The Rumi Forum presented “What Christians Can Learn from Bediuzzaman Said Nursi: A Christian Theologian in Conversation” with Ian S. Markham, Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary
Said Nursi is a remarkable Islamic thinker who lived from 1877 to 1960 in Turkey. He formulated an account of the faith that is deeply committed to education, dialogue, and non-violence. In this lecture, the Dean and Professor of Virginia Theological Seminary will argue that Christians need their own version of Said Nursi.
Ian S. Markham currently serves as Dean and President of Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia and as Priest Associate at St. Paul’s Church in Alexandria. Prior to Dean Markham’s appointment in 2007 he served as Dean and Professor of Theology and Ethics at Harford Seminary in Connecticut, and as Visiting Professor of Globalization, Ethics, and Islam at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. Dean Markham’s awards include the Robertson Fellow 2006; Teape Lecturer in India 2004; Claggett Fellow attached to Washington National Cathedral in 2000; and Frank Woods Fellow at Trinity College, Melbourne in 1997. With degrees from London, Cambridge, and Exeter Universities he is the author and editor of numerous books including: A Theology of Engagement; Truth and the Reality of God; Do Morals Matter; Understanding Christian Doctrine, and Liturgical Life Principles.
Moderator :
The Rev. Dr. Carol M. Flett, has been an Episcopal parish priest for 21 years and is the Interfaith Programs Coordinator at the Washington National Cathedral, where she sustains relations between the Cathedral and other Christian and non-Christian religious communities in the Washington DC area. She facilitates three ongoing interfaith dialogues: an Abrahamic Roundtable of Jewish, Christian and Muslim scholars and congregational leaders who meet four times a year to study the sacred texts of each tradition in response to contemporary issues such as “relations with the other” and “God’s creation”; monthly interfaith women’s book groups of lay women who read fiction and non-fiction works and discuss each other’s tradition history and practices; and interfaith dialogues between local religious leaders and international religious leaders hosted by the US Dept of State. Before coming to Washington, DC, Rev. Flett coordinated quarterly interfaith dialogues for the Massachusetts Council of Churches with the American Jewish Committee and the Islamic Society of New England.