At Well of Faith, our basic premise is that the purpose of faith and religion is to address life’s fundamental questions. Religious thought turns to tradition to answer such complex issues as: What is the world in which we live? What is the meaning of human existence? Religious laws and commandments represent an attempt to choose a way of life attuned to these profound themes. The world’s religions propose diverse solutions to the question of the meaning of life and the metaphysical issues that permeate our existence. Different traditions represent differing, and sometimes even contradictory positions regarding these questions, which lie at the bottom of the well of religious inquiry.

Though religious affiliation may be seen as a differentiating factor in our identity, it need not foster cultural separatism. At Well of Faith, we appreciate the uniqueness of each and every religion, while finding that the various religious traditions seek to deal with similar issues. Religious affiliation does not contradict a position of openness and curiosity regarding shared fields of interest. Such an approach allows us to discover the great cultural and spiritual richness inherent in the traditions that are the wellspring of the world’s religions, and to plumb the depths of the questions they address from a scholarly and critical perspective.

Different religions take different approaches in trying to solve questions of identity. The choice of one solution does not necessarily mean the total rejection of another. Sometimes, conflicts can arise between different positions; such conflicts indicate the complexity of the issues, to which more than one solution can be found. We seek to examine the wide spectrum of hues in religious thought on existential questions. To meet this challenge, we’ve created a platform to foster an interdisciplinary discourse that combines religious thought and critical theory, with texts from the fields of philosophy, social studies, and art. We count among our authors thinkers and practitioners in the spheres of religion, research, culture, and the arts.

Alongside the discussion of beauty and aesthetics – the theme of the present series of papers – our broad discourse embraces investigations into a variety of basic issues: memory, immigration, suffering, medicine, and more. These topics are complex and multifaceted. It is our hope that the magazine will enable fruitful discussion and an encounter between positions and ideas that will open doors to the profound questions of our lives.