The Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture

DR ANTHONY G. REDDIE, DIRECTOR OF THE OXFORD CENTRE FOR RELIGION AND CULTURE

The Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture was fortunate this year to launch two books commissioned by the Dialogue Society, a partner of the Centre: Fethullah Gülen’s Teaching and Practice: Inheritance, Context and Interactive Development and Paul Weller’s Hizmet in Transitions: European Developments of a Turkish Muslim-Inspired Movement. These books were launched at a symposium at Regent’s.

The centre hosted a four-part seminar series on the theme of ‘Religious Dialogue.’ Dr Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor presented ‘Muslims on Dialogue’, Jeremy Rodell on ‘Humanists and Dialogue’, Professor Michael Taylor on ‘Christians and Dialogue’, and Rabbi Jackie Tabick on ‘Jews and Dialogue.’ The series then concluded with a group discussion between each of the series’ speakers.

In the Michaelmas Term the Centre and the College came together to launch my latest book, entitled Introducing James H. Cone. It explores the singular importance of James H. Cone to the development of Black Theology as an intellectual movement and discipline. It outlines the historic significance of Cone as arguably the greatest theologian of the twentieth century, and offers a thematic and historical assessment of Cone’s legacy, from his first book Black Theology and Black Power in 1969 through to his final intellectual autobiography Said I wasn’t Gonna Tell Nobody in 2018. In nearly 50 years of published work, James Cone redefined the intent of academic theology and defined a whole new movement in intellectual thought. The launch was attended by around 50 people, kicking off the new academic year.

The OCRC was also pleased to run another seminar series, exploring ‘Peacemaking and Peacebuilding.’ This was run in conjunction with the Bruderhof society. Bruderhof are a radical Anabaptist movement who have created a number of intentional Christian communities in which all capital, financial and human resources are shared in a spirit of radical solidarity and equality. Our speakers included academics and practitioners, some reflecting on the practical challenges of undertaking peacebuilding work, while others were concerned with scholarly reflections on some of the theoretical dynamics of peace making. The series was inspired and informed by Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine.