Fordham theologian to speak on God and religious diversity

Jeannine Hill Fletcher, professor of theology at Fordham University in New York City, will present “The Oneness of God and the Diversity of Religions: A Christian Perspective” at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, March 16, at the Centenary Room (room 264), Quadrangle Building, Saint John's University.   

The lecture, sponsored by the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, is free and open to the public.  

“The earliest Christians experienced the reality of God as creator beyond human comprehension, but they also gave witness to the experience of God in Jesus Christ and the Spirit among them,” Hill Fletcher said. 

In her lecture, Hill Fletcher will explore what she called “a contemporary approach to Christian faith that affirms religious difference while affirming also the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.” 

Hill Fletcher earned her doctorate in theology at Harvard Divinity School in 2001, the same year that she joined the faculty at Fordham. Her publications include the books “Monopoly on Salvation? A Feminist Approach to Religious Pluralism” (2005) and “Motherhood as Metaphor: Engendering Interreligious Dialogue” (2013). 

Among Hill Fletcher’s primary areas of research is the intersection of religious diversity with other forms of difference, including gender and race. 

“Professor Hill Fletcher has made major contributions to the understanding of the connection between feminist religious thought and theologies of religious diversity,” said John Merkle, director of the Jay Phillips Center. 

“I am confident that her current research on the connection between racism and religious intolerance will be just as enlightening,” Merkle added. 

Hill Fletcher’s lecture is a part of the Jay Phillips Center’s three-semester series “The Oneness of God and the Diversity of Religions: Perspectives from Five Traditions,” which began in the fall of 2016 with lectures by Hindu and Sikh scholars. It will continue next fall with lectures by Muslim and Jewish scholars.