The Building Bridges Seminar
2008 Building Bridges Seminar, Rome

The seventh Building Bridges Seminar was held in May 2008 at Villa Palazzola, a Cistercian monastery near Rome. This year’s proceedings were all held in private. The lectures and small group sessions focused on how revelation is understood and interpreted in the two traditions, addressing the themes of ‘particularity, universality and finality in revelation’, ‘translating the word’ and ‘methods and authority in interpretation.’ A record of this seminar has been published as Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation, and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam, ed. David Marshall, Washington, DC, Georgetown University Press, December 2011.

Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation, and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam provides a record of the 2008 Building Bridges seminar. The essays collected here focus on key scriptural texts but also engage with both classical and contemporary Islamic and Christian thought. Issues addressed include, among others, the different ways in which Christians and Muslims think of their scriptures as the ‘Word of God’, the possibility, or otherwise, of translating scripture, and the methods – and conflicts – involved in interpreting scripture in the past and today. In his concluding reflections, Archbishop Rowan Williams draws attention to a fundamental point emerging from the fascinating array of scholarly contributions gathered here: "Islam and Christianity alike give a high valuation to the conviction that God speaks to us. Grasping what that does and does not mean … is challenging theological work." Extensive excerpts from the book are available in the PDF, provided by Georgetown University Press, that follows the book's table of contents below.

Table of Contents
"Introduction"
     David Marshall

Part 1: Particularity, Universality, and Finality in Revelation
1.1 "Particularity and Universality in the Qur'an"
     Seyed Amir Akrami
1.2 "Particularity, Universality, and Finality: Insights from the Gospel of John"
     Daniel A. Madigan
1.3 "Revelation in Israel: Deuteronomy 7:1-11; Isaiah 49:1-6"
     Ellen F. Davis
1.4 "Revelation in Israel: Qur'an 2:47-57; 5:44-48"
     Osman Bakar
1.5 "Revelation in Christ: 1 John 1:1-4; Matthew 28:16-20; John 16:12-15"
     John Langan
1.6 "Revelation in the Qur'an: Qur'an 6:91-92; 25:32; 21:107; 38:87; 33:40"
     Asma Afsaruddin

Part 2: Translating the Word?
2.1 "Translating the Qur'an"
     Muhammad Abdel Haleem
2.2 "Translation and the Incarnate Word: Scripture and the Frontier of      Languages"
     Lamin Sanneh
2.3 "The Body of Christ: 1 Corinthians 11:23-27 and 12:12-13, 27"
     Daniel Madigan
2.4 "An Arabic Qur'an: Qur'an 12:1-2; 14:4; 16:103; 26:192-99; 46:12"
     Muhammad Abdel Haleem
2.5 "The Divine and Human Origins of the Bible: Exodus 32:15-16; Jeremiah 1:9;      2 Timothy 3:16-17; Luke 1:1-4; 1 Corinthians 7:10-13; Mark 5:41"
     John Azumah
2.6 "The Self-Perception and the Originality of the Qur'an: Qur'an 2:23-24;      3:44; 10:15; 69:38-47"
     Abdullah Saeed

Part 3: Methods and Authority in Interpretation
3.1 "Authority in Interpretation: a Survey of the History of Christianity"
     John Langan
3.2 "Authority in Qur'anic Interpretation and Interpretive Communities"
     Abdullah Saeed
3.3 "Reading Scripture in the Light of Christ: Matthew 12:1-8; Luke 24:44-49"
     Susan Eastman
3.4 "Interpreting the Qur'an: Qur'an 3:7; 2:106; 16:101; 31:20"
     Muhammad Abdel Haleem
3.5 "The Use of Scripture in Generous Love"
     Michael Ipgrave
3.6 "The Use of Scripture in A Common Word"
     Reza Shah-Kazemi

"Conversations in Rome"
     David Marshall
"Afterword"
     Rowan Williams

The sourcebook for the seventh Building Bridges seminar, held in Rome in 2008 on the theme "Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation, and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam," includes a range of relevant scriptural, classical, and modern texts. Thematic sections feature scriptural passages that support discussion on translating the word, methods and authority in interpretation, and particularity, universality, and finality; also included are texts from classical scholars and theologians on interpretation. A PDF is available below.

Muhammad A. S. Abdel Haleem is King Fahd Professor of Islamic Studies and Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies of London University, as well as editor of the Journal of Qur’anic Studies. Born in Egypt, he learned the Qur’an by heart during childhood. Haleem has published two translations of the Qur'an, The Qur'an: English Translation with Parallel Arabic Text (2010) and The Qur'an: A New Translation (2004). He has also published several other works in this field, including Understanding the Qur’an: Themes and Style (2001) and, together with Elsaid M. Badawi, Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage (2008).

Amin Abdullah is Rector of Sunan Kalijaga Islamic State University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and served as vice chairman of Muhammadiyah's governing board from 2000-05. He is the author of numerous books, including Religious Education in a Multi-Cultural and Multi-Religious Era. In his work Abdullah distinguishes normative Islam from historical Islam and advocates a new path in Islamic philosophy of knowledge that is open to dialogue and integration with many different sources of knowledge. His PhD in Islamic Philosophy is from the Middle East Technical University, Ankara, and he has conducted post-doctoral study at McGill University.

Asma Afsaruddin is Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington. She is the author and editor of four books, including The First Muslims: History and Memory (2008) and Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership (1999). She has also written several articles on pluralism in Islamic thought, inter-faith relations, war and peace in the Islamic tradition, and gender issues. A recipient of grants from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation, Afsaruddin is currently completing a manuscript on jihad and martyrdom in Islamic thought and practice, forthcoming from Oxford University Press. She is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy. Afsaruddin earned her PhD at Johns Hopkins University and previously taught at the University of Notre Dame and Harvard University.

Seyed Amir Akrami was until recently a Lecturer at the Al-Mahdi Institute in Birmingham, England. He is a member of the academic board of the Institute for Interreligious Dialogue, a non-governmental organization based in Iran, and has served as Secretary for Inter-Religious Dialogue at the Organisation for Islamic Culture and Communication in Tehran. His research interests include Islamic philosophy and inter-religious relations. Akrami holds a BA in Islamic Studies, MA in Religion and Mysticism, and PhD in the philosophy of religion.

John Azumah is Lecturer in Islamic Studies and Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies and Muslim-Christian Relations at the London School of Theology. He is also an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and has previously worked at the Akrofi-Christaller Institute, Henry Martyn Institute (Hyderabad), Union Biblical Seminary (Pune, India), and Tamale Lay Training Centre. His publications include My Neighbour’s Faith: Islam Explained for Christians (2008) and The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: a Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue (2001). Azumah earned his PhD at the University of Birmingham.

Osman Bakar is Deputy CEO of the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies–Malaysia and holds fellowships at the Center for Civilisational Dialogue in the University of Malaya and Doshisha University in Japan. A Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and former Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Malaya, from 2005-08 Bakar was a Professor of Islamic Thought and Civilization at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization; he has also been the Malaysia Chair of Islam in Southeast Asia at Georgetown’s Prince Alwaleed Bin-Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Bakar is a member of the World Economic Forum's West-Islamic World Initiative for Dialogue. His publications include The History and Philosophy of Islamic Science (1999) and Tawhid and Science (1991). Bakar earned his BSc and MSc in Mathematics from the University of London and doctorate in Islamic philosophy from Temple University.

Ellen Davis is Amos Ragan Kearns Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. Her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues, particularly the environmental crisis and interfaith relations; Davis is now cooperating with the Episcopal Church of Sudan to develop theological education, community health, and sustainable agriculture. She is the author of (among others) Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible (2009), Wondrous Depth: Old Testament Preaching (2005), and Who Are You, My Daughter? Reading Ruth through Image and Text (2003), as well as numerous articles and essays. Davis holds an AB from the University of California, Berkley, MDiv from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and PhD from Yale University.

Susan Eastman is Associate Professor of the Practice of Bible and Christian Formation at Duke Divinity School. Her scholarly focus is on Paul’s letters in relationship to the formation of Christian identity through the life of the local church. She is the author of Recovering Paul’s Mother Tongue: Language and Theology in Galatians (2007), as well as numerous articles and conference papers. Eastman holds a BA from Pomona College, MDiv from Yale Divinity School, and PhD from Duke University.

The Right Reverend Dr. Michael Ipgrave is the Bishop of Woolwich in the Church of England. Ipgrave was Archdeacon of Southwark from 2004-12. He was Inter Faith Relations Adviser to the Archbishops' Council of the Church of England and Executive Secretary of the ecumenical Churches' Commission for Inter Faith Relations from 1999-2004. Ipgrave has a PhD from the University of Durham and has lectured and written extensively about inter faith relations, Christian-Muslim dialogue, and religion and human rights. He is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission for Dialogue with the Chief Rabbinates of Israel. Ipgrave is the author of Trinity and Inter Faith Dialogue (2003) and has edited several volumes recording Building Bridges seminars.

John Langan, SJ, is the Cardinal Bernardin Chair in Catholic Social Thought in the Department of Philosophy at Georgetown University. His research interests include ethics and international affairs, especially applications of just war theory; human rights in theory and practice; capital punishment; Catholic social teaching; the place of religion in liberal political thought; and the ethical theories of St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. He has edited Catholic Universities in Church and Society (1993) and A Moral Vision for America (1998). Langan holds an AB, MA, and PhL from Loyola University, as well as a BD from Woodstock College and PhD from the University of Michigan.

Father Daniel Madigan, an Australian Jesuit priest, is the Jeanette W. and Otto J. Ruesch Family Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Georgetown University’s Department of Theology, where he has worked since 2008. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. His main fields of teaching and research are Qur’anic studies and interreligious dialogue, with a special focus on Muslim-Christian relations. Madigan previously taught in Rome from 2000 to 2007, where he was the founder and director of the Institute for the Study of Religions and Cultures at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has also taught as a visiting professor at Columbia University, Ankara University, Boston College, and Central European University. He is the author of The Qur’ân’s Self-Image: Writing and Authority in Islam's Scripture (2001).

Jane McAuliffe is the president of Bryn Mawr College, a position she has held since 2008. Previously, she had been Professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University, where she was appointed Dean in 1999. McAuliffe has also taught at the University of Toronto and Emory University, where she also served as Associate Dean for the Candler School of Theology. She is a scholar of Islam, specializing on the Qur’an and its exegesis. She is a past president of the American Academy of Religion and the author of numerous publications, including The Qur’an: A Norton Critical Edition (forthcoming), Qur’ānic Christians: An Analysis of Classical and Modern Exegesis (1991), and The Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān (2001-2006, general editor). McAuliffe holds a BA from Trinity College (Washington, DC) and MA and PhD from the University of Toronto.

Sohail Nakhooda is an Inter-Faith Research Fellow and Research and Publication Manager at Kalam Research and Media in Dubai. Nakhooda was the founding Editor in Chief of Islamica Magazine , based in Jordan, which emphasizes cross-cultural dialogue and provides a forum for Muslims from around the world to discuss issues of concern. Nakhooda has also done editing work for Encounters, the American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, and the Muslim World Book Review. He holds a BSc from the London School of Economics, an MA from University of Nottingham, and a postgraduate certificate from St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University. He was one of the original signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter addressed to Christian leaders in an appeal for peace and cooperation between the two religions.

Ng Kam Weng is Research Director of the Kairos Research Centre in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Previously, he had been a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies and a member of the Center for Theological Inquiry at Princeton University. He also writes the blogs Krisis & Praxis and Religious Liberty Watch. From 1989 to 1992 he taught at the Malaysia Bible Seminary Graduate School. He has a PhD from Cambridge University.

Mehmet Pacaci is a Professor at Ankara University in Turkey. An expert on Qur'anic exegesis, he has served as a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University and a Scholar in Residence at Wesley Theological Seminary; he remains an adjunct faculty member at Wesley. Pacaci has also taught at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, Pontifical Gregorian University, Bamberg University, and King Saud University in Saudi Arabia.

Abdullah Saeed is now the Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Melbourne. He is also the director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies (a cooperative initiative of the University of Melbourne, University of Western Sydney, and Griffith University) and co-director of Melbourne's Centre for Islamic Law and Society. His publications cover Qur’anic hermeneutics, Islam and human rights, Islamic law reform, Islamic finance, Muslim communities in Australia, and Islam and freedom of religion. His publications include The Qur’an: an Introduction (2008) and Freedom of Religion, Apostasy and Islam (2004). Born in the Maldives, Saeed received his BA in Arab/Islamic Studies from the Islamic University (Saudi Arabia) and his PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Melbourne.

Recep Senturk is a Professor of Sociology at Fatih University in Istanbul, where he has worked since 2006. Senturk previously taught at the Art Institute of Pittsburg, Rensellar Polytechnic Institute, and Emory University Law School. He has published in English, Turkish, and Arabic, including numerous journal articles and Narrative Social Structure: Anatomy of the Hadith Transmission Network, 610-1505 (2005). Senturk earned his BA from Marmara University, MA from Istanbul University, and PhD at Columbia University.

Reza Shah-Kazemi is a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, and was the founding editor of the Islamic World Report. He is also the author of Paths to Transcendence: According to Shankara, Ibn Arabi, and Meister Eckhart (2006) and The Other in the Light of the One: The Universality of the Qur'an and Interfaith Dialogue (2006). Additionally, Shah-Kazemi has contributed to several volumes on Muslim spirituality. He is currently editing a Persian-to-English translation of the Great Islamic Encyclopedia. He holds a PhD in Comparative Religion from the University of Kent and has studied at Sussex and Exeter Universities. Shah-Kazemi was one of the original signatories of A Common Word Between Us and You, a letter addressed to Christian leaders in an appeal for peace and cooperation between the two religions.

Mona Siddiqui, OBE is Professor of Islamic and Inter-religious Studies and Assistant Principal for Religion and Society at the University of Edinburgh. She researches classical Islamic law, contemporary law and ethics, and Christian-Muslim relations. Siddiqui is the chair of the BBC's Scottish Religious Advisory Committee and is a regular broadcaster and commentator on radio and other media. She is a member of the Commission on Scottish Devolution and the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on the Islam-West Dialogue. Her publications include How to Read the Qur’an (2007), Islam (2010), and The Good Muslim (2012), as well as numerous articles, essays, and opinion pieces. Siddiqui received her PhD from the University of Manchester in 1992 and holds three honorary doctorates.

Rowan Williams is the Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he has held since 2002. Ordained in the Church of England in 1980, he taught at Cambridge and Oxford before becoming Bishop of Monmouth in 1992 and Archbishop of Wales in 2000. As Archbishop of Canterbury, Williams has developed a number of initiatives focused on improving Christian-Muslim relations, including the annual Building Bridges Seminar. He has written on a wide range of topics, and his publications include A Margin of Silence: The Holy Spirit in Russian Orthodox Theology (2008), Tokens of Trust: An Introduction to Christian Belief (2007),On Christian Theology (2000), and Arius: Heresy and Tradition (1987/2002). Williams earned a BA from Christ's College at the University of Cambridge and his DPhil from Wadham College at the University of Oxford. At the end of 2012 he will be stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury and taking up the post of Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Fr Timothy Wright, OSB is the spiritual director for the Pontifical Beda College in Rome. He was previously the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey (part of the Order of St. Benedict) in North Yorkshire, England from 1997-2005. As Ampleforth's abbot Wright spearheaded its sponsorship of Catholic-Shi’a dialogue, conducted in cooperation with the Heythrop Centre for Christianity and Inter-religious Dialogue at the University of London and the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, Iran.