Archbishop in Istanbul - 8th Building Bridges Seminar
Building Bridges ParticipantsTuesday 23rd June 2009
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, spent last week in Istanbul chairing the eighth Building Bridges Seminar and spending three days as guest of His All Holiness Bartholomew, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome, and Ecumenical Patriarch.The eighth meeting in the series of Building Bridges seminars (which was supported by Georgetown University, Washington) focussed on discussion of the relationship between religion and science from Christian and Muslim perspectives. It met between Tuesday 16 June and Thursday 18 June at Bahcesehir University.
At the invitation of the Archbishop Christian and Islamic scholars from both theological and scientific backgrounds met for reflection and dialogue on the relationship between religion and science. As in previous Building Bridges seminars a number of scriptural texts, supplemented by historical and contemporary texts from the Christian and Islamic traditions, were used as the basis for discussion in a programme that included public lectures and private sessions. The proceedings of the Seminar will be published in due course.
The Archbishop's stay as the guest of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew at the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Istanbul was the third opportunity for them to spend time together deepening an already close and warm personal relationship, as well as strengthening the ties between the Anglican Communion and the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The Archbishop's first official visit to the Patriarchate was in November 2003. The Ecumenical Patriarch made a return visit to Lambeth Palace in January 2007 to celebrate the publication of the major Anglican/Orthodox Agreed Statement, The Church of the Triune God.
Notes to editors:
Previous Building Bridges seminars:
2009 - Istanbul: Science and Religion: Christian and Muslim Perspectives
2008 - Rome: Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam
2007 - Singapore: Humanity in context: Christian and Muslim perspectives on being human
2006 - Georgetown University, USA: Justice and Rights: Scriptural Foundations,
Evolving Traditions, The Modern World
2005 - Sarajevo:
Believers and Citizens: Faith and National Identity in Christian and Muslim Perspective
Seeking the Common Good: Governance and Justice in Muslim and Christian Perspective
Caring together for the World we share
2004 - Georgetown University, USA:
Scriptures in Dialogue
What is Prophecy?
Jesus and Muhammad: The Sufficiency of Prophecy
2003 - Doha, Qatar:
Listening to God – Learning from Scripture
Interpreting the Scriptures: Legacies of the Past and Challenges of the Present
Scripture and the 'Other'
2002 - Lambeth Palace, UK:
Face to Face
Lessons of History
Communities of Faith
Faith and Change
Participants in the 8th Seminar in Istanbul, Science and Religion: Christian and Muslim Perspectives:
Professor Dr. Alparslan Açıkgenç - Professor of Philosophy - Fatih University
Dr Seyed Amir Akrami - Lecturer of Islamic Studies - Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham
Dr Denis R Alexander – Director - The Faraday institute for Science and Religion, St. Edmund's College, Cambridge
Professor Osman Bakar - Professor of Islamic Thought & Civilization - ISTAC, Kuala Lumpur
Professor Nahide Bozkurt - Professor of Theology - Ankara University
Professor John Hedley Brooke - Emeritus Professor of Science & Religion - University of Oxford
Dr Emmanuel Clapsis - Systematic Theologian - Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline
Dr Vincent J Cornell - Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies -Department of Middle East & South Asian Studies - Emory University
Professor Ahmad Dallal - Chair, Department of Arabic & Islamic Studies - Georgetown University
Professor Ellen Davis - Professor of Bible & Practical Theology - Duke Divinity School
Professor Celia Deane-Drummond - Director, Centre for Religion & the Biosciences - Chester University
Dr John J DeGioia – President - Georgetown University
Dr Marwa Elshakry - Associate Professor of History of Science - Columbia University
The Rt Revd Josiah Idowu-Fearon - Bishop of Kaduna - Nigeria
Professor Sherine Hamdy - Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology - Brown University
Professor Dževad Hodžić - Professor of Ethics - Faculty of Islamic Studies in Sarajevo
Dr Ibrahim Kalin – Director - Seta Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research, Ankara
Professor Dr Bekir Karliga - Professor of Islamic Philosophy - Bahçeşehir University
Dr Felix Körner -Director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies of Religions and Cultures, Lecturer in Dogmatic Theology - Pontificia Università Gregoriana
Dr Jane Dammen McAuliffe – President - Bryn Mawr College
Professor Mustansir Mir - Professor of Islamic Studies - Youngstown State University
Professor Ebrahim Moosa - Associate Professor of Islamic Studies - Department of Religion, Duke University
The Rt Revd Dr Michael Nazir-Ali - Bishop of Rochester - Diocese of Rochester
Dr Kam Weng Ng - Research Director - Kairos Research Centre, Malaysia
Dr Mehmet Pacaci - Visiting Professor - Georgetown University
Professor Christoph Schwöbel - Professor of Systematic Theology - University of Tübingen
Professor Dr Recep Senturk - Professor of Sociology - Fatih University
Professor Dr Michael Welker - Professor of Systematic Theology - University of Heidelberg
Dr Rowan Williams - Archbishop of Canterbury - Lambeth Palace