Richard Hecht, religious studies professor at University of California, Santa Barbara, has taught a course about religious themes in American films.

Erin Runions is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at Pomona College in California. She is a specialist in the Hebrew Bible, which she reads from the perspective of cultural studies and gender and sexuality studies. She has written about the connections between scripture and film.

Reel Spirituality seeks to simultaneously raise visual and spiritual literacy. Image-driven, educationally-focused, and spiritually-centered, Reel Spirituality brings together filmmakers and film-viewers, Christian leaders and laity, scholars and students for dialogue between our culture’s primary stories, whether in film or television, and the Christian faith.

Len and Libby Traubman in San Mateo, Calif., began a living room dialogue involving Palestinians, Christians and Jews. Their Call to Dialogue invites others to do the same and offers ideas on how to begin. The Traubmans organized a Children of Abraham dialogue weekend in Duluth, Minn., in fall 2004.

Rabbi Marvin Hier is the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, one of the foremost advocates for Jewish causes and opponents of anti-Semitism.

Donald A. Hagner is a professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif., and an expert on Jewish-Christian relations and the history of the two communities.

The San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish & Community Research did a survey after The Passion that indicated the film made viewers less likely to hold Jews responsible for the death of Jesus. In a news release, the Institute argued that the movie may have had a positive effect on Jewish-Christian dialogue by prompting discussions. Contact through the Institute’s website.

Stephen T. Davis is emeritus professor of philosophy at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California. He contributed an essay titled “Crucifying Jesus: Antisemitism and the Passion Story” to the collection After ‘The Passion’ is Gone: American Religious Consequences. He is the editor of Encountering Evil: Live Options in Theodicy.

Rabbi Michael Lerner is editor of Tikkun magazine and founder of the Tikkun Community, a peace and social justice movement. He is also a co-founder The Network of Spiritual Progressives.