Events Booklet MT2013.pdf - WebLearn - University of Oxford

Faculty of
Theology and Religion
Events Booklet
Michaelmas Term 2013

UNIVERSITY SERMON DATES MT 2013
MICHAELMAS TERM 2013
Preacher
October Thursday 10 8.00 a.m. Holy Communion (Latin) St Mary's The Revd John Paton, Christ Church.
Sunday 13 10.30 a.m. Commemoration Day Sermon St Mary's The Revd Dr Jonathan Arnold, Worcester
Tuesday 15 6.00 p.m. The Court Sermon The Cathedral Professor Norman Doe, Director, Centre for Law and
Religion, Cardiff Law School
Sunday 27 10.30 a.m. University Sermon St Mary's The Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor
November Sunday 10 5.45 p.m. University Sermon (The Ramsden Sermon) Merton The Revd Dr Giles Legood, Air Command
Chaplaincy Centre
Sunday 24 6.00 p.m. University Sermon on the Sin of Pride New College The Rt Revd Dr Trevor Mwamba, The Broadway,
Barking
December Sunday 1 10.00 a.m. University Sermon (Advent Sunday) The. Cathedral The Revd Mary Bide, Wimbledon Rectory

Philosophy & Theology Faculties Library: Opening Times, 2013-14
All Sundays closed. Saturdays open weeks 0-8 only. Monday-Friday longer opening
weeks 0-9.
Long Vacation Opening Hours, 2013
2 September-6 October: 9.30-17.00, Monday-Friday
7 October-13 October: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
Saturday closed except 12 October: 10.00-16.00
Michaelmas Term Opening Hours, 2013 (weeks 1-8)
14 October- 8 December: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
12 October- 8 December: 10.00-16.00, Saturday
Christmas Vacation Opening Hours, 2013-4
9 December-15 December: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
16 December-22 December: 9.30-17.00 Monday-Friday
23 December-1 January: Closed
2 January-12 January: 9.30-17.00 Monday-Friday
13 January-19 January: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
Closed Sat. (except 7 December, 18 January: 10.00-16.00)
Hilary Term Opening Hours, 2014
20 January-16 March: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
18 January-16 March: 10.00-16.00, Saturday
Easter Vacation Opening Hours, 2014
17 March-23 March: 9.30-19.00 Monday-Friday
24 March-13 April: 9.30-17.00 Monday-Friday
14 April-21 April: Closed
22 April-27 April: 9.30-19.00 Monday-Friday
Closed Sat. (except March 15, April 26: 10.00-16.00)
Trinity Term Opening Hours, 2014
28 April-22 June: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
26 April-22 June: 10.00-16.00, Saturday
NB Open: Bank holidays of 5 May, 26 May: 9.30-19.00
Long Vacation Opening Hours, 2014
23 June-29 June: 9.30-19.00
30 June-17 August: 9.30-17.00
18 August-31 August: Library closed
1 September-5 October: 9.30-17.00
6 October-12 October: 9.30-19.00
Closed Sat. (except June 21, October 11: 10.00-16.00)
Michaelmas Term, 2014
13 October-7 December: 9.30-19.00, Monday-Friday
11 October-7 December: 10.00-16.00, Saturday
haw.11.9.2013

St Benet’s Hall and the Faculty of Theology and Religion
University of Oxford
Professor William E. Simon, Jr.
“American Catholicism:
Contemporary Challenges
and Opportunities”
Thursday 7 th November 2013, 5pm
Lecture followed by Q&A session and reception
Venue: Ioannou Centre for Classics and Byzantine Studies
66 St Giles, Oxford, OX1 3LU
Professor William E. Simon Jr. is a businessman, lawyer, and
philanthropist, who presently serves as Co-Chairman of William E. Simon &
Sons, the William E. Simon Foundation, and the Cynthia L. and William E.
Simon, Jr. Foundation, which helps needy children in urban areas through
faith-based efforts. He is Visiting Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law.
Professor Simon’s most recent publication Living the Call: An Introduction to
the Lay Vocation was co-written with theologian Michael Novak.
Booking in advance is required. To book, please email: development@stb.ox.ac.uk

Old Testament Graduate Seminar
Michaelmas Term 2013
The Graduate seminar will meet three times this term, on Monday of weeks 1,
3, and 7, at 2.30 p.m. in the Seminar Room, Theology Faculty Annexe, 41 St
Giles’. The following programme has been arranged:
14 October Jongkyung Lee, ‘Isaiah 16:1-5’.
This paper will be followed by a brief discussion of the
Old Testament scene in Oxford, with introductory
comments by Alma Brodersen, Troy Cudworh, and
Laura Quick, to be continued in The Eagle and Child.
28 October Nazik Matty, ‘”In whom have you trusted?”:
Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah in 701 BC in the
context of Assyrian and biblical documentation of
Sennacherib’s campaigns and other military activities’.
25 November Anna Khanina, ‘The Chronicler’s use of the literary
prophetic material: a case study of 2 Chron. 32’.
John Barton

Old Testament Seminar
Michaelmas Term 2013
The Old Testament Seminar will meet five times this term, at 2.30 p.m. in the
Seminar Room, Theology Faculty Centre Annexe, 41 St Giles’, on the Mondays of
weeks 2, 4, 5, 6, & 8. The seminar is followed by tea. The following programme
has been arranged:
21 Oct Professor Friedhelm Hartenstein (Munich), ‘The theology of the
book of Jonah in light of Genesis 1-11 ‘.
4 Nov Dr Katharine Dell (Cambridge), ‘Jeremiah, creation, and wisdom’
(Wisdom series).
11 Nov Dr Krzysztof Sonek (London), ‘The wisdom of Jonah in the history
of interpretation’ (Wisdom series).
18 Nov Professor Kevin Cathcart, ‘The idea of “rest” in the Old Testament,
an examination of a neglected theme in biblical studies’.
2 Dec Professor Terje Stordalen (Oslo), ‘Job 42:1-6 and the canonical
taming of Job’ (Wisdom series).

Christian Ethics Graduate Research Seminar
Michaelmas Term 2013
All meetings at held in the South West Lodgings, Christ Church
2 nd Week: Tuesday 22 October, 5pm
Emilie Noteboom
“Religious Elements in the French Revolution”
Emilie Noteboom is a D.Phil. candidate in the Faculty of Theology & Religion at the
University of Oxford.
4 th Week: Tuesday 5 November, 3pm
Dr Joshua Hordern
“Political Affections: Civic Participation and Moral Theology”
A discussion of Joshua Hordern’s recent book (Oxford University Press, January
2013). Dr Hordern is University Lecturer in Christian Ethics at the University of
Oxford.
6 th Week: Wednesday 20 November, 5pm
Professors Christopher Insole, Keith Ward, and Terence Irwin
“Kant’s Religious Ethic”
Keith Ward, Regius Professor Emeritus of Divinity at the University of Oxford, and
Terence Irwin, Professor of Ancient Philosophy at the University of Oxford, will
respond to the 2013 McDonald Lectures, “Kant’s Religious Ethic”, by Professor
Christopher Insole of the Department of Theology and Religion at the University of
Durham.
8 th Week: Thursday 5 December, 5pm
Sam Burgess
“A Disposition to Preserve:
A Theological Defence of Edmund Burke's Conservatism”
Sam Burgess is a D.Phil. candidate in the Faculty of Theology & Religion at the
University of Oxford.
For further information, please contact Professor Nigel Biggar at
nigel.biggar@chch.ox.ac.uk

New Testament Graduate Seminar: Michaelmas Term 2014
Friday 2.30-4 p.m. in the Seminar Room of the Faculty Annexe, 41 St Giles
1 st Week – 18 th October
3 rd Week – 1 st November
5 th Week – 15 th November
6 th Week – 22 nd November
The NT Graduate Seminar features formal papers and presentations as well as
discussions and workshops. Our programme reflects work in progress and is
subject to change.
All graduate students with an interest in the New Testament and New Testament
period are welcome.
Please send enquiries and suggestions to mary.marshall@theology.ox.ac.uk.

Senior New Testament Seminar
Michaelmas Term 2013
The Stafford Crane Room, Keble College
Fridays 2.30-­‐4.00 pm
(please note new day and time)
_______________________________________________________________________
25 October (2 nd week)
Prof. Markus Bockmuehl (Keble)
The Gospels on the Presence of Jesus
8 November (4 th week)
Prof. James D. G. Dunn (Emeritus, Durham)
The Earliest Interpreters of the Jesus Tradition:
A Study in Early Hermeneutics
29 November (7 th week)
Dr. Ward Blanton (Kent)
‘Gay Jokes’ in Romans 1? Reflections on Philosophical Invective
6 December (8 th week, 2.30-­‐6.00pm, location tbc)
Marking the Retirement of Prof. Christopher Tuckett
Prof. Tobias Nicklas (Regensburg)
What Christian Apocrypha Tell Us About the History of the Canon
Dr. Mary Marshall (Oxford)
‘The Leaven of the Pharisees’: A Case Study in Recognising the Evangelists
Please direct any questions to David Lincicum (david.lincicum@theology.ox.ac.uk) or Mary Marshall
(mary.marshall@theology.ox.ac.uk).

Michaelmas Term
Modern Doctrine Seminar
Monday Christ Church Lecture Room 1 – 4pm
Week one Oct.14 th – ‘The Myth of Secularism’. Prof. Graham Ward
Week two Oct. 21st – 'The Politics of Interpretation: The Reception of Paul's
"New Moment"'. Simon Lloyd Cuff'
Week three Oct.28 th – 'Truth and Truthfulness in Kant's Religion'.
Anderson
Pamela Sue
Week four Nov.4th – ‘From Misery to Happiness Today: Rethinking Salvation in a
Feelgood Age’. Professor Clive Marsh
Week five Nov.11th - ‘Eric Gill on Clothes as Architecture.’ Bryan McCarthy
Week six Nov.18th – ‘”In light of recent world events, please be extra vigilant”:
Being attentive to World Christianity’. Dr. Cathy Ross
Week seven Nov.25 th – title unconfirmed. Revd. Dr. Christopher Lewis
Week eight Dec. 2 nd – ‘The Sacrament of Public Life: On Divine Promise and
Politics’. Dr. Stephan van Erp

Religion and War: Interdisciplinary Seminar in the Study of Religion 2013
Time: Five Wednesdays during Michaelmas term at 5-7pm. Times for Hilary term will be
announced later.
Place: Theology seminar room in St Giles.
Organizer: Dr Torkel Brekke (Faculty of Theology and Pembroke College)
Date Title/theme Speaker
16 October Military chaplaincy and secularism Torkel Brekke (University
Lecturer, Faculty of Theology)
23 October Messianic violence in China Barend J. ter Haar
(Shaw Professor of Chinese)
20 November Buddhism and war Mahinda Deegalle (Senior
Lecturer, Bath University)
27 November Christian just war doctrine: its relevance
today
Nigel Biggar (Regius Professor
of Moral and Pastoral
Theology)
4 December Jihad and the ethics of war in Islam Tariq Ramadan (Professor of
Contemporary Islamic studies)

Ian Ramsey Centre for Science & Religion
Oxford Seminars for
Michaelmas 2013
Seminars are at Trinity College in the Sutro Room
starting at 8:30pm, preceded by drinks at 8:15pm
Free and
Open to
the Public
THURSDAY 07 NOVEMBER
“Belief-Formation in
the Desert of the Real”
Olli-Pekka Vainio, University of Helsinki
THURSDAY 21 NOVEMBER
“Science and Religion in
Latin America”
Ignacio Silva, Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford
THURSDAY 05 DECEMBER
“A Christmas Carol: The Prosopagnosia
of Avarice and its Cure”
Andrew Pinsent, Ian Ramsey Centre, University of Oxford
www.ianramseycentre.ox.ac.uk

Affections and Ethics seminars 2013-2014 – revised with papers confirmed and times/meeting rooms updated
The Affections and Ethics group is a new initiative sponsored by TORCH drawing together expertise from across
the University in order to explore the significance of affections and emotions in ethics. Group members are drawn
from Philosophy, Theology and Religion, Medical Sciences, Social Sciences and other disciplines. All are welcome
to participate. Research will be conducted through a series of seminars during 2013-2014. To be kept updated on
the development of the project, please sign up to the email list by contacting Joshua Hordern
(joshua.hordern@theology.ox.ac.uk) or Simeon Zahl (simeon.zahl@sjc.ox.ac.uk). Other group members from
Theology and Religion include Dr Sarah Apetrei, Matthew Anderson and Tobias Tan.
For full group membership and up-to-date details see www.torch.ox.ac.uk/affectionsethics
Affections and Ethics seminar
Michaelmas term
Seminar Room/Meeting Room 4, Radcliffe Humanities Building
Fridays, November 1st, 15th, 29th (3rd, 5th and 7th weeks). All welcome for this series of short papers and
discussions with tea/coffee provided.
November 1st, 3-6pm, Meeting Room 4
Dr Simeon Zahl (St Johns College, JRF, Theology and Religion): 'Consoling the Terrified Heart: Philipp
Melanchthon, the Affections, and the Augsburg Confession'
Dr Betiel Wasihun (Lincoln College, Tutor in German): 'Locating Shame - Kafka's Agonistic Space'
November 15th, 2-5pm, Seminar Room
Dr Lorenzo Greco (Mansfield College, JRF, Philosophy) ‘Hume and the Narrative of the Self’
Matthew Anderson (Mansfield College, postgraduate, Theology and Religion) 'The Quality of Mercy: Does
Aquinas's understanding of mercy account for our personal history?'
November 29th, 2.15-5.15pm, Meeting Room 4
further paper and discussion
If possible, please let Joshua Hordern or another group member know in advance that you plan to attend (for
catering purposes). More details about papers will follow shortly. If you would like to present a paper at a seminar
please make contact.
Hilary term advance notice
Affections and ethics seminar
Mondays 4pm [NB] January 20 th , February 3 rd , February 17 th , March 3 rd (1st, 3rd, 5th and 7th weeks)
Papers to be given by Dr Sarah Apetrei, Dr Thomas Simpson (Blavatnik School of Government) and Dr Joshua
Hordern + one other TBC.
These seminars are open to all and constitute the joint research seminars of the Christian Ethics and Modern
Doctrine streams of the Faculty of Theology and Religion for Hilary Term. Location to be announced.

Public Lectures
Michaelmas Term 2013
THE DAVID
NICHOLLS MEMORIAL LECTURE 2013
N.B. Thursday
'Is This What You Call Free?’ The Caribbean after Slavery
17 October Professor Gad Heuman (University of Warwick)
TRUTH AND UNCERTAINTY
(Conveners: Dr Peter Colyer and Prof Michael Marsh)
22 October The Philosophical Search for Truth
Professor John Cottingham (University of Reading & St John’s College, Oxford)
29 October The Discovery of Scientific Truth
Professor John Stein (Magdalen College, Oxford)
5 November Mathematical Truths
Professor John Roe (State University of Pennsylvania, and lately Fellow Jesus
College, Oxford)
12 November Truth and Uncertainty in Religious Belief
The Rev’d Dr Andrew Moore (Regent’s Park College, Oxford)
19 November Politics and ‘Economy with the Truth’
Mr Kevin Marsh (Formerly BBC Executive Editor)
26 November ‘Rarely pure and never simple’: Truth in the Visual Arts
Dr Bill Prosser (Regent’s Park College, Oxford)
3 December The Good, the Right and the Beautiful: The Shape of Christian Moral Reasoning
Dr Joshua Hordern (Harris Manchester College, Oxford)
Tuesdays @ 5.00pm
Regent’s Park College

Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
Lectures
Hinduism 1
Prof. Gavin Flood
Wednesdays, weeks 1–8, 11–12, Examinations School, Room 8
This lecture series provides some basic material for Theology FHS Paper 20,
“Hinduism 1: Brahminism.’ These lectures offer a thematic and historical
introduction to the sources and early development of ‘Hindu’ traditions from
their early formation to the early medieval period. We will explore the
formation of Hindu traditions through textual sources, such as the Vedas,
Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita, along with the practices and social
institutions that formed classical Hindu traditions. The course will include an
introduction to Hindu philosophy. A detailed reading list will be supplied at
the start of the lectures which will be based loosely around Gavin Flood’s
Introduction to Hinduism (CUP 1996).
Elementary Sanskrit
Prof. Gavin Flood
Monday 11–12, Friday 10–12, OCHS Library
This is the Theology Sanskrit Prelims paper that introduces basic vocabulary
and grammar. The course book is Walter Maurer The Sanskrit Language.
Majewski Lecture: Politics in Action: Gandhi, the Gita, and Modern Times
Dr Faisal Devji
November 4 (week 4), 5–6pm, Oriental Institute, Lecture Room 1
While the Bhagavad-Gita justifiably receives scholarly attention as an ancient
text, its modern history remains little explored. And yet the Gita is arguably
the most important text of modern India, with many of the country's great
intellectual and political figures attending to it in new ways from the 19th
century. How did the Gita become the key text among such figures to think
not about India's past so much as her present and future? This lecture will
consider Gandhi's lifelong devotion to the Gita as part of a larger project to
create a modern political thought for India's future.
Dr Faisal Devji is University Reader in Modern South Asian History. He has
held faculty positions at the New School in New York, Yale University and the
University of Chicago, from where he also received his PhD in Intellectual
History. Devji was Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows, Harvard University,
and Head of Graduate Studies at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London,
from where he directed post-graduate courses in the Near East and Central
Asia. He sits on the editorial board of the journal Public Culture. Dr Devji is
the author of two books, Landscapes of the Jihad: Militancy, Morality,
Modernity (2005), and The Terrorist in Search of Humanity: Militant Islam and

Global Politics (2009), and is currently writing a book on the emergence of
Muslim politics and the founding of Pakistan. He is interested in the political
thought of modern Islam as well as in the transformation of liberal categories
and democratic practice in South Asia. Devji’s broader concerns are with
ethics and violence in a globalized world, particularly with the thought and
practices of Mahatma Gandhi, who was among the earliest and perhaps most
perceptive commentator on this predicament of our times.
Shivdasani Lectures
Conceptions of Liberation in Classical Indian Philosophy
Prof. Harunaga Isaacson
OCHS Library
In this series of four classes Professor Isaacson will discuss the concept of
liberation with particular reference to the section on apavarga (i.e. moksa,
liberation) in the Nyayamanjari, the masterpiece of the ninth-century scholar
and poet Bhatta Jayanta. In each class we will read a portion of the text and
Professor Isaacson will comment upon it. Among other materials that may be
brought into the discussion are the Paramokṣṇanirasakarika of Sadyojyotis
and the commentary thereon by Bhaṅṭṇṅṭṇa Ramakaṅṭṇṅṭṇha.
Monday 14 October (week 1), 2–3pm
Tuesday 15 October (week 1), 2–3.30pm
Monday 21 October (week 2), 2–3pm
Tuesday 22 October (week 2), 2–3.30pm
Professor Isaacson is Professor of Classical Indology at the University of
Hamburg. His doctoral work at the University of Leiden was in classical
Vaiseṣṇika. He has been a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Wolfson College
Oxford, and the International Institute for Buddhist Studies, Tokyo, and a
Sabbatical Fellow of the American Philosophical Society. He is one of the
world’s foremost experts in tantric traditions in pre-13th century South Asia,
especially Vajrayana Buddhism, and is an expert in classical Sanskrit poetry,
classical Indian philosophy, Puraṣṇic literature, and manuscript studies.
Lecture 1: The Politics of Sexuality in Ancient India: The Indebtedness of the
Kamasutra to the Arthasastra
Prof. Wendy Doniger
Tuesday 12 November (week 5), 5–6pm, OCHS Library
The depth and extent of the influence of the textbook of politics (the
Arthasastra) on the textbook of sexuality (the Kamasutra) is surprising, most
evident in the high incidence of distrust, betrayal and force in sexual
relationships. And the subsequent influence of the Kamasutra upon not
only the erotic literary traditions of India but the eroticism of the bhakti
tradition, particularly in Bengal, accounts in part for the darkness of that
tradition, its emphasis on divine abandonment, betrayal, and even violence.

Lecture 2: The Magic Ring of Memory and Forgetfulness in South Asian
Literature and Folklore
Prof. Wendy Doniger
Thursday 14 November (week 5), 5–6pm, OCHS Library
In South Asian stories of rings, men accuse women of unchastity only to have
the ring prove that it was the man, in fact, who was unchaste; the ring also
validates the woman’s child as the true heir. These stories—several variants
of the tale of Shakuntala, the story of Muladeva from the Kathasaritsagara,
and a village myth about the god Shiva and his wife Parvati-- show us how
widespread is the desire to believe that a little thing like a ring can bring
justice to the asymmetrical power relations that have controlled female
sexuality for most of human history, or the desire to project the responsibility
for sexual rejection or betrayal onto an external force like a gold ring.
Shivdasani Seminar
How Widespread Was Skepticism in Ancient India?
Really Exist, or Were They Just Straw Men?
Did the Materialists
Prof. Wendy Doniger
Tuesday 19 November (week 6), 5–6pm, OCHS Library
Though ancient shastras such as the Arthasastra and Kamasutra pay lip
service to dharma, and criticize the so-called Materialists (Lokayatas or
Carvakas), their central arguments show a total disregard for dharma and a
striking congruence with Materialist assumptions. Are the Carvakas straw
men that allow shastras (and other texts, such as the Jabali episode in Book 2
of the Ramayana) to express skeptical ideas without taking responsibility for
them?
Wendy Doniger (M.A., Ph.D. (Harvard University)
D.Phil. (Oxford University)
is Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions in
the Divinity School, University of Chicago; also in the Department of South
Asian Languages and Civilizations, the Committee on Social Thought. Wendy
Doniger's research and teaching focus on translating, interpreting, and
comparing elements of Hinduism through modern contexts of gender,
sexuality, and identity. Her courses in mythology address themes in crosscultural
expanses, such as death, dreams, evil, horses, sex, and women; her
courses in Hinduism cover a broad spectrum that, in addition to mythology,
considers literature, law, gender, and zoology. Among over thirty books
published under the name Wendy Doniger O’Flaherty and Wendy Doniger are
sixteen interpretative works, including Siva: The Erotic Ascetic; The Origins of
Evil in Hindu Mythology; Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts;
Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities; Tales of Sex and Violence: Folklore,
Sacrifice, and Danger in the Jaiminiya Brahmana; Other Peoples’ Myths: The
Cave of Echoes; Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece
and India; The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade; The Implied Spider:
Politics and Theology in Myth; The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She
Was; and The Hindus: An Alternative History. Among her nine translations are

three Penguin Classics—Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook, Translated from the
Sanskrit; The Rig Veda: An Anthology, 108 Hymns Translated from the
Sanskrit; and The Laws of Manu (with Brian K. Smith)—and a new translation
of the Kamasutra (with Sudhir Kakar). In progress are Hinduism, for the
Norton Anthology of World Religions (2013); Faking It: Narratives of Circular
Jewelry and Clever Women; and a novel, Horses for Lovers, Dogs for
Husbands.
Seminars
The Nature of the Self in the Bhagavad Gita
Prof. Gavin Flood
Fridays, 2–3pm
Weeks 2 (October 25), 4 (November 8), OCHS Library
Chapter 13 of the Bhagavad Gita is about the relationship between ‘the field’
and ‘the field knower’ which can be taken to represent the body and self or
universe and God. Different commentators had different interpretations
about this relationship. The two seminars will examine the commentaries of
Saṅṭṇkara and Ramanuja, focusing inparticular on the opening three verses.
Readings in the Netra Tantra
Prof. Gavin Flood
Weeks 1–8
Thursday 11–12
OCHS Library
The Netra-tantra is an important text of medieval Saivism. We will read the
Sanskrit text based on two manuscripts from Nepal in conjunction with the
KSTS edition.
Hindu Theology: The Embodiment of God
Suffering
Prof. Gavin Flood
Thursday 31 October, 2–3pm, OCHS Library
The history of Hinduism is replete with the idea that the divine becomes
embodied in forms in the world from people (such as the teyyams of Kerala),
to plastic icons in temples, to the mythological incarnations. This seminar will
examine this idea with reference to particular examples.
Ramesh Pattni
Thursday 31 October, 2–3pm, OCHS Library
This seminar will explore the idea of suffering in Hindu traditions and the
proposed remedies for its termination.

Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies
Seminar Series, Michaelmas Term 2013
CONTEMPORARY MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE:
INSTITUTIONAL AND GRASSROOTS APPROACHES
A series of informal work-in-progress seminars
Venue: Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies
The Song School, 109A Iffley Road, Oxford OX4 1EH
Next to St. John the Evangelist’s Church, opposite University Sports Ground
Tuesdays from 2.30-4.00 pm
15 th October Jan Pike
Reflective practitioner and independent scholar, Bristol
What Can We Say? Tackling Anxieties over Offence, Authority, Gender and ‘Valid
Knowledge’ in Enabling Grassroots Muslim and Christian Women to Discuss Faith
Together
22 nd October Fr Rocco Viviano sx
Research Associate, Heythrop Centre for Christianity and Interreligious Dialogue,
Heythrop College, University of London
Benedict XVI and Inter-religious Dialogue: the Case of Islam
29 th October Dr Ömer Şener
Research Fellow, Dialogue Society, London
The Dialogue Approach of Gülen and the Gülen Movement
5 th November Dr Farhana Nazir
4.00-5.30pm
PhD (University of Edinburgh)
Christian-Muslim Relationships Before and After the Application of the Law of Blasphemy
in Pakistan
12 th November Esra Akay Dag
PhD student, University of Bristol
Contribution of the Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, to Inter-religious
Dialogue and its Relevance to Turkish Religious Affairs
19 th November Asim Koldzo
MSt, University of Oxford, and prospective D.Phil candidate
Interfaith dialogue in Qatar: Trends and Challenges
26 th November Abdullah Hamidaddin
Saudi writer and PhD student, King's College, London
Approaching Perceptions of Christians and Christianity Amongst Saudis
3 rd December Stephen Agilinko
PhD Student, University of Nottingham
The Prophetic Kinship Between Muhammad and Jesus: An Examination of Popular Muslim
and Christian Polemical Literature in Ghana
For further information contact Susan Worthington on 01865 613446
Or e-mail research@cmcsoxford.org.uk
www.cmcsoxford.org.uk

Centre Seminars
The following seminars on Islam and Nation will be held at the Oxford Centre
for Islamic Studies, George Street, during Michaelmas Term 2013 on
Wednesdays at 5.00 pm.
Dr Surin Pitsuwan
Former Secretary-General of ASEAN
23 rd October Islam and Ethnicity as Articulating Principles of
Grievance among the Malay Muslims of Southern
Thailand
Dr Hilary Kalmbach
University of Sussex
30 th October Religious Knowledge and Cultural Politics in Egypt
Professor Francis Robinson Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies
6 th November Maulana Jamal Mian Farangi Mahalli and Pakistan
Professor Kees van Dijk Leiden University
13 th November Muslims in Southeast Asia and the Symbols of the Nation
State
Professor Amidu Sanni
Lagos State University
20 th November The Power of Authority and the Authority of Power in
Muslim West Africa: A Narrative from Nigeria
Professor Ali Ansari
University of St Andrews
27 th November History, Myth, and Nationalism in Modern Iran
Dr Justin Jones
University of Exeter
4 th December 'The Islamic Emirate of Hindustan': Law, Nation and
Muslim Sovereignty in Pre-Independence Eastern India,
c.1920-1947

The Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies – A Recognised Independent Centre of
the University of Oxford
Lectures in Michaelmas 2013
The following talks will be given at 5.30pm on Mondays in the Balliol College
Lecture Room XXIII.
Convener: Professor Richard Gombrich
Dr Lucia Dolce, SOAS
14 Oct: 'The Tantric Lotus Sutra: another interpretative tradition of the Lotus in
Japan'
Dr Alexandra Green, British Museum
21 Oct: 'East and West in Late Burmese Buddhist wall paintings'
Dr Richard Fynes, De Montfort University
28 Oct: 'Cash and karma'
Dr Matthew Walton, Oxford
4 Nov: 'Buddhist narratives of peace and conflict in Myanmar'
Dr Wendi Adamek, University of Calgary
11 Nov: 'The “agency of relations” at a medieval Chinese Buddhist site'
Dr Vincent Tournier, SOAS
18 Nov: 'Donors and their religious aspirations in 5th-6th century India: gleanings
from Ajaṭṇṭṇā and Bodhgayā'
Dr Jan Westerhoff, Oxford
25 Nov: 'Is Madhyamaka a form of nihilism?'

2013 McDonald Lectures
Examination Schools
Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Weeks 3, 4, 5 at 5pm
Meditations from Purgatory: Kant, Freedom, and Happiness
Professor Christopher Insole
University of Durham
October 29
October 30
November 5
November 6
November 12
November 13
‘I am from Eternity to Eternity’: God in Kant’s Early
Thought
‘Whence then am I?’: God in Kant’s Later Thought
Kant’s ‘Only Unsolvable Metaphysical Difficulty’: Created
Freedom
Creating Freedom: Kant’s Theological Solution
The Dancer and the Dance: Divine Action, Human Freedom
Becoming Divine: Autonomy and the Beatific Vision
November 20
Responses to the 2013 McDonald Lectures by Professors
Terry Irwin, Adrian Moore, and Keith Ward

Centre for the Reception History of the Bible
www.crhb.org
The Bible in Art, Music and Literature Seminar
Michaelmas Term 2013
Week 2: Hussey Seminar
(21 Oct) Inhabiting Vocation: Integration, Incorporation and
Incarnation at the Convent of San Marco, Florence
Dr Chlöe Reddaway
(University of Cambridge)
Week 4: In my beginning is my end: The reception of
(4 Nov) Ecclesiastes in T. S. Eliot’s Poetry
Dr Mette Bundvad
(University of Goettingen)
Week 6: From Alexandria to Urbino: The Letter of Aristeas,
(18 Nov) Biblical Translation and the Renaissance Court
Dr Scott Mandelbrote
(University of Cambridge)
Week 8: The Ten Commandments in the Medieval Schools
(2 Dec) Dr Lesley Smith
(University of Oxford)
Mondays: 5pm
The Danson Room, Trinity College
Convenor: Dr Christine Joynes

SEMINAR ON JEWISH HISTORY AND LITERATURE IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN
PERIOD
The following seminars will be held in the Oriental Institute from 2.30 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays
Week 1: October 15: Professor Chris Rowland (Queen's)
'The Open Heaven revisited’
Week 2: October 22: Dr David Noy (University of Wales Trinity St David)
'Jews in the western provinces of the Roman Empire'
Week 3: October 29: Professor Martin Goodman
'Jewish communal identities in the Graeco-Roman period'
Week 4: November 5: Dr Ruth Sheridan (Charles Sturt University)
'Tannaitic conceptions of the zekhut avot'
Week 5: November 12: Aron Sterk (Manchester University)
'Jews in the Latin West in Late Antiquity: forgotten communities and texts'
Week 6: November 19:
Dr Susan Walker (Ashmolean)
'Jewish gold-glass and funerary inscriptions from Vigna Randanini'
Week 7: November 26: Marton Ribary (Manchester University)
'Tannaitic counter-identity and changes of the "digital halakhah"'
Week 8: December 3: Dr Lutz Doering (Durham University)
'Fictive kinship terminology in Jewish texts of the Graeco-Roman period'
Martin Goodman

Blackfriars Lectures & Classes
Michaelmas Term 2013
Lectures start on 14 October & continue to 6 December, & are held in the Aula unless indicated.
Monday
9:00 Beginners’ Greek Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
10.00 Advanced Greek Reading Class Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
11.00 Pentateuch Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
12:00 The One God Rev Dr Richard Conrad OP
2pm The Philosophy of the Social Sciences Prof Peter Rona
Tuesday
9:00 Foundations of Biblical Study Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
10.00 Prophets Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
11:00 Fundamental Theology Rev Dr Carsten Barwasser OP
2.00 Ecumenism Rev Ann Swailes OP
Wednesday
9.00 Introduction to Philosophy and Theology Rev Dr Simon Gaine OP
10.00 Introduction to Philosophy Rev Dr Peter Hunter OP
11.00 Ancient Philosophy Ms Alison Samuels
12.00 Logic Rev Dr Peter Hunter OP
2.00 Plato Ms Alison Samuels
3:00 Beginners Latin Rev Tamsin Geach OP
4:00 Intermediate Latin Rev Tamsin Geach OP
Thursday
9:00 Beginners Latin Class* Rev Tamsin Geach OP
9:00 Modern Theology Rev Dr Simon Gaine OP
10.00 Advanced Latin Rev Tamsin Geach OP
11.00 Biblical Theology Rev Neil Ferguson OP
12.00 Early Church History Rev Dr Richard Finn OP
12:00 Intermediate Latin* Rev Tamsin Geach OP
2:00 Ancient Philosophy Reading Class Rev Dr Richard Finn OP
3:00 Preaching the Scriptures Rev David Sanders OP
4:00 Advanced Aquinas Reading Class† Rev Dr Peter Hunter OP
Friday
9:00 Beginners’ Greek Rev Dr Richard Ounsworth OP
10:00 Logic, Language and Rationality Rev Dr Peter Hunter OP
11:00 Beginners’ Hebrew Class Mr Cyril Chilson
12.00 Metaphysics Rev Dr Peter Hunter OP
2:00 Advanced Hebrew Class Mr Cyril Chilson
* These classes are held in the Front Seminar Room at Blackfriars.
† To request to attend the Aquinas Reading Class, email Fr David Goodill OP on
vice.regent@bfriars.ox.ac.uk This class takes place in the Aquinas Seminar Room at 17 Beaumont St.
Lectures and classes are normally open to current members of Oxford University without further registration
or fees.
Members of the public who wish to attend lectures or classes should collect a registration form from the
Porters’ Lodge, and complete and submit it before the beginning of Term. They will be admitted at the
discretion of the Moderators, and upon payment of the fee, which is £130 for a set of twice-weekly language
classes, £65 for a set of weekly language classes, and £60 for each other set of lectures/classes. They may
however apply for a concession of 50% of this fee, and even for the fee to be waived.
Special Lectures & Events (for further details & updates see our website
http://www.bfriars.ox.ac.uk/

Thursday 17 th October, 3pm
Blackwell’s Bookshop, Norrington Room, Broad Street, Oxford
“Why (Studying) Religion is So Important”
Talk by Tariq Ramadan
Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies, University of Oxford
All welcome
For further details please contact the Blackwells Bookshop Tel: 01865 792792

Symposium
9.00 Arrivals & Registration
9.15 Welcome and Introduction
DEATH AND DYING: A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO FALCONER
9.30 The Theology of Death and the Hope of Resurrection
Prof Paul Fiddes, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Oxford
and Director of Research, Regent’s Park College
10.30 Living in the End Times: Attitudes towards End of Life in a
Group of Older People, , Dr Joanna Collicut, Fellow, Harris Manchester College
and Lecturer in Psychology and Spirituality, Ripon College, Cuddesdon
11.30 Coffee Break
11.45 Dying from a Life, just not a Disease – Seeking to Make Sense of Suffering
Prof Rob George, Professor of Palliative Care, King’s College Hospital, London
12.45 Buffet Lunch
Thursday 14 th November, 2013
1:30: The Case for ‘Assisted Dying’: a critique
Prof Nigel Biggar, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology
and Student of Christ Church, Oxford
2:30 A Christian Context for Assisted Dying
Prof Paul Badham, Professor Emeritus of Theology, University of Wales Trinity St David
3.30 Tea Break
3.45 Towards a Framework for Legalised Assisted Dying
Prof Michael Marsh, Centre for Christianity & Culture, Regent’s Park College
4.30 Plenary Discussion
5.00 Conclusion
Cost (including lunch): £15 (concessions £10)
Please book in advance: Dr Nicholas Wood
Regent’s Park College, Oxford, OX1 2LB
email: nicholas.wood@regents.ox.ac.uk

Christian Theology
In Defence of
WAR?
A workshop with
Nigel Biggar
Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, University of Oxford
Author of In Defence of War (Oxford University Press, 2013)
with responses from
Esther Reed
Assoc. Prof. of Theology and Director, Network for Religion in Public Life, University of Exeter
Dapo Akande
UL in Public International Law and Co-Director, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict
Tuesday 3 December, 5.00 p.m.
Keble College, Oxford
What? Nigel Biggar’s provocative new book argues a just war position
supporting aggressive war in punishment of grave injustice, even if it may be in
transgression of positive international law. He will be articulating his view initially
in debate with Christian ethicist Esther Reed and international lawyer Dapo
Akande, and then in response to questions from the floor.
Where? The Pusey Room, Keble College, Oxford OX1 3PG.
This event is open to all, but numbers are limited to 60: please book early by
email (one for each person attending) to KebleTheology@gmail.com.
All are welcome to stay for drinks after the workshop (6.30 p.m.).
For further information about Keble College see www.keble.ox.ac.uk
Sponsored by Hursley Theological Society, Keble College
M. Bockmuehl
October 2013

OXFORD CENTRE FOR LATE ANTIQUITY
Please join us for a seminar
to mark the publication of
The Oxford Guide to the
Historical Reception
of Augustine
Trinity College, Danson Room
Wednesday 13 November 2013
(Augustine’s Birthday)
4:30–6:00pm,
followed by a reception
The seminar will feature contributions from panellists, which will be followed
by open question and discussion time. The panellists include:
Prof Karla Pollmann (University of Kent; Editor-in-Chief of OGHRA):
The OGHRA: An Interdisciplinary Adventure
Dr Lydia Schumacher (Oriel; Co-editor of OGHRA): Surprising Turns
in the Medieval Reception of Augustine
Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch (St Cross): The Reformation Reception of
Augustine
Prof Graham Ward (Christ Church): The Contemporary Appropriation
of Augustine
Prof Gillian Clark (Bristol): Monica: The Missing Lemma
Dr Johannes Zachhuber (Trinity, Panel Chair)
See details about the OGHRA on the Oxford University Press website:
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199299164.do#.UimKfcal98F

Ecclesiology and Ethnography Reading Group
A Seminar in Practical Theology for Graduate Students
from the University of Oxford and Kings College London
Convened by Prof. Paul Fiddes (Oxford) and Prof. Pete Ward (Kings College London)
10 th Oct 12.00-2.00 Regent’s Park College, Oxford
Reading: Pete Ward (ed.), Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2012), chapters 1-4 (chapters by Fiddes, Ward, Scharen, Swinton).
28 th Nov 12.00-2.00 Department of Education and Professional Studies, King’s College
London, Room G/12
Reading: Pete Ward (ed.), Perspectives on Ecclesiology and Ethnography, chapters 5-12.
In the second hour of the seminar students are invited to present examples of work in
progress. Those wanting to present work should email peter.ward@kcl.ac.uk. For further
information contact: paul.fiddes@regents.ox.ac.uk.
To be continued in Hilary Term 2014, reading:
Chris Scharen (ed.), Explorations in Ecclesiology and Ethnography (Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans, 2012).
Alban books have agreed to offer the two volumes at a 20% discount. Order online at
WWW.ALBANBOOKS.COM using this code at checkout to get your discount: ABPWS13

Wisdom:
Past and Present
Thursday 24 October 2013
Regent’s Park College, University of
Oxford
Pusey Street, Oxford OX1 2LB
A Half-Day Conference,
including the launch of:
Paul S. Fiddes: Seeing the World and
Knowing God. Hebrew Wisdom and
Christian Doctrine in a Late-Modern
Context (Oxford University Press,
August 2013). Bampton Lectures
Jacket image: Going to Work (1959) by L.S. Lowry. Copyright Lowry Museum, Salford. Used on jacket by permission.
2.00 pm Dr Heather Walton, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religious Studies,
University of Glasgow
More than Human? Wisdom beyond Boundaries in Practical Theology
3.00 pm Dr Peter Heslam, Director of the Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative at the
Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture, with Dr Kenneth Barnes, Dean of the
Marketplace Institute, Melbourne
Religious Wisdom in Business and Entrepreneurship
4.00 pm Break for Tea/Coffee
4.30 pm Professor John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of the Holy
Scripture, University of Oxford
Old Testament Wisdom and Ethics in Ancient Israel
5.30 pm Reception and Launch of Seeing the World and Knowing God
No charge for attendance. Sponsored by the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture,
Regent’s Park College, Oxford
For further information, contact: paul.fiddes@regents.ox.ac.uk
Seeing the World and Knowing God aims to create a Christian theology of wisdom for the present day, in
discussion with two sets of conversation-partners. The first are writers of the ‘wisdom literature’ in ancient
Israel and the Jewish community in Alexandria. Here, special attention is given to the biblical books of Proverbs,
Job, and Ecclesiastes. The second conversation-partners are philosophers and thinkers of the latemodern
age, among them Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, Julia Kristeva, Paul Ricoeur, and Hannah
Arendt. Paul S. Fiddes enters into dialogue with late-modern concerns about the relation between the self
and the world, proposing that the wisdom which is indicated by the ancient Hebraic concept of hokmah integrates
a ‘practical wisdom’ of handling daily experience with the kind of wisdom which is ‘attunement’ to the
world and ultimately to God as creator and sustainer of all. Fiddes brings detailed exegesis of texts from the
ancient wisdom literature into interaction with an account of the subject in late-modern thought, in order to
form a theology in which seeing the world is knowing a God whose transcendent reality is always immanent
in the signs and bodies of the world. He thus argues that participation in a triune, relational God shapes a
wisdom that addresses problems of a dominating self, and opens the human person to others.

Centre for Baptist History and Heritage, Oxford
with the Baptist Historical Society
A Threefold Cord
Three Baptist Scholar-Ministers of the Seventeenth
Century
A study–day celebrating the launch of new books on Thomas Grantham,
William Kiffen and Benjamin Keach,
with papers by their authors
and discussion led by Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch
At Regent’s Park College, Pusey Street, Oxford OX1 2LB
Saturday 30 th November 2013
10.00 Welcome and greetings
10. 15 Clint Bass, Asst. Professor of Church History, Southwest Baptist University
Author of: Thomas Grantham (1633-1692) and General Baptist Theology
(Oxford: Regent’s Park College, 2013)
'The Catholic Spirit of Thomas Grantham'
11.30 Coffee break
12.00 Larry Kreitzer, Fellow, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford
Author of: William Kiffen and his World. Volume 3 (Oxford: Regent’s Park
College, 2013)
‘William Kiffen and the Trial of the Quaker Jesus’
13.15 Lunch period: bring your own sandwiches. Coffee & tea
provided
14.15 Jonathan Arnold, Visiting Fellow, CBHH, Regent’s Park College, Oxford
Author of: The Reformed Theology of Benjamin Keach (1640-1704)
(Oxford: Regent’s Park College, 2013)
‘ “With Babylon before him and Zion behind him”: Benjamin Keach's
Vision of the Kingdom’
15.30 Tea break
16.00 Reception and formal launch of all books, with refreshments
16.15 Forum for authors and further questions arising from the day
Chair and discussion leader: Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Professor of the
History of the Church, University of Oxford.
Reception and forum open to all, not only conference members
17. 30 End of the day

CENTRE FOR MUSLIM-CHRISTIAN STUDIES
One day Symposium
Muslim Views of the Bible: Past
and Present
Saturday December 7 th 2013: 9.30am-4.45pm
Venue: The Examination Schools
Speakers:
Dr Martin Accad, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, Arab
Baptist Theological Seminary, Beirut
Dr Shabbir Akhtar, Research Fellow, Centre for Muslim-Christian
Studies, Oxford
Professor Dr Lejla Demiri, Chair of Islamic Doctrine, Eberhard Karls
University,Tübingen
Dr Gordon Nickel, Adjunct Professor of Islamic Studies, University
of Calgary, Alberta
Open to the public
Admission is free, but to register and for more details, please contact:
research@cmcsoxford.org.uk
01865 613446
www. cmcsoxford.org.uk

ST THEOSEVIA CENTRE FOR CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALITY
OPEN STUDY DAYS IN MICHAELMAS TERM 2013
at St Theosevia House, 2 Canterbury Road, Oxford OX2 6LU
An Ecumenical Centre for Christian Spirituality in Oxford
www.theosevia.org
Saturday, 9 November, 10.30 am – 4 pm
The Spirituality and Legacies of
Fr Sophrony (Sakharov) and Metropolitan Anthony
Metropolitan Kallistos, the Very Revd Dr Nicholas Sakharov
and Fr Stephen Platt
Saturday, 30 November, 10.30 am – 4 pm
Christianity in Syria: Ancient Origins, Present Situation,
Uncertain Future
Prof Sebastian Brock, Dr David Taylor, Dr Anthony O’Mahony,
Tim Bowman and Lujaina Issa
St Theosevia House, 2 Canterbury Road, left off Banbury Rd just after North Parade.
Study days FREE for students with card. Non-students £5 (on door). No booking needed,
just come, for all or part of the day. Lunch break 1-2 pm (please provide your own lunch).
Director: Revd Dr Liz Carmichael, St John’s College
Enquiries: Asst Director of Studies: Fr Tikhon Vasilyev, Wolfson College,
tikhon.vasilyev@wolfson.ox.ac.uk, 01865 310341

The St Theosevia Centre for Christian Spirituality
2 Canterbury Road, Oxford OX2 6LU Tel (01865) 310 341
Director: Revd Dr Liz Carmichael, St John’s College;
Asst Director of Studies: Fr Tikhon Vasilyev, Wolfson College,
tikhon.vasilyev@wolfson.ox.ac.uk, 01865 310341
From the Director Tel (01865) 277351
Revd Dr Liz Carmichael
liz.carmichael@sjc.ox.ac.uk
September 2013
Dear Friends of St Theosevia’s,
Thank you for supporting last term’s programme, with its Study Days on the Byzantine
and Romanesque churches of southern Italy and an intriguing day of comparisons and
contrasts between the Russian Orthodox priest Fr Alexander Men and the American
Cistercian monk and writer, Thomas Merton. In addition we held an innovative and well
attended evening reception with wine, cheese, paté and talks on the Transfiguration.
This Michaelmas Term we have Study Days on 9 November on two further C20th
figures, and on 30 November on ancient and present-day Christianity in Syria.
Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov) was born in Moscow in 1896, became an
artist, moved to Paris, and in 1926 began as a monk on Mount Athos, becoming a hermit,
spiritual father, and the disciple and biographer of St Silouan. After WWII he was again in
Paris, writing theology. In 1959 he took charge of the new double monastery of monks
and nuns at Tolleshunt Knights in Essex. At first under Moscow, the monastery moved
under the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1965. When Fr Sophrony died in 1993, the
community had grown from eight to twenty-five and has since grown further.
Metropolitan Anthony Bloom was born in Switzerland in 1914, and died in
London in 2003. Settling in Paris in 1923 he qualified in medicine, and took monastic
vows secretly before working with the Resistance. In 1948 he was ordained priest, came to
England as chaplain to the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius, became Archbishop of
Sourozh in 1962 with responsibility of Great Britain and Ireland, and in 1963 Exarch of
the Moscow Patriarchate in Western Europe. An open, friendly and compelling presence,
he was widely known ecumenically as a speaker, writer and broadcaster on spirituality. His
book School for Prayer originated as talks during the Oxford University Mission in 1969.
LIZ CARMICHAEL
Newsletter subscriptions for 2013-14: Please send at least £3 (cheques to ‘St
Theosevia Trust’) to Newsletter, St Theosevia House, 2 Canterbury Rd, OX2 6LU.
• If you would like to receive newsletters and reminders by email, you can subscribe by
sending a blank email to: theosevia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
• Free tea and coffee are available at Study Days, from 10am and at lunch-time. Lunch break
is about one hour, 1-2pm. Bring packed lunch, or you can buy food nearby in North Parade.
• If you are willing to help serve coffee for a study day you will have a free place. Please
contact the Assistant Director of Studies if you would like to help in this way.

DETAILS OF EVENTS IN MICHAELMAS TERM
Saturday, 9 November, 10.30 am – 4 pm
The Spirituality and Legacies of Fr Sophrony and Metropolitan Anthony
The Very Revd Dr Nicholas V. Sakharov BA, DPhil, a priest-monk at the Monastery of St
John the Baptist, Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, will speak on the theology of Archimandrite
Sophrony, his grand-uncle. As well as numerous articles, his Oxford DPhil research on
this topic was published by SVS’s Press: I love, therefore I am. He writes: “I would want to
share some reminiscences of my personal contact with father Sophrony, to cover the main
points of his teaching and to assess his theological legacy and significance for our
orthodox spirituality.” Dr Sakharov is a Visiting Lecturer at the Institute of Orthodox
Christian Studies in Cambridge and Lecturer at the Moscow Theological Academy. His
research interests embrace the modern Orthodox Theology of Personhood, Russian
religious thought of the C19-20th, and New Testament Studies. He is a frequent key-note
speaker on the Theology of the Person.
Fr Stephen Platt will speak on Metropolitan Anthony, “teasing out theological
themes from reminiscences of personal conversations.” Finally, Metropolitan Kallistos
will draw together the two figures of Fr Sophrony and Metropolitan Anthony, comparing
and contrasting their lives and work.
Saturday, 30 November, 10.30 am – 4 pm
Christianity in Syria: Ancient Origins, Present Situation, Uncertain Future
Dr Sebastian Brock and Dr David Taylor will give the historical background and context
of Christianity in Syria. Dr Anthony O’Mahony, Director of the Centre for the Study of
Eastern Christianity, Heythrop College, London, will speak on the present situation in its
wider religious and political context; Monk Michael Oez (Syrian Orthodox) will possibly
also speak on the current situation.
Tim Bowman with Lujaina Issa will talk on the Monastery of Mar Mousa. Tim
lived for a period as a recluse attached to the monastery, which was re-founded by the
Jesuit priest, Fr. Paolo dall’Oglio, and plays an ecumenical and interfaith role. Founded in
C6th, 80 km north of Damascus, the monastery’s patron is St Moses the Abyssinian who
was, in local legend, an heir to the king of Ethiopia who abandoned his heritage and
became a monk in Egypt, the Holy Land and finally Syria where he was martyred by
Byzantine soldiers. The monastery, under the Syriac Catholic Church which formally
united with Rome in the 1780s, is a spectacular building clinging to the eastern slope of
the Anti-Lebanon. Its C11th church has frescoes dating to C11-12th. Abandoned during
the C19th, the buildings have been restored since 1984 with the assistance of the Syrian
and Italian governments, and the new monastic foundation began there in 1991.

OTHER EVENTS IN MICHAELMAS TERM
CHRISTIAN MEDITATION GROUP
The Christian Meditation Group meets on Wednesday evenings during term from 7.25pm
in St Theosevia’s (2 Canterbury Road) for a period of quiet, meditation and fellowship.
New participants welcome!
Inquiries: Brenda Newey, 792838, brendanewey@talktalk.net
THE UNICORN GROUP
An ecumenical discussion group founded by Nicholas Zernov in 1959
The meetings, open to all, are usually held on Friday lunchtimes at the House of St
Gregory & St Macrina, 1 Canterbury Road. The talks, followed by discussion, run from
1-2pm. Coffee is served from 12.30pm, packed lunches may be brought. Donations are
invited to cover costs.
Friday, 25 October: Pam Manix (Cambridge medievalist who conducts tours of Oxford’s
medieval Jewish Quarter): Jewish Oxford.
Friday, 8 November: Revd Dr William Whyte (University Lecturer, Anglican NSM at
Kidlington): The Ethics of the Empty Church.
Friday, 22 November: Rabbi Dr Norman Solomon (former Vice President of the World
Congress of Faiths): Peace and Population.
Friday, 6 December: Christmas celebration, with a talk by Revd Canon Ray Nichols
(formerly Dorchester Abbey): Christmas on the Somalia and Ethiopian Border.
Enquiries (no booking needed): Judith Baker, 07981 345125, jpbaker10@hotmail.co.uk
MEDIEVAL ARTS GROUP & BYZANTINE STUDIES CLASS
The Medieval Arts Group with Dr Nicholas Gendle will resume in Michaelmas Term on
Tuesdays at 2pm, at the House of St Gregory & St Macrina, 1 Canterbury Road. It will
focus on The Early Renaissance in Tuscany, beginning on 8 October.
The Byzantine Studies Class with Dr Gendle, on Wednesdays, 10.30am, at SS Gregory
& Macrina (new venue!), will start again on 9 October. Its focus will be Romanesque in
Normandy and England, Architecture and Art.
Enquiries: Valerie Sansom, 0118 9479471
FELLOWSHIP OF SS ALBAN & SERGIUS (OXFORD BRANCH)
Enquiries: 01865 552991, or Rebecca White, rcswhite@ntlworld.com

Seminar: The Futures of Religious Education
This seminar, based on Chater M. and Erricker C. (2012) Does Religious Education have a
Future? (Abingdon: Routledge), will look critically at the epistemic religious, sociological and
education bases of school-based Religious Education in the UK, and will draw some theological,
religious studies, pedagogical and policy lessons.
Organised by the Department of Education’s research forum on religion, education and
philosophy
Tuesday 8 October, 5.00 – 6.30pm, Department of Education, 15 Norham Gardens
Dr Mark Chater, Director, Culham St Gabriel’s Trust