Welcome & Keynotes
Share in the EuARe 2023 experience.
Experience the warmth and welcome of conference chairs, religious leaders, policy makers and the president of EuARe. Or catch-up on world-class keynote lectures from the five major religions.
Welcome
St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology
‘On behalf of the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology, I am particularly pleased to be able to host you in St Andrews, where alongside the week’s rich programme of academic discussions, we have planned social activities, cultural events, art installations, and services of worship which showcase the best of the town and its University.’
Dr Brendan Wolfe
Conference Chair & Principal Editor of the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology
Australian Catholic University
‘ACU, through its Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, is honoured and pleased to join with the University of St Andrews and the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology in hosting this weeklong gathering that provides an opportunity for scholars across different religious traditions and related fields of study to explore key issues inside and outside their traditions.’
Professor Peter Howard
Conference Co-Chair & Former Director of the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry, Australian Catholic University
St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews
The University of St Andrews is an ancient seat of learning. For more than six centuries we have welcomed scholars of religion to this place...On behalf of the Principal of the University, the Master of the United College of St Salvator’s, and scholars of the University it is my pleasure as Principal of St Mary’s College and Head of the School of Divinity in the University of St Andrews to welcome you all to the 2023 European Academy of Religion Conference.
Professor Oliver Crisp
Principal of St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews
Church of Scotland
Glimmer of an idea, ignited and catching fire …
Seed planted in wet, fertile soil, waiting to unfurl …
Sacred union of thought, bringing new insight to birth …
Holy means set aside for, so holy is the time set aside to listen, to learn, to evolve.
Blessed be this time.
The Right Reverend Sally Foster-Fulton
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
Prayer for the European Academy of Religion Conference
Scottish Episcopal Church
The Most Reverend Mark Strange
Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church
Tübingen Centre for Islamic Theology
‘The academic study of Islamic Theology in Europe [through conferences like EuARe] offers refreshed potential in addressing the question over the role of religion in...preserving and developing an European identity.’
Professor Ruggero Vimercati Sanseverino
Professor of Hadith Studies and Prophetic Tradition, Tübingen Centre for Islamic Theology
UK Association of Buddhist Studies
‘On behalf of UKABS and the other [partner] conferences … may we have a wonderful week of academic exploration and celebration of our disciplines in this historic and beautiful part of Scotland.’
Dr Elizabeth Harris
President of the UK Association of Buddhist Studies
UK Parliament
‘‘It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you to St Andrews and to the Sixth Conference of the European Academy of Religion … This is a really important event for me personally who does have a faith … Religion still plays an incredibly important part in our world today.’
Ms Wendy Chamberlain
Member of Parliament for North East Fife
European Academy of Religion
‘I experience it as a privilege that we as the European Academy of Religion, as a young enterprise, are hosted by such an ancient and rich institution as St Andrews. … It’s time to get to work. As President of European Academy of Religion, I declare this conference to be open.’
Professor Herman Selderhuis
President of the European Academy of Religion
Keynote Lectures
Monday, 19 June
Christianity
Enlightenment, Revelation, and the Kenotic Christ
Reverend Professor David Brown
Wardlaw Professor Emeritus of Theology, Aesthetics and Culture, University of St Andrews
In contrast to many Christian theologians, David Brown will open his lecture by praising the Enlightenment and the various benefits it has brought. Among these, it will suggested, is a more profound understanding of the kenotic Christ, of a much more radical entering into the human condition than was accepted during the patristic period. Such an evaluation, though, only becomes possible by going beyond the purely historical values of the Enlightenment into questions of imaginative truth. That insight is then applied more generally to how revelation might be understood in other religions, as much as within Christianity. The lecture then ends by considering how the view ‘from the inside’ might be encouraged in the modern university.
In contrast to many Christian theologians, David Brown will open his lecture by praising the Enlightenment and the various benefits it has brought. Among these, it will suggested, is a more profound understanding of the kenotic Christ, of a much more radical entering into the human condition than was accepted during the patristic period. Such an evaluation, though, only becomes possible by going beyond the purely historical values of the Enlightenment into questions of imaginative truth. That insight is then applied more generally to how revelation might be understood in other religions, as much as within Christianity. The lecture then ends by considering how the view ‘from the inside’ might be encouraged in the modern university.
Professor David Brown is Emeritus Professor of Theology, Aesthetics and Culture and Wardlaw Professor at the University of St Andrews. In recognition of his intellectual contributions, he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2002 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2012. His distinguished academic career began with an interest in the relationship between theology and philosophy; his scholarship has since grown to embrace broader interactions between theology and culture, especially theology and the arts. An ordained Anglican priest, Prof. Brown also writes on sacramental theology and Christian doctrinal and liturgical matters. His major works include a series of five volumes on theology and culture published by Oxford University Press: Tradition and Imagination (1999), Discipleship and Imagination (2000), God and Enchantment of Place (2004), God and Grace of Body (2007), and God and Mystery in Words (2008). In 2018, he co-authored The Extravagance of Music with Gavin Hopps (Palgrave MacMillan).In the autumn of 2023, two more works will appear: Gospel as Work of Art: Imaginative Truth and the Open Text (Eerdmans) and Learning from Other Religions (CUP).
Tuesday, 20 June
Judaism
Imagining Moses: Scenes of Liminality
Dr Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg
Independent Scholar, Jewish Biblical Interpretation
We will explore rabbinic interpretations of central scenes of Moses’ life. We will seek to understand his situation and his identity in relation to his origins, his people, his language, his God, and his destiny.
We will explore rabbinic interpretations of central scenes of Moses’ life. We will seek to understand his situation and his identity in relation to his origins, his people, his language, his God, and his destiny.
A leading light in contemporary Biblical interpretation, Dr Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg was born in London, raised in Glasgow and has lived in Jerusalem since 1969. She is the author of The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis (winner of the national Jewish Book Award), Moses: A Human Life, The Murmurung Deep: Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious as well as other books offering her reflections on Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Her teaching explores layers of meaning within the biblical narrative, incorporating readings from midrash, psychoanalysis and literary criticism. Before Covid, she lectured widely throughout the Jewish world.
Wednesday, 21 July
Buddhism
Buddhist Constructive Reflection Past and Present: Recurrent reinterpretation in meeting new cultural needs and challenges
Dr John Makransky
Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology, Boston College
Within academic the study of religion, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (also sometimes called “Buddhist theology”) has had two goals: (1) To draw on academic disciplines, together with Buddhist resources, to newly inform Buddhism in normative ways, and (2) to draw on Buddhism to address personal and social needs and to newly inform modern academic disciplines, such as philosophy, ecology, psychology, cognitive science, theories of justice, and economics. While academic work in Religious Studies is etic and descriptive, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (BCCR) draws on those etic findings, together with emic Buddhist understandings, to suggest new normative directions for Buddhism, society and academia. BCCR, then, treats Buddhism not just as a source of data for theorization in the Western academy, but as a partner in rethinking issues, questions, and disciplines. This talk will discuss the rise of BCCR in the modern academy, the needs it addresses, and how analogues of its two goals have been operative throughout Buddhist history in Asia and the West—Buddhism newly informing and affecting each culture as it is informed and affected by it. Some current applications of BCCR in light of that history will be discussed, e.g. how the doctrine of skillful means has been used both to enable and to hide such Buddhist cultural syntheses; how that suggests the need for greater intra-Buddhist and inter-religious dialogue today; how modern Buddhists are drawing on Buddhist resources together with social and natural sciences to respond to personal, social, political and environmental problems, and how that also sheds new light on Buddhism and on those disciplines. As modern Buddhism makes contributions in these ways, it also risks succumbing too much to modern assumptions and values, which may reduce its ability to offer important alternatives to them. Possible examples of this will also be noted.
Within academic the study of religion, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (also sometimes called “Buddhist theology”) has had two goals: (1) To draw on academic disciplines, together with Buddhist resources, to newly inform Buddhism in normative ways, and (2) to draw on Buddhism to address personal and social needs and to newly inform modern academic disciplines, such as philosophy, ecology, psychology, cognitive science, theories of justice, and economics. While academic work in Religious Studies is etic and descriptive, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (BCCR) draws on those etic findings, together with emic Buddhist understandings, to suggest new normative directions for Buddhism, society and academia. BCCR, then, treats Buddhism not just as a source of data for theorization in the Western academy, but as a partner in rethinking issues, questions, and disciplines. This talk will discuss the rise of BCCR in the modern academy, the needs it addresses, and how analogues of its two goals have been operative throughout Buddhist history in Asia and the West—Buddhism newly informing and affecting each culture as it is informed and affected by it. Some current applications of BCCR in light of that history will be discussed, e.g. how the doctrine of skillful means has been used both to enable and to hide such Buddhist cultural syntheses; how that suggests the need for greater intra-Buddhist and inter-religious dialogue today; how modern Buddhists are drawing on Buddhist resources together with social and natural sciences to respond to personal, social, political and environmental problems, and how that also sheds new light on Buddhism and on those disciplines. As modern Buddhism makes contributions in these ways, it also risks succumbing too much to modern assumptions and values, which may reduce its ability to offer important alternatives to them. Possible examples of this will also be noted.
John Makransky, PhD, has been Associate Professor of Buddhism and Comparative Theology at Boston College, Senior Academic Advisor for Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche’s Centre of Buddhist Studies at Rangjung Yeshe Institute in Nepal, president of the Society of Buddhist-Christian studies, and Fellow of the Mind and Life Institute. John’s academic writings focus on connections between devotion, compassion, and wisdom in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, on adapting Buddhist practices to meet contemporary minds, and on theoretical issues in interfaith learning. In the 1990s, John was one of the leaders of a scholarly movement in the American Academy of Religion to establish a unit dedicated to Buddhist Critical-Constructive Reflection (“Buddhist Theology”). John has also developed the Sustainable Compassion Training model of contemplative practice (SCT), adapted from Tibetan Buddhism, to help people of diverse faiths, and those in caring roles and professions, generate a more sustaining, expansive and unconditional power of compassion and awareness for their lives and work.
Thursday, 22 July
Islam
An Islamic Approach to Islamic Studies? Muslim Faith Commitment in the European Orientalist Sphere
Professor Lejla Demiri
Chair of Islamic Doctrine, Centre for Islamic Theology, University of Tübingen
Within academic the study of religion, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (also sometimes called “Buddhist theology”) has had two goals: (1) To draw on academic disciplines, together with Buddhist resources, to newly inform Buddhism in normative ways, and (2) to draw on Buddhism to address personal and social needs and to newly inform modern academic disciplines, such as philosophy, ecology, psychology, cognitive science, theories of justice, and economics. While academic work in Religious Studies is etic and descriptive, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (BCCR) draws on those etic findings, together with emic Buddhist understandings, to suggest new normative directions for Buddhism, society and academia. BCCR, then, treats Buddhism not just as a source of data for theorization in the Western academy, but as a partner in rethinking issues, questions, and disciplines. This talk will discuss the rise of BCCR in the modern academy, the needs it addresses, and how analogues of its two goals have been operative throughout Buddhist history in Asia and the West—Buddhism newly informing and affecting each culture as it is informed and affected by it. Some current applications of BCCR in light of that history will be discussed, e.g. how the doctrine of skillful means has been used both to enable and to hide such Buddhist cultural syntheses; how that suggests the need for greater intra-Buddhist and inter-religious dialogue today; how modern Buddhists are drawing on Buddhist resources together with social and natural sciences to respond to personal, social, political and environmental problems, and how that also sheds new light on Buddhism and on those disciplines. As modern Buddhism makes contributions in these ways, it also risks succumbing too much to modern assumptions and values, which may reduce its ability to offer important alternatives to them. Possible examples of this will also be noted.
Within academic the study of religion, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (also sometimes called “Buddhist theology”) has had two goals: (1) To draw on academic disciplines, together with Buddhist resources, to newly inform Buddhism in normative ways, and (2) to draw on Buddhism to address personal and social needs and to newly inform modern academic disciplines, such as philosophy, ecology, psychology, cognitive science, theories of justice, and economics. While academic work in Religious Studies is etic and descriptive, Buddhist critical-constructive reflection (BCCR) draws on those etic findings, together with emic Buddhist understandings, to suggest new normative directions for Buddhism, society and academia. BCCR, then, treats Buddhism not just as a source of data for theorization in the Western academy, but as a partner in rethinking issues, questions, and disciplines. This talk will discuss the rise of BCCR in the modern academy, the needs it addresses, and how analogues of its two goals have been operative throughout Buddhist history in Asia and the West—Buddhism newly informing and affecting each culture as it is informed and affected by it. Some current applications of BCCR in light of that history will be discussed, e.g. how the doctrine of skillful means has been used both to enable and to hide such Buddhist cultural syntheses; how that suggests the need for greater intra-Buddhist and inter-religious dialogue today; how modern Buddhists are drawing on Buddhist resources together with social and natural sciences to respond to personal, social, political and environmental problems, and how that also sheds new light on Buddhism and on those disciplines. As modern Buddhism makes contributions in these ways, it also risks succumbing too much to modern assumptions and values, which may reduce its ability to offer important alternatives to them. Possible examples of this will also be noted.
Friday, 23 July
Hinduism
Knowing and Thinking the Ultimate in Hindu Theology: The Issues of Transcendence and Immanence
Professor Diwakar Acharya
Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
The ultimate goal of human existence is the ultimate wellbeing and it cannot be achieved without knowing the ultimate reality, its nature, and our relationship with it. Therefore, like in any other culture, Hindu thinkers have thought about the ultimate, in various theological, metaphysical and philosophical contexts, looking at it from different perspectives. They have variously described ways of cultivating the ultimate within oneself, or reverently approaching/accessing it as the Supreme Lord/God. They have addressed questions like, ‘Is the ultimate knowable with mundane means? If it is beyond human intellect, how is it possible for us to think about it? Are there supermundane ways of engaging with it, and experiencing it?’ Along these lines, this presentation will present the issues of transcendence and immanence of the Ultimate, and also our relationship with the God/Goddess as the Ultimate personified.
The ultimate goal of human existence is the ultimate wellbeing and it cannot be achieved without knowing the ultimate reality, its nature, and our relationship with it. Therefore, like in any other culture, Hindu thinkers have thought about the ultimate, in various theological, metaphysical and philosophical contexts, looking at it from different perspectives. They have variously described ways of cultivating the ultimate within oneself, or reverently approaching/accessing it as the Supreme Lord/God. They have addressed questions like, ‘Is the ultimate knowable with mundane means? If it is beyond human intellect, how is it possible for us to think about it? Are there supermundane ways of engaging with it, and experiencing it?’ Along these lines, this presentation will present the issues of transcendence and immanence of the Ultimate, and also our relationship with the God/Goddess as the Ultimate personified.
Prof. Diwakar Acharya is the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Oxford, where he is a Fellow of All Souls College. He has previously held positions at Kyoto University, Hamburg University, and Nepal Sanskrit University. He serves as Senior Editor for the Hinduism Section of the St Andrews Encyclopaedia of Theology and is Editor in Chief of the Journal of Indian Philosophy. Prof. Acharya’s research concerns the religious and philosophical traditions of South Asia. He studies ancient and medieval texts, inscriptions, and other historical documents significant for the cultural history of the Indian sub-continent. Prof. Acharya is also interested in the critical examination of rites, rituals, and customs of the Indian religions and is a keen reader of various genres of Sanskrit literature, starting from the Vedas.