Swedish Theological Institute

Last updated
Swedish Theological Institute
Thabor House, Jerusalem.jpg
Tabor House, Jerusalem, home of the school
Address
Swedish Theological Institute
58 Rehov HaNeviim

Jerusalem

Israel
Coordinates 31°47′03″N35°13′14″E / 31.784062°N 35.220532°E / 31.784062; 35.220532 Coordinates: 31°47′03″N35°13′14″E / 31.784062°N 35.220532°E / 31.784062; 35.220532
Information
Religious affiliation(s) Church of Sweden, Christianity
Established1951
DirectorDr. Maria Leppäkari
Website svenskakyrkan.se

The Swedish Theological Institute (STI) is an institute in Jerusalem supported by the Church of Sweden. Christian students of theology can gain a deeper understanding of Judaism at the Institute, and also of Christianity and Islam. [1]

Contents

Purpose

The institute gives theology students the opportunity to study in a city that has played a central role in three of the world's major religions. [2] The institute provides a place where Christians, Jews and Muslims can meet. It helps to eradicate prejudice against Jews. [3] More recently the institute has gained a greater emphasis on research into subjects such as Christian Zionism. [2]

Organization

The STI is mostly funded by the Church of Sweden, but gets about one third of its income from tuition fees. It has eleven employees of whom four are Swedish and the remaining seven are locals. The school is closely associated with the Lund University. [1] Professor Jesper Svartvik, who teaches at the institute, is from the university. [4] Student groups from Lund visit the institute for short but intensive courses in the holy land. [2] The STI maintains contact with the Sigtuna foundation, the Swedish Institute in Alexandria and the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul. The school also maintains links in Jerusalem with the Hebrew University, Tantur Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations and other organizations. [1]

Activities

The STI provides courses where students can study and conduct research at Master and Doctoral levels. Shorter courses are offered that can contribute to a university degree for students from Sweden and other countries. [1] Course are offered in both English and Swedish. [4] STI also provides a base where students and researchers can live or study while in Jerusalem. [1] The Chapel of Saint Bridget provides a place of worship for the local Swedish congregation. [4] Lutheran services are held there regularly in the Swedish language. [3]

Campus

Tabor house Thabor House 14.JPG
Tabor house

The STI campus is located in Tabor House, on the Street of the Prophets, in the Musrara neighborhood, just outside the Old City. [1] The house was built by the German architect and missionary Conrad Schick (1822–1901). The house, surrounded by a walled courtyard, was completed in 1889 and was Schick's home until his death in 1901. It combines different styles, both western and eastern, modern and traditional. [5] The building has classrooms, a library where students can study, a chapel and offices. There is also a kitchen, dining room, common meeting room and a few rooms where overnight guests can stay. [1]

Related Research Articles

Lund University Swedish university

Lund University is a public university in Sweden and one of northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the province of Scania, Sweden. It traces its roots back to 1425, when a Franciscan studium generale was founded in Lund. After Sweden won Scania from Denmark in the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde, the university was officially founded in 1666 on the location of the old studium generale next to Lund Cathedral.

Messianic Judaism is a modern syncretic Christian religious movement that incorporates some elements of Judaism and Jewish tradition with Evangelical Christianity. The movement emerged in the 1960s and 1970s from the Hebrew Christian movement and the Baptist organization Jews for Jesus founded in 1973 by Conservative Baptist minister Martin Rosen.

Christian−Jewish reconciliation refers to the efforts that are being made to improve understanding and acceptance between Christians and Jews. There has been significant progress in reconciliation in recent years, in particular by the Catholic Church, but also by other Christian groups.

BYU Jerusalem Center

The Brigham Young University Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, situated on Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, is a satellite campus of Brigham Young University (BYU), the largest religious university in the United States. Owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the center provides a curriculum that focuses on Old and New Testament, ancient and modern Near Eastern studies, and language. Classroom study is built around field trips that cover the Holy Land, and the program is open to qualifying full-time undergraduate students at either BYU, BYU-Idaho, or BYU-Hawaii.

Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history, Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Oriental studies, religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages, political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct field is mainly present at colleges and universities in North America.

Paula F. Fredriksen is an American historian and scholar of religious studies. She held the position of William Goodwin Aurelio Professor of the Appreciation of Scripture at Boston University through 2010 and is now the William Goodwin Aurelio Chair Emerita of the Appreciation of Scripture.

History of the Jews in Sweden

The history of Jews in Sweden can be traced from the 17th century, when their presence is verified in the baptism records of the Stockholm Cathedral. Several Jewish families were baptised into the Lutheran Church, a requirement for permission to settle in Sweden. In 1681, for example, 28 members of the families of Israel Mandel and Moses Jacob were baptised in the Stockholm German Church in the presence of King Charles XI of Sweden, the dowager queen Hedvig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, and several other high state officials.

Armenia–Israel relations Diplomatic relations between Armenia and the State of Israel

Armenia–Israel relations are the bilateral relationship between Armenia and Israel. From 1993 to 2007, Armenia was served by the Embassy of Israel in Georgia. In 1996, Tsolak Momjian was appointed the honorary consul of Armenia in Jerusalem. Eleven years later, the residence of the Embassy of Israel in Armenia was moved to Jerusalem. In October 2010, Shmuel Meirom was appointed the Israeli ambassador to Armenia. Armen Melkonian was appointed the Armenian ambassador to Israel in 2012, with a residence in Cairo. In October of that year, Melkonian presented his credentials to Israeli President Shimon Peres. On the 21st of September 2019 Armenia announced that it would be opening an embassy in Israel. Despite generally cordial ties between the two, relations soured after Armenia withdrew its ambassador to Israel due to Israeli arms supply to Armenia’s enemy, Azerbaijan, in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.

David Neiman

David Neiman was a renowned scholar in the fields of Biblical Studies, Jewish history, and the long and often complicated relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jews.

Conrad Schick

Conrad Schick (1822–1901) was a German architect, archaeologist and Protestant missionary who settled in Jerusalem in the mid-nineteenth century. For many decades he was head of the "House of Industry" at the Christ Church, which was the institute for vocational training of the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews.

Street of the Prophets

Street of the Prophets is an east–west axis road in Jerusalem beginning outside Damascus Gate and ending at Davidka Square. Located to the north of Jaffa Road, it bisects the neighborhood of Musrara.

Conrad Schick Library

Conrad Schick Library is a small research library located at Christ Church in Jerusalem, Israel.

Ratisbonne Monastery

Ratisbonne Monastery is a monastery in the Rehavia neighborhood of Jerusalem, Israel, established by Marie-Alphonse Ratisbonne, a French convert from Judaism. Work on the building, designed by the French architect M. Daumat, began in 1874 on a barren hill, now in the center of West Jerusalem.

Hans Ucko is a priest of the Church of Sweden and a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC). He has been extensively involved in interfaith dialog, particularly between Christians and Jews. He has written a number of books on the subject.

The John Paul II Center for Interreligious Dialogue is an academic center that serves to build bridges between religious traditions, particularly between Catholic Christian and Jewish pastoral and academic leaders. The Center is a partnership between the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). It operates as part of the Section for Ecumenism and Dialogue in the Theology Faculty of the Angelicum in Rome.

Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation An educational institution in Israel where Christians can study the Hebrew Bible and learn about the Hebraic roots of Christianity

The Center for Jewish–Christian Understanding and Cooperation or CJCUC is an educational institution at which Christians who tour Israel can study the Hebrew Bible with Orthodox rabbis and learn about the Hebraic roots of Christianity. The center was established in Efrat in 2008 by Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, who has been described as "the most prominent rabbinic spokesperson to Christian Zionists". CJCUC partners with major Christian interfaith organizations such as Christians United for Israel and the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Since Riskin's retirement as president of Ohr Torah Stone in 2018, the overseeing of all CJCUC activities has been turned over to David Nekrutman who has served as the center's chief director since its inception.

Israel College of the Bible

Israel College of the Bible is a private Hebrew-speaking Messianic Bible college in Israel. It is an independent academically accredited institution. The campus moved to its new premises in Netanya, Israel in 2010, and has several hundred students in its programs. Israel College of the Bible hosts a large Messianic library. The College has been accused by anti-missionary groups as being at the "forefront of missionary activity in Israel".

Tantur Ecumenical Institute

Tantur Ecumenical Institute is an international ecumenical institute for advanced theological research in Jerusalem.

The Messianic Jewish Theological Institute (MJTI) is an online graduate school based out of San Diego, California established by the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations (UMJC) in 2002. It seeks to train rabbis, leaders, and laity by providing them with a unique Messianic Jewish education.

Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies

The Ukrainian Association for Jewish Studies (UAJS) is a non-profit academic and professional non-governmental organization that brings together Ukrainian scholars and students who work in the field of Jewish studies. The UAJS was established in 2015.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "The Swedish Theological Institute". Anna Lindh Foundation. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  2. 1 2 3 "SWEDISH THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, JERUSALEM - THEOLOGY STUDENTS 'ON SITE'". Lund University. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  3. 1 2 "Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem". Jerusalem Center for Jewish-Christian Relations. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  4. 1 2 3 "The Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem". The Swedish Theological Institute in Jerusalem. Retrieved 2012-04-14.
  5. Lili Eylon. "Jerusalem: Architecture in the late Ottoman Period". The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. Retrieved 2012-04-14.