A Sacred Argument

“A Sacred Argument offers practical wisdom and hard-won guidance desperately needed to disarm hostilities and divisions in America today. Christopher Leighton demonstrates the promise that can emerge from disruptive encounters and difficult conversations about the things that matter most in our lives. It is a book that inspires struggle and learning, friendship and discovery, hope and compassion even in the midst of uncertainty and conflict.”


—Bill Moyers, broadcast journalist





“This book illuminates an ongoing miracle: the story of a reversal that is changing the great world religions from enemies into partners. In recounting the difficult yet exhilarating work of the ICJS, Christopher Leighton guides readers into the labor required to turn religion from the habits of contempt and ignorance into a constructive force for good, a blessing for all the families of the earth.”


—Irving (Yitz) Greenberg, president, J. J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life





“A Sacred Argument is a book for this searing moment in history. Each period of history calls forth visionaries like King, Mandela, Elie Wiesel, and Susan Sontag who shine light into the darkness. Chris Leighton is an American treasure with a moving and wise story to tell about hope, peacemaking, justice, and moral leadership in a religiously diverse and conflicted world. His message about forgiveness as an ‘impossible necessity’ is absolutely riveting and should be required reading for all thoughtful people.”


—Robert M. Franklin, president emeritus, Morehouse College





“A Sacred Argument captures with gentle force the pain, challenge, and reward of interreligious encounters. Christopher Leighton tells the story of his own journeys in interfaith dialogue with captivating and disarming clarity and candor. His humanity and his kindness, his convictions and his courage, his certainties and his doubts, and his love and concern for all humanity appear on every page of this book. A Sacred Argument should be required reading for persons of all faiths!”


—David Ellenson, chancellor emeritus, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion





“A Sacred Argument, beautifully composed by Christopher Leighton, is the powerful account of how a remarkable center of teaching and self-exploration came into being and now serves as an invaluable resource for interfaith engagement. But A Sacred Argument is not just a chronology of important milestones. Leighton invites us into the painful, humbling but ever-enlightening experience of coming to know the other—and he does so with a grace and warmth that soothes the soul.”


—John Peter Sarbanes, U.S. Congressman





“Eloquent and engrossing, intensely personal and insightfully profound, Christopher Leighton’s A Sacred Argument maps the odyssey of Christian encounters with Jews and Muslims in post-Holocaust America. Dynamic and dialogical, this memoir—both scholarly and page-turning—wisely guides decisive steps that Americans need to take to advance religious understanding and to defend endangered democracy.”


—John K. Roth, professor emeritus of philosophy, Claremont McKenna College





“A Sacred Argument tells the remarkable history of the Institute for Islamic-Christian-Jewish Studies in Baltimore. From its beginnings in 1987 as a small circle of Jews and Christians to its present multi-faith staff and programs, ICJS is a model of a vibrant interfaith center that has evolved to address the broader challenges of our times. Chris Leighton has written a profound book about the importance of interfaith work for our democracy.”


—Victoria J. Barnett, former director, Programs on Ethics, Religion, and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum