolf Institute ( Woolf Institute). Kessler studied Hebrew and Religious Studies at the University of Leeds, earned a Master of Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School, an MBA at the University of Stirling and a PhD at the University of Cambridge. He teaches at the Cambridge Theological Federation. In 2024, Dr. Kessler received the Seelisberg Prize for outstanding services to Jewish-Christian dialogue. In addition to his work as an academic, Kessler is also socially and politically active. In 2022, he founded the Independent Commission for the Integration of Refugees in the UK.

In his public lecture he will reflect on four themes to explore challenges and opportunities in the mutually entangled and often difficult history of Jewish-Christian relations: the Bible and its interpretation, Polemic and anti-Jewish violence, Land (and, later, the State) of Israel, Dialogue. These four themes, sometimes in combination or prominent at different historical moments, provide a lens through which to understand relations, right up to the present day and represent both challenges and opportunities.

The lecture will be held in English.

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