Consider No Evil

Even casual acquaintances of the Bible know that the Truth shall set you free but in the pursuit of that Truth in higher education--particularly in Christian or Jewish seminaries--there are often many casualties suffered along the way. What happens when faculty and students at religious academies butt heads with senior staff or dare to question dogmas or sacred cows that the institution cherishes? Consider No Evil examines seminaries affiliated with two faith traditions--Christian and Jewish--and explores the challenges as well as prospective solutions confronting those religious academies when they grapple with staying true to their traditions as they interpret them while providing an arena that incubates honest and serious scholarship. When students ask me about truth I always send them to the religion department. In the future I will point them to Consider No Evil a work that has contrived successfully to carry water on both shoulders. This is an important book well written thoughtfully providing an insiders view of historically private institutions. I recommend it for students of higher education in both secular and religious institutions. --Stephen Joel Trachtenberg University Professor and Emeritus President The George Washington University Consider No Evil is a gift to scholars clergy and students alike. It provides historical social and personal context to clarify the thorny issues surrounding academic freedom at religious institutions of higher learning. With great nuance and insight Withrow and Wecker promote transparency and forthrightness as a means of avoiding tension between scholars and their institutions. --Joshua Stanton Assistant Rabbi Temple Bnai Jeshurun New Jersey In Consider No Evil Withrow and Wecker act as spiritual guides in the complex fraught and persistently influential world of religious education. Using their own orthodox religious training as a springboard the authors start a much-needed conversation on the tension inherent in the religious goal of transmission of tradition and the educational goal of the unobstructed search for truth. Consider No Evil should be required reading for all who study teach or preach within the hallowed halls of seminaries yeshivas and divinity schools. --Paul Brandeis Raushenbush Senior Religion Editor The Huffington Post Brandon G. Withrow is an assistant professor of the history of Christianity and religious studies and director of the MA in Theological Studies program at Winebrenner Theological Seminary. He is the author most recently of Becoming Divine: Jonathan Edwardss Incarnational Spirituality within the Christian Tradition (Cascade Books 2011). Menachem Wecker has reported on religion and education for the Washington Post Houston Chronicle Chronicle of Higher Education Religion News Service Jewish Daily Forward National Catholic Reporter Arab American News and others. He was previously the education reporter at U.S. News & World Report.