In July 1943, the Gestapo arrested an obscure member of the resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Belgium. When his torture-inflicting interrogators determined he was no use to them and that he was a Jew, he was deported to Auschwitz. Liberated in 1945, Jean Amery went on to write a series of essays about his experience. No reflections on torture are more compelling. Amery declared that the victims of torture lose trust in the world at the "very first blow." The contributors to this volume use their expertise in Holocaust studies to reflect on ethical, religious, and legal aspects of torture then and now. Their inquiry grapples with the euphemistic language often used to disguise torture and with the question of whether torture ever constitutes a "necessary evil." Differences of opinion reverberate, raising deeper questions: Can trust be restored? What steps can we as individuals and as a society take to move closer to a world in which torture is unthinkable?

In July 1943, the Gestapo arrested an obscure member of the resistance movement in Nazi-occupied Belgium. When his torture-inflicting interrogators determined he was no use to them and that he was a Jew, he was deported to Auschwitz. Liberated in 1945, Jean Amery went on to write a series of essays about his experience. No reflections on torture are more compelling. Amery declared that the victims of torture lose trust in the world at the "very first blow." The contributors to this volume use their expertise in Holocaust studies to reflect on ethical, religious, and legal aspects of torture then and now. Their inquiry grapples with the euphemistic language often used to disguise torture and with the question of whether torture ever constitutes a "necessary evil." Differences of opinion reverberate, raising deeper questions: Can trust be restored? What steps can we as individuals and as a society take to move closer to a world in which torture is unthinkable?

In an age when "collisions of faith" among the Abrahamic traditions continue to produce strife and violence that threatens the well-being of individuals and communities worldwide, the contributors to "Encountering the Stranger"--six Jewish, six Christian, and six Muslim scholars--takes responsibility to examine their traditions' understandings of the stranger, the "other," and to identify ways that can bridge divisions and create greater harmony.

Leonard Grob is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University. John K. Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College. The other contributors are Rachel N. Baum, Margaret Brearley, Britta Frede-Wenger, Henry Greenspan, Peter J. Haas, Riffat Hassan, Zayn Kassam, Henry F. Knight, Hubert G. Locke, Rochelle L. Millen, Khaleel Mohammed, David Patterson, Didier Pollefeyt, B lent Senay, Sana Tayyen, and Bassam Tibi.

"The subject is critical. In our pluralistic world, the need to encounter the stranger is not only a question of hospitality. It is a matter of our survival. Given the enormity of our global issues, it is clear that no one nation, culture, or religion can solve the problems. We simply have to co-operate and collaborate." -Imam Jamal Rahman, author of "The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam"

""Encountering the Stranger" is an exciting, rewarding book, a pathbreaking work full of theological treasures, insights, and stimulating ideas." -Martin Rumscheidt, Atlantic School of Theology

"This is an important scholarly event, a teaching tool, and a resource for clergy formation and informal adult religious studies. The prominence of the contributors will help the book reach a wide range of constituencies and the accessible presentation of the divergent perspectives gathered here will grip readers." -George R. Wilkes, University of Edinburgh"

In an age when "collisions of faith" among the Abrahamic traditions continue to produce strife and violence that threatens the well-being of individuals and communities worldwide, the contributors to "Encountering the Stranger"--six Jewish, six Christian, and six Muslim scholars--takes responsibility to examine their traditions' understandings of the stranger, the "other," and to identify ways that can bridge divisions and create greater harmony.

Leonard Grob is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University. John K. Roth is Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College. The other contributors are Rachel N. Baum, Margaret Brearley, Britta Frede-Wenger, Henry Greenspan, Peter J. Haas, Riffat Hassan, Zayn Kassam, Henry F. Knight, Hubert G. Locke, Rochelle L. Millen, Khaleel Mohammed, David Patterson, Didier Pollefeyt, B lent Senay, Sana Tayyen, and Bassam Tibi.

"The subject is critical. In our pluralistic world, the need to encounter the stranger is not only a question of hospitality. It is a matter of our survival. Given the enormity of our global issues, it is clear that no one nation, culture, or religion can solve the problems. We simply have to co-operate and collaborate." -Imam Jamal Rahman, author of "The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam"

""Encountering the Stranger" is an exciting, rewarding book, a pathbreaking work full of theological treasures, insights, and stimulating ideas." -Martin Rumscheidt, Atlantic School of Theology

"This is an important scholarly event, a teaching tool, and a resource for clergy formation and informal adult religious studies. The prominence of the contributors will help the book reach a wide range of constituencies and the accessible presentation of the divergent perspectives gathered here will grip readers." -George R. Wilkes, University of Edinburgh"