Between Eden and Armageddon

Recent years have seen a meteoric rise in the power and importance of organized religion, as well as a significant increase in violence perpetrated in the name of religion. In this new century, will religion bring upon further catastrophes, or will it guide us to peace? In this book, Marc Gopin integrates the study of religion with the study of conflict resolution. He argues that religion can play a critical role in constructing a global community of shared moralcommitments and vision-and can limit conflict to its nonviolent, constructive variety. If we examine religious myths and moral traditions we can understand why and when religious people come to violence or become staunch peacemakers. Gopin considers ways to construct traditional paradigms that arecommitted to peacemaking and offers such a paradigm for Judaism. Throughout, Gopin emphasizes that developing the potential of the world's religions for coping with conflict demands a conscious process on the part of peacemakers and theologians