Three scholars in religious studies will present an interfaith discussion, “The Clash of Religious Certainties: Understanding Ancient Texts Anew in a Contemporary World,” at 7 p.m. April 25 on campus in McDaniel Lounge. McDaniel’s Visiting Fulbright Scholar Dr. Muslih Tayo Yahya, the Reverend Dr. Christopher Leighton, and Rabbi Mark Loeb will participate in the dialogue centered on the Koran, the New Testament, and the Torah.

Dr. Muslih Tayo Yahya	Reverend Dr. Christopher Leighton	Rabbi Mark Loeb

Cosponsored by McDaniel College and The Interpreters’ Forum, the event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 410-857-2294.

A distinguished scholar and author of numerous publications in the field of Islamic studies, Yahya is professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Jos in Nigeria.  Born in Nigeria, he earned his B.A. at the University of Damascus and his M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.
He comes to McDaniel through the Fulbright Visiting Specialists Program: Direct Access to the Muslim World, an initiative sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Since 1987, Leighton has been the executive director of The Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies in Baltimore, a non-profit educational organization promoting scholarship in the field of Jewish-Christian studies.  He earned his B.A. at Dickinson, his Master of Divinity at Princeton, and his Ed. D. at Columbia. Leighton has taught courses in Jewish-Christian relations, philosophy, Islam, and others. Widely published, he has been honored as an outstanding Marylander and for his contribution to Jewish-Christian understanding.

Mark Loeb is senior rabbi at Beth El Congregation, where he has served for the past 30 years. Former chair of the Board of Trustees of Baltimore Hebrew University, Loeb is the past president of the Baltimore Board of Rabbis and past national chair of MAZON – a Jewish Response to Hunger.

The Interpreters’ Forum, in residence at McDaniel College under the leadership of founder Dr. Emanuel Goldman, is a non-profit community of diverse mentors and scholars dedicated to peace through education. Goldman, who earned his B.S., M.Ed., and Ed.D. at Boston University, is an adjunct lecturer in Philosophy and Religious Studies at McDaniel.