Scriptural Readings and Reasonings
Philology and Religious Encounter in Medieval and Early Modern Times
At this conference we explore philology as a tool of religious encounter. ‘Scriptural readings’ and ‘scriptural reasonings’ are philological practices that establish meaning through a variety of grammatical, lexical, and historical exegetical techniques, and the modes of rational argument—reasoning—saturated with these practices.
The premise of this conference is that philological practices, as essentially comparative, inform complicated identities, and are an important tool of religious differentiation. Embedded in philological practices we find shared origins, methods, and values that cross religious divides.
The conference is organized in collaboration with the NYUAD Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World and the ERC Synergy Project ‘The European Qur’an. Islamic Scripture in European Religion and Culture, 1150-1850’.
Organised by
- Professor Jan Loop
- Professor Taneli Kukkonen
- Professor Christopher Ocker
Sign up
Sign up to: ksh@teol.ku.dk or ZOOM registration.
Monday, 9 October 2023
13.30-14.00
Welcome
Heike Omerzu (Vice Dean, Faculty of Theology, Københavns Universitet)
Christopher Ocker (Australian Catholic University; University of Redlands)
Jan Loop (Københavns Universitet)
Moderation: Jill Middlemas (Københavns Universitet)
14.00-15.00
Zvi Ben-Dor Benite (NYU, New York), Negotiating Religious Boundaries in China
15.00-16.00
Yukiyo Kasai (Ruhr Universität, Bochum) , Uyghurs’ Buddhist Traditions - Their Absorption from Chinese and Tocharian Traditions
16.00-16.30
Coffee Break
16.30-17.30
Birgit Tremml-Werner (Linnæus University, Växjö), Polite Convers(at)ions? Catholic Friars and Politeness Discourses in Early Modern Japan
Evening Dinner
Tuesday, 10 October 2023
Moderation: Saqer Almarri (Humanities Research Fellow, NYU Abu Dhabi)
9.00-10.00
Walid Saleh (University of Toronto), Commensurate Scriptures: The Qur’an and the Bible in al-Biqa`i (d. 885/1480)
10.00-11.00
Jan Loop / Paul Babinski (Københavns Universitet), ‘Pondus Veritatis – The Qur’an and the Common Ground of Philology
11.00-11.30
Coffee Break
11.30-12.30
Chris Ocker (Australian Catholic University; University of Redlands), Christian Polemic and Philology circa 1453: Juan de Segovia on Judaism and Islam.
12.30-13.30
Lunch Break
13.30-14.30
Heidrun Eichner (Universität Tübingen), Christian-Muslim Debates on God’s Attributes (ONLINE)
14.45
Transportation to David Collection
15.15-17.00
Visit to the David Collection
Evening
Dinner
Wednesday, 11 October 2023
Moderation: Daniel Maier (Københavns Universitet)
9.00-10.00
Wim François (KU Leuven), Philology and Doctrine during the 'Golden Age' of Catholic Biblical Scholarship (1550-1650)
10.00-11.00
Anna Vind (Københavns Universitet), Luther and Melanchthon: similarities and differences within Reformation Bible-interpretation?
11.00-11.30
Coffee Break
11.30-12.30
Johannes Heil (Hochschule für Jüdische Studien, Heidelberg), Philology and the Encounter between Rabbinical Judaism and the 'Other Jews' in the West (ca. 7th/8th century c.e.)
12.30-13.30
Lunch Break
Moderation: Ulisse Cecini (Universitat Autonomà de Barcelona)
13.30-14.30
Charles Burnett (The Warburg Institute, London), Letters of the Alphabet and Phonology in Spiritual Contexts
14.30-15.30
Naima Afif (Københavns Universitet), The Qur'an and Arabic Grammar in a Garshuni Manuscript
15.30-16.00
Concluding Remarks