Iona Pacific

Compass Fall / Winter 2011 issue

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:31:22 +0000

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Public Dialogue Invitation: “Faith in the System: Religious & Spiritual Visions for Community Resilience in a time of Economic Instability”

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:19:47 +0000

Kristallnacht Commemoration Wednesday, Nov. 9, 12 – 1 pm, VST Chapel of the Epiphany

admin — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 21:17:52 +0000

Religious history outside the box: leading scholar of Islam to lecture Nov. 7 – 10

admin — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 16:26:56 +0000

Half Day Workshop: Undoing Time: Exploring Time in the Kabbalistic and Hasidic Interpretation of Dreams

ip-news — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:14:18 +0000

Friday, September 23, 2011, 9:30 am – 3:30 pm, Vancouver School of Theology

DR. ELLIOT WOLFSON
VST Sommerville Scholar
Iona Pacific Visiting Scholar
Visiting Speaker, UBC

Dr. Elliot Wolfson is the Lieberman Professor of Hebrew & Judaic Studies at New York University. Dr. Wolfson’s recent publications include New Studies in Jewish Philosophy (2009), Open Secret: Postmessianic Messianism and the Mystical Revision of Menahem Mendel Schneerson (2009), and A Dream Interpreted Within a Dream: Oneiropoiesis and the Prism of Imagination (2011). Co-sponsored by Vancouver School of Theology, Iona Pacific Inter-religious Centre, and the UBC Dept. of Classical, Near Eastern & Religious Studies.

The workshop will explore a number of kabbalistic and Hasidic texts that discuss the unique dimensions of time in dreams. When we are awake time is a linear progression shaped by past, present, and future. In dreams, however, time isn’t linear. The future can precede the past and the present occurs in the future. With the help of Carl Jung’s notion of synchronicity — the idea that apparently disconnected events reveal a meaningful underlying unity — we will explore the time of dreams. Drawing on Jewish texts the workshop will consider how our sense of durable time gains consistency by its relation to the non-linear and passing time of dreams.

Registration and Fees are required: contact registrar@vst.edu or call 604-822-9563

Free public lecture: The Path Beyond the Path: Mysticism and the Spiritual Quest for Universal Singularity

ip-news — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 23:05:54 +0000

Wednesday, September 21, 2011, 7 pm, Chapel of the Epiphany

DR. ELLIOT WOLFSON
VST Sommerville Scholar
Iona Pacific Visiting Scholar
Visiting Speaker, UBC

Mysticism is often associated with experiences that are difficult to classify and analyze. This lecture focuses on one critical aspect of mystical union, termed by Dr. Wolfson as the univeral singularity. This refers to the universal erasure of boundaries, which nevertheless each ethnic-religious group executes as an expression of its identity. Dr. Wolfson will explore how the mystical quest for the underlying interconnectivity of all does not lead to the erasing of religious differences but rather a heightened perception of the unity embodied in diversity. It is our differences that make us the same.

Iona Pacific Youth Team malaria project noted by Tony Blair Faith Foundation

ip-news — Wed, 04 May 2011 23:32:00 +0000

Read about the project on the Tony Blair Faith Foundation website: faiths-act-fellowship-alum-continues-her-interfaith-work-against-malaria-in.

ISC Inauguration Video

ip-news — Tue, 03 May 2011 17:20:37 +0000

February 1 VST was delighted to host the inauguration of its new Indigenous Studies Centre. This Centre is a ground breaking project developed in partnership with several First Nations organizations and institutions: WWN in the Nass Valley; Centre for Indian Scholars; Native Ministries Consortium. This Centre will support the offering of the new MA and ThM in Indigenous Studies initiated this year at VST. As well, it will serve as host to visiting elders and scholars from the global indigenous community, and support research projects and community development initiatives for and with First Nations Communities. To watch the Inauguration on the web click ISC Inauguration Video.

Help the Iona Pacific Youth Fight Malaria!

ip-news — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:30:49 +0000

Dr. Topping to Speak at Documentary Film Festival

ip-news — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 18:41:45 +0000

Richard Topping will be leading a discussion together with Maya Yazigi, Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at UBC, following the showing of Holy Wars, a film by Stephen Marshall (84 minutes) at the Pacific Cinémathèque (1131 Howe St.) beginning at noon on May 14. This event is part of the DOXA Documentary Film Festival, May 6-15, 2011. More information about the festival came be found at http://www.doxafestival.ca

The film depicts two people who believe a Holy War is inevitable. One Christian. One Muslim. “The key moment comes when the two characters, Taylor and Kelly, come face to face in an empty London warehouse and debate the fine points of theology. Can Christianity and Islam have a meaningful dialogue without resorting to fundamentalist rhetoric? Will each religious firebrand be able to trade their desire for conversion into the opportunity for genuine conversation? Is debate at this level of fundamentalism even possible? Something entirely surprising happens in the midst of Taylor and Kelly’s debate.”

For further information and to purchase tickets: http://www.doxafestival.ca/festival/films/holy_wars.html