Revelation, the Religions and Violence

Revelation, The Religions, and Violence examines the basic human dynamics that produce violence and how the diverse experiences of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, as well as Chinese and Indian religions, address this universal problem.

Lefebure extends the pathbreaking insights of Rene Girard into a multi-religious context. In particular, he shows how Christianity -- which many accuse of glorifying violence in the crucifixion of Jesus -- really unmasks humanity's violent impulses no matter how sacred the cause they appear to validate. Although historically attitudes toward and encounters among the world religions have been filled with strife, the values and experiences they share can become the bedrock on which to build more humane societies

Leo D. Lefebure is the inaugural holder of the Matteo Ricci, S.J., Chair of Theology at Georgetown University. He is the author of the award-winning Transforming Interreligious Relations: Catholic Responses to Religious Pluralism in the United States. His other award-winning books include Revelation, the Religions, and Violence; True and Holy: Christian Scripture and Other Religions; Revelation, the Religions, and Violence, and The Path of Wisdom: A Christian Commentary on the Dhammapada, coauthored with Peter Feldmeier. Lefebure is the program chair of the American Theological Society, the past president of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, a research fellow of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a trustee emeritus of the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions.