The 2025 Silber-Obrecht Lecture
What Does it Mean to be Human? Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Perspectives
Christian traditions develop theologies of original sin grounded in Genesis. Jewish traditions teach about competing human inclinations for good and evil in rabbinic tradition. Islamic traditions affirm the concept of fitra—an innate ability to discern goodness and recognize God from Qur’an. These differing religious views on human nature intersect/compete with various social beliefs about human rights.
Using comparative scriptural exegesis, Rabbi Dr. Rachel S. Mikva explores how considering the question of the human is essential when navigating religious differences today. She uses select scriptural passages (and their interpretations) to examine ideas about creation, sin, free will, and the body/soul within Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions.
Watch On Demand
All lectures are prerecorded and are available to watch on your own. Watch or listen to the three lectures at your convenience.
Click HERE for group discussion questions to use with a classroom or congregation.
Conversation Event with the Speakers
Rabbi Dr. Rachel Mikva and Dr. Younus Mirza engaged in a conversation with Dr. Heather Miller Rubens on April 22, 2025, at Goucher College in Baltimore.
About the Silber-Obrecht Lecture
The Silber-Obrecht Lecture, the first endowed lectureship in the emerging field of Interreligious and Interfaith Studies, is presented biennially by the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies to advance the field of study by presenting new and creative work by a senior scholar and interreligious practitioner.
The Silber-Obrecht Lecture reflects that there are many modes of response to the reality of religious pluralism—theological, philosophical, historical, scriptural, ethical, legal, praxeological, and institutional—and these responses need thoughtful and reasoned inquiry.
Program Partners
