London 2012 Conference Abstracts

Peter Adamson, Ph.D., Philosophy, King’s College London

“Christian-Muslim Relations and the Beginnings of Arabic Philosophy”

As is well known, Christians played a crucial role in transmitting Arabic philosophy to the Islamic world. Translators were usually Christians of Syrian extraction (for instance the collaborators of al-Kindi and the circle of Hunayn ibn Ishaq), and Christians made up the majority of the so-called "Baghdad Peripatetics." In this paper I will provide an overview of what is known about the role played by this Christian-Muslim cooperation in the translation movement and in early philosophy in Arabic. I will look more closely at a pivotal figure in this story, the Christian Aristotelian philosopher Yahya Ibn ‘Adi.

Prof. Ahmad Achtar, Heythrop College London

“Reconciling shari‘a  and Sophia:

The hermeneutics of Averroes (Ibn Rushd) in context”

The attempt of Averroes (1126-1198) to reconcile Sophia with shari‘a is considered as one of his most important contributions to religious thought. Reconciling reason and revelation in Islamic intellectual history started long before Averroes; first in Islamic theology and then in Islamic philosophy.  Indeed, the Mu‘tazilites were the first to attempt this endeavour followed by the Ash‘arites.  Muslim philosophers also attempted to reconcile philosophy and revelation but they followed a different route. Avicenna stands as a towering figure in this regard and his philosophy and approach influenced al-Ghazali who had a great impact on Averroes regarding this issue. The paper will trace the influences of these schools and figures and argue that Averroes’ attempt to reconcile Sophia with Shari‘a is a blend of these influences but with a new flavour: “the Averroesian flavour”.  The paper will also look at the relevance of Averroes’ attempt for our contemporary condition. 

Dr. Martin Ganeri O.P., Heythrop College London

“Changing Water into Wine: theology's use of philosophy

in the work of Thomas Aquinas.”

This paper considers how Thomas Aquinas understands the relationship between theology and philosophy in the form of non-Christian thought.  Aquinas argues that theology uses philosophy in the service of explaining revelation, in which the water of philosophy is changed into the wine of theology, rather than diluting it.  The paper considers the key texts in which Aquinas discusses this, especially one from his commentary on Boethius’ de Trinitate.  This approach accords with his own extensive engagement with Greek, Jewish and Islamic thought in his works and the paper sets out some examples of this.  Aquinas’ work also offers an enduring model for modern Christian engagement with Jewish and Islamic thinkers and the paper points in particular to the work of the Dominican friars in the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies in Cairo and the efforts of the Cercle Thomiste they founded.

Dr. Jonathan Gorsky, Heythrop College London

“Rereading Tradition: Reason, Revelation and Maimonidean Judaism”

Moses Maimonides (1138-1204) remains a preeminent figure in Jewish tradition. Maimonides' massive codification of the entire Jewish legal tradition in the Mishneh Torah is one of the great texts of Rabbinic Judaism and his Guide for the Perplexed remains a key source for Jewish philosophical theology. Maimonides originality lies in his rewriting of traditional Jewish theology in the light of Aristotelian and neo-Platonic medieval philosophy. Maimonides did not merely harmonise traditional understanding with the philosophy of his time and he was not an apologist in the usual sense:  he rewrote Jewish tradition and his radicalism ignited centuries of controversy which have still not entirely abated, albeit that today he is seen as one of the central pillars of Orthodox Judaism. The paper will outline some of his major contributions and draw attention to the tension that exists between Maimonidean Judaism and normative traditional life. I will also look at the cultural and sociological background of the Judeo-Arabic heritage that provided a context for intellectual radicalism in a Jewish society that was both conservative and deeply traditional.

Rev. Dr. Rodney Holder FIMA FRAS,

The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, Cambridge,

"A Christian Perspective on Modern Cosmology"

Modern cosmology tells us that the universe began as a gigantic explosion out of which all the galaxies, stars and planets condensed and, on at least one planet, life evolved over billions of years of cosmic history. Does the Big Bang theory point to a creator, or is there a scientific explanation which supersedes that of theology? Then, it would appear that the laws of nature, and the initial conditions at the Big Bang, have to be arranged in a very special way (‘fine-tuned’) for the universe to be able to bring forth intelligent life. Again, does this fine-tuning point to God, or can the existence of a multiverse, a vast or infinite collection of universes, explain it? This talk will explore whether and how, in the light of the discoveries of modern cosmology, we can still of a divine mind behind the creation.

Katja Krause, MA, Philosophy, King’s College London

“Three Abrahamic Traditions: A Long Shared History of

Conciliating Revelation and Science”

This introductory paper to the conference Conciliating Revelation and Science in the Three Abrahamic Traditions explores in broad strokes the mutual influence of the religions of the Abrahamic traditions in the history of ideas and their contributions the development of civilization and humanity in general. The enterprise of negotiating between the two poles of revelation and science has been shared by all three and, despite all distinctness of the many and varied approaches, these faiths have been largely united in their efforts at conciliating and developing important scientific and philosophical ideas from the Greek tradition. Due to this shared enterprise throughout centuries and the mutual enrichment and growth, our conference is focused on medieval and modern moments of conciliating revelation and science to learn from the key figures of the traditions that trace their roots to Abraham.

Prof. Dr. Luis Lopez-Farjeat, Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City

“Reason and Faith: Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Approaches

in Medieval Philosophers”

 A central issue in the Middle Ages was the relationship between faith and reason. As is well known this is an intricate relationship. In this regard, contemporary theory of knowledge has raised a relevant problematic that may be stated in the following way: if we have the responsibility of justifying our beliefs, and if religious beliefs are inherently unjustifiable (at least to some degree), then it would be rationally irresponsible to hold religious beliefs. Which answers did Medieval philosophers and theologians from the three traditions give to this problem? I will outline different approaches from three recognized thinkers: I start with the Islamic theologian al-Ghazālī (1058-111), then with the Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204), and finally with one of the most representative Catholic philosophers and theologians, Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). What these thinkers have in common is that they defend the epistemic value of religious beliefs and argue for a harmonic relationship between reason and faith.

Alister McGrath, MA, DPhil, DD, FRSA,

Theology, Ministry, and Education, King’s College London

"The Complex Interaction of Science and Religion Today:

Some Christian Perspectives”

This lecture surveys and attempts to account for the remarkable diversity of opinions on the relation of science and religion in modern Christianity, particularly in the United States of America. The complex interaction of science and religion has to be set against a broader cultural background, which enables us to understand what some Christians reject what other Christians affirm – and why still others feel this is not an important discussion in the first place. Particular attention will be paid to the following issues:

1. Competition for cultural authority between science and religion;

2. The ambivalence of the term “Darwinism” in contemporary debates;

3. Debates over the interpretation of the Bible;

4. 4.Sociological factors affecting group identity and exclusion.
   

Prof. Dr. Peter Schallenberg

Theologische Facultät, Universität Paderborn

“The Relevance of Religion for the Contemporary Christian Ethics”

In his address to the German federal parliament on September 22, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI was establishing the moral and legal claims of a state constituted as a democracy under the rule of law. Ultimately, the values on which such a state is based are beyond the reach of democratic majorities. Rather, they owe their existence to an insight into what is good and evil, an insight which is anterior to the state and forms part of the nature of human reasoning about man and the human community. In other words: how do we need to think about man and the political community if we want to do justice to man as a person? Or, to put it differently: what is the primal image of man, his ideal, metaphorically speaking, on which the design of a just constitution and a good state is based?

Prof. Ayman Shihadeh, SOAS, University of London

“Philosophy and Apologetics:

The Transformation of Islamic Theological Rationalism” 

This paper will explore various aspects of the gradual transformation of the rationalist Islamic theological tradition of kalām during the late-eleventh and twelfth centuries from a preoccupation, first and foremost, with apologetics to a more philosophical outlook. It will argue that this development was due not only to the influence of the philosopher Avicenna (d. 1037), but also to a process of internal criticism within the Ash‘ari school of theology at the levels of method and objectives. The views of al-Baqillani (d. 1013), al-Juwayni (d. 1085), al-Ghazali (d. 1111), Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (d. 1210) and some intermediate figures will be considered.

Prof. Richard C. Taylor, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA,

& member, De Wulf-Mansion Centre,  K. U. Leuven, Belgium

“Islamic Philosophy at the Heart of European Christian Theology”

Key roles of teachings from the Islamic philosophical tradition in the development of theological doctrines elaborated in 13th century Christian Europe remain widely unknown and absent from present day discussions of the foundations of European thought and the traditions of Islam. This presentation focuses on the importance of the contributions of Avicenna and Averroes to theological explications of Latin Christian teachings on beatitude in seeing God face-to-face and on the nature of the human soul according to Thomas Aquinas.

Jason Van Boom, Nicholas of Cusa Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA

“Human Reason and Divine Light:  Analogous Developments in the Intellectual Histories of Islam and Christianity”

On the topic of reason and revelation, the histories of Islam and Christianity show analogous patterns of theological development. Both religions possess scriptural texts affirming the existence of a divine principle of illumination. In Christianity, the chief locus classicus is the prologue to John’s Gospel (John 1:1-18), whose subject is the divine Word. In Islam, the analogous text is the Ayat an-Nur or Light Verse (Qur’an 24:35), which speaks of divine Light. In Shia Islam, early expositions of the idea of pre-existent reason or ‘aql (especially in al-Kulayni’s Usūl al-Kāfī) are strongly similar to the logos theologies of church fathers such as Justin Martyr and Origen. Within Shia Islam, thinkers such as Avicenna and Mulla Sadra develop this “Islamic logos theology” into an elaboration of the harmony between revelation and human reason similar to the views of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. On the other hand, both Christianity and Islam have theological traditions that stress the distance between human reason and divine wisdom. Both Sunni Ash’arism and classical Protestantism, for example, affirm the validity of human reason in the study of nature and as a tool for scriptural hermeneutics. Yet, they also state a profound skepticism about the ability of human reason to understand divine truths through metaphysics. The paper concludes that categorical contrasts between Islam and Christianity on revelation and reason are probably untenable, if affinities in religious epistemology bring Roman Catholics and Shia Muslims together on one side, and magisterial Protestants and Sunni Muslims on the other.