ICCJ 2024 Conference in Salzburg / Austria
Preparations for ICCJ's 2024 annual conference to be held in Salzburg/Austria, June 23-26, are under way.
The theme of the conference is "'Be holy, because I, the Lord, your God, am holy.' (Wajikra / Leviticus 19:2) - Holiness: Religious Imperative and Moral Obligation?
"Everything can be sacralized: music and sports, places and symbols, rituals and objects, and people deemed to have exceptional significance. But are they truly “holy”? The verse from the Book of Leviticus / Sefer Wajikra makes a clear claim: God is holy. In the verse, “holiness” implies a unique relationship - closeness, reconciliation, intimacy - with the God of creation. We experience holiness when we experience God's creative power of life. That is why the people of the Holy God are instructed to be holy themselves."
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"How do we prevent the misuse of holiness? What distinguishes between "true" and "false", authentic and instrumentalized holiness? In Wajikra / Leviticus 19:2 the people are called into the holiness of God and the service of life. But the Golden Calf is never far; the challenge of the call is ongoing."
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"At the 2024 annual conference of the ICCJ in Salzburg we look forward to dialogue about this awe-inspiring and life-giving, dangerous and elusive concept in a spirit of openness and humility."
Professor Dr Edward Kessler MBE will be awarded the 2024 SEELISBERG PRIZE: