Second Hour is series of discussions led by church members and guests after worship on select Sundays. Stay for a second hour after service and be inspired by delightful people, great themes, and good discussion.
11:15 a.m. Winslow Room, Select Sundays
Our guests (see profiles below) will include two Shia Muslims and a Christian from the Muslim majority country of Indonesia.
September 30 | Spirituality and Devotion: Care of the Self
October 28 | How to live with Others according to Scriptures?: Practicing Hospitality
January 27 | Sharia and Politics: A Discussion on Religion and Politics
February 24 | Women and Religion: A Discussion on Gender Justice
September 30 | Spirituality and Devotion
Particularities of religious traditions are formed more by what people practice. Integral to this practice are spirituality and devotion. Despite the similar claim in worshipping one God, Christianity and Islam differ in their spirituality and devotion to God. We will discuss how each religion helps cultivate spiritual and devotional lives in people of faith.
October 28 | How to Live with Others According to Scriptures
Muslims and Christians, throughout the ages, have been experiencing religious diversity, although today’s context is unprecedented in term of its enormous scale. Nevertheless, foundational texts of both Islam and Christianity speak about the necessity of living with those perceived as “others” as fellow creations of God. We will discuss how these texts provide us with insights to deal with “others” in our own contexts.
January 27 | Sharia and Politics
Sharia is often misunderstood as Islamic law in the U.S. However, sharia has to do more with guideposts and principles rather than rules. Moreover, many think that unlike Christianity (with its apparent separation between church and state), Islam does not have such a separation. This meeting will discuss nuances in order to clarify various positions in Islam and Christianity regarding the relationship between religion and politics.
February 24 | Women and Religion
Islam and Christianity are often accused to be perpetuating sexism and patriarchy which impedes women’s empowerment. On the other hand, Muslims and Christians claim that their religions instrumentalize the empowerment of women. How do we resolve these conflicting views? This session will discuss ambivalent positions in both religions and elaborate on how Islamic and Christian traditions perceives the notion of gender justice.
Hessam Dehghani is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at Boston College. His research focuses on the notion of community especially, Islamic community. He came to Boston 6 years ago with his family after finishing his first Ph.D. in Linguistics and Philosophy in Tehran. He has presented papers and published books and translations in Persian and English on religious matters, including “A-political Islam” at Clough Center for Constitutional democracy.
Mahtab Sirdani is a Ph.D. candidate in Anthropology at Boston University. She completed her Master of Theology at Harvard Divinity School where her focus was on the picture of women in Islamic literature since its birth. Sirdani’s research includes the role of women and the practice of Hijāb (body covering) across cultures and religious traditions. Her current research focuses on Muslims in exile especially the situation of Iranian Shia Muslims in America, a minority group that only gets very minimal attention in public discussion.
Hans A. Harmakaputra is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Theology at Boston College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian Theology from Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia, and a master’s degree in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary, CT. His doctoral work delves into a comparison between a theological concept of sainthood in Christianity and Islam.
Hans A. Harmakaputra is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative Theology at Boston College. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Christian Theology from Jakarta Theological Seminary, Indonesia, and a master’s degree in Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary, CT. His doctoral work delves into a comparison between a theological concept of sainthood in Christianity and Islam.