Baptist, Jewish Theologians Conclude First Dialogue with Agreed Program for Future

Baptist and Jewish scholars called this weekend for a joint effort to defend the religious liberty of Baptists and Jews in the Soviet Union and other countries where both groups suffer discrimination. The call was issued at the closing session of a three-day interfaith dialogue here sponsored jointly by the Southern Baptist Convention and the interreligious affairs department of the American Jewish Committee.

The 70 assembled theologians and educators of both faiths also agreed that churches and synagogues had a moral responsibility to become involved in finding solutions to today’s social problems. The group decried the present national priorities of the United States which commits $80 billion annually to nuclear arms and the defense budget. They also criticized the inadequacy of the “war against poverty” in America’s affluent society.

The co-chairmen of the meeting. Dr. Joseph R. Estes of the Home Missions Board of the Southern Baptist Convention in Atlanta, and Rabbi Marc H. Tannenbaum, director of the AJ Committee’s interreligious affairs department, were requested to organize an ad hoc committee to follow up the accomplishments of the dialogue. During the three days of almost continuous meetings and panel sessions at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the participants discussed such topics as the meaning of Israel to Jews and Christians, the concepts held by both faiths of the Messiah, conversion, church-state relations and social responsibility.