Rudin, James 1934–

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Rudin, James 1934–

(A. James Rudin, Arnold James Rudin)

PERSONAL: Born October 7, 1934, in Pittsburgh, PA; son of Philip Gordon and Beatrice (Rosenbloom) Rudin; married Marcia Ruth Kapan, July 27, 1969; children: Eve Sandra, Jennifer Anne. Education: George Washington University, B.A., 1955; Hebrew Union College, M.A., 1955, D.D., 1985; attended Wesleyan University. Hobbies and other interests: Photography, crosswords, collecting baseball memorabilia.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., 171 E. 74th St., 2nd FL, New York, NY 10021. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer, lecturer, educator, public speaker, and rabbi. Ordained rabbi, 1960. Congregation B'nai Jehudah, assistant rabbi, 1962–64; Sinai Temple, Champaign, IL, rabbi, 1964–68; American Jewish Committee, rabbi, 1968, director of interreligious affairs, 1983–2000, senior interreligious advisor and member of board of governors, 2000–; retired. Saint Leo University, distinguished visiting professor. American Jewish Emergency Relief Effort, Biafran relief, national coordinator, 1968–69; National Interreligious Task Force on Black-Jewish Relations, founder. Member of Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission. Served as chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations. Guest on numerous television and radio programs on networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, PBS, NPR, the BBC, and numerous networks in Germany, Japan, Korea, Poland, and Israel. Military service: U.S. Air Force, 1960–62; served as chaplain.

MEMBER: American Jewish Historical Society (served as member of executive council).

AWARDS, HONORS: Polish Council of Christians and Jews, Person of Reconciliation Award, 1997; International Council of Christians and Jews, Golden Medallion Award, two-time recipient; George Washington University, Joshua Evans Award; Nelson and Helen Glueck prize; recipient of honorary degrees from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, FL.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with Marc H. Tanenbaum and Marvin R. Wilson) Evangelicals and Jews in Conversation on Scripture, Theology, and History, Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI), 1978.

(With Marcia A. Rudin) Prison or Paradise ? The New Religious Cults, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1980.

Israel for Christians, Fortress Press (Philadelphia, PA), 1983.

(With Marc H. Tanenbaum and Marvin R. Wilson) Evangelicals and Jews in an Age of Pluralism, Baker Book House (Grand Rapids, MI), 1984.

(Editor, with Eugene J. Fisher and Marc H. Tanenbaum) Twenty Years of Jewish-Catholic Relations, Paulist Press (New York, NY), 1986.

(With Hirshel Jaffe and Marcia Rudin) Why Me? Why Anyone?, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor, with Marvin R. Wilson) A Time to Speak: The Evangelical-Jewish Encounter, W.B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 1987.

The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2006.

Author of weekly commentary for the Religion News Service.

Contributor to periodicals, including Christianity Today, Christian Century, and Eternity.

SIDELIGHTS: Rabbi James Rudin is a writer and religious scholar and advisor. Throughout a thirty-year career, Rudin "has been deeply involved in efforts to foster understanding between peoples of different faiths," according to a statement posted on the author's home page. A retired member of the American Jewish Committee's professional staff, Rudin continues to serve the group as its senior interreligious advisor and member of its board of governors. Rudin has served as chairman of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations and was founder of the National Interreligious Task Force on Black-Jewish relations. He has been a participant in important religious meetings with top religious leaders, including Pope John Paul II, and was involved in "historic meetings with the World Council of Churches in Geneva and with Eastern Orthodox Christian leaders in Greece," noted the biographer on Rudin's home page. A frequent writer on religious issues, Rudin also frequently appears on television and radio programs, where he shares his expertise in interreligious affairs.

In The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us, Rudin sounds a "warning that the Christian right is trying to set up a theocracy in the United States," noted a Kirkus Reviews critic. Rudin believes that under the political and religious climate of the early twenty-first century, fundamental Christianity is becoming more and more intrusive as conservative religious leaders at top levels of government attempt to place it deeper and deeper within the public sphere. These "Christocrats," he reports, are willing to dispense with basic, historic American freedoms in order to impose what they consider the greater good of God's plan for the United States and the world. Rudin recounts historical material about the Christian right's move from political separation to active political participation. He explains the various denominations of Protestantism and the ways that evangelism has been practiced within those denominations. Rudin then explores instances of conservative attempts to impose their morals and beliefs on education, law, and even within the private domain of people's homes. In the end, Rudin warns that even the most basic freedoms are under attack in the United States, and that the country is in danger of becoming a "state-controlled, faith-based nation," noted Library Journal reviewer L. Kriz.

The Kirkus Reviews contributor found Rudin's argument to be "less than convincing," and a Publishers Weekly critic believed that Rudin's dislike of "conservative evangelicals derails a much-needed discussion of the consequences of religion-based political advocacy." However, Kriz observed that Rudin informs readers of his belief that Americans are rapidly approaching a "slippery slope that leads to the forgotten history of religious persecution and discrimination."