Dr. Robert Cathey Inducted into Morehouse’s King Collegium of Scholars

04-11-2012

 Dr. Robert Cathey Inducted into

Morehouse’s King Collegium of Scholars

         Chicago, April 11, 2012—The Rev. Dr. Robert Cathey was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars of Morehouse College, Reverend King’s alma mater.

         The Martin Luther King, Jr. College of Ministers and Laity was founded in 1986 as a way of promoting Dr. King’s ethical traditions of non-violence through the clergy, scholars and laity.  Selection for induction is based on the recommendation of current members of the college as well as evidence that the proposed inductee is committed to the principles and practices espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

         McCormick’s Dean of Faculty Luis Rivera stated, “We celebrate this impressive accomplishment.  Dr. Cathey is to be commended for the tremendous interreligious work that he continues to do.”

         Reflecting on the significance of this honor, Dr. Cathey said, “Teaching at McCormick and living in Chicago have turned my interests as a theologian even more to Dr. King’s model of interreligious leadership. He drew upon Jewish, Christian, and Hindu insights to build bridges between communities locked in violent conflicts where violence makes reconciliation seem utterly impossible.”

        Dr. Cathey is Professor of Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  He is a member of the Christian Leadership Initiative of the American Jewish Committee and the Shalom Hartman Institute (Jerusalem) that included intensive study in Jerusalem in July 2010 and 2011.  Dr. Cathey is also a member of the Christian Scholars Group for Christian-Jewish Relations (2008-2013).  He serves in the Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Work Group of the Presbytery of Chicago, and attended the fourth and fifth Parliaments of the World’s Religions in Barcelona, Spain (July 2004), and Melbourne, Australia (December, 2009).

        Dr. Cathey is a member of The Center of Theological Inquiry (Princeton, New Jersey) and was the first convener of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning (1996-99), an organization that engages Jewish, Christian and Islamic scholars in philosophic and theological interpretation of scriptural texts.

A noted writer, he is the author of God in Postliberal Perspective: Between Realism and Non-Realism.  Dr. Cathey has also written or co-authored numerous essays, articles or reviews.  Also he has contributed to chapters or articles in nearly a half dozen texts.

Dr. Cathey’s teaching and research interests include classic Christian doctrines, practices, and figures in modern and late modern perspectives, and religious pluralism in Chicago and the Middle East.

The induction ceremony took place in the Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel of Morehouse College.