CURRICULUM VITAE

MARTIN FORWARD

PERSONAL DETAILS

Address: Dr Martin Forward, Aurora University, 347 South Gladstone Avenue, Aurora, Illinois 60506-4892 Tel. (630) 844 6535; Fax: (630) 844 5242 E-mail: [email protected]

Current Positions Executive Director of the Wackerlin Center for Faith and Action; Wackerlin Chair of : Aurora University

ACADEMIC DEGREES

PhD 1995 University of Bristol MLitt 1982 University of Lancaster (with distinction) BA (II.I) 1975 Theology and Religious Studies, BA (II.I) 1973 History, University of Manchester

EDUCATION

1990-95 University of Bristol: part-time PhD student, Dept of Theology and Religious Studies 1977-82 University of Lancaster: part-time MLitt student, Dept of Religious Studies 1979 University of London, SOAS: intensive course in Urdu 1975-77 University of Osmania, Hyderabad, : part-time student in Islamic Studies, Urdu and Arabic 1973-75 University of Cambridge, Fitzwilliam College: affiliated student 1970-73 University of Manchester: undergraduate 1957-70 Primary and secondary education in Singapore, the Isle of Man, Aden and England

LANGUAGES

English, French, Urdu Reading knowledge of Arabic, Latin, New Testament Greek

HONOURS AND AWARDS

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1998 August-September: Smuts Memorial Scholarship to visit Cape Town and Johannesburg, South

1991 Honorary member of the Islamic Association of Singapore

1975 World Council of Churches’ scholarship to study in India

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE

Full-time Employment

1995-2001 Academic Dean, Wesley House, Cambridge Member of the Cambridge University Faculty of Divinity; and of its Religious Studies Committee and Doctrine Committee Founder Director, Centre for the Study of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge 1988-95 Director of Inter-Faith Relations, Methodist Church 1982-88 Methodist Minister, Leicester (Trinity) circuit 1977-82 Methodist Minister, West London Mission. Methodist Chaplain, University of London. Free-Church Chaplain, National Heart and Middlesex hospitals 1975-77 Fraternal worker, Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies, Hyderabad, India

Academic Positions

1995-2001 Member of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity 1995-96 Lecturer and examiner on ‘An Introduction to the Life, Thought, and Worship of ’, in the University of Cambridge’s Oriental Studies Faculty 1994-95 Lecturer in the Philosophy of , University of Derby (part-time) 1991-95 Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol (part-time) 1989-90 Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Dept of Religious Studies, University of Leicester (part-time) 1987-93 Part-time lecturer for the East Midlands Ministerial Training Course

RESEARCH INTERESTS

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Current Research

Jewish-Christian Relations. The opening of the Centre for the Study of Jewish- Christian Relations in Cambridge led me to reflect more deeply on the history between the two faiths, to discover positive links as well as a ‘history of contempt’. Islam, especially Islamic Modernism in South Asia. Religion in Contemporary India: spirituality or social responsibility? Theological and other ‘touching points’ between : questions of truth and dialogue, spirituality, justice and peace.

Research Completed Earlier

My initial research work led to an MLitt on the life and work of Syed Ameer Ali (1849- 1928), the first writer of a biography of the Prophet Muhammad in English, a high court judge in Bengal and the first Indian member of the Privy Council. This has been published, in revised form, as The Failure of Muslim Modernism?

My PhD work was on the life and work of Geoffrey Parrinder (1910-2005), the distinguished scholar of religious studies. As a Methodist student of that discipline, I was intrigued to discover how he, a Methodist minister, responded to the fact of religious diversity. Thereby, I hoped to be able to articulate my own responses in as clear and eirenic a way as he has done. This has been published, in revised form, as A Bag of Needments.

My travels, courtesy of international conferences and working for the BBC World Service, have interested me in how people reflect on their own faith in the context of a religiously plural world. This led me to edit a book called Ultimate Visions, whose contributors were: Raficq Abdalla, John Berthrong, Marcus Braybrooke, Dan Cohn- Sherbok, David Craig, Lily de Silva, Voyce Durling-Jones, Asghar Ali Engineer, Mary Pat Fisher, Metropolitan Paulos Mar Gregorios, Elizabeth Harris, Jocelyn Hellig, Monika Hellwig, Frank Kaufmann, Julius Lipner, Eric Lott, Gerrie Lubbe, Wendy Momen, Daleep Mukarji, Anantanand Rambachan, S.N. Rao, Saba Risaluddin, Jyoti Sahi, Mohinder Singh, Ninian Smart, Robert Stockman, Karma Lekshe Tsomo, and William Montgomery Watt. The foreword is by Archbishop .

TEACHING

I have taught at the universities of Leicester, Bristol, Derby and Cambridge; and for Anglia Polytechnic University. At undergraduate level, the subjects have included: An Introduction to Islam Modernist Movements in Islam Islam in Britain Jewish-Christian Relations Truth and Dialogue An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion

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An Introduction to the Study of Religion The Study of Theology - Wesley Texts

In Bristol, I supervised a number of third year dissertations. One student has proceeded to doctoral research in Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London; and others have pursued research related to Islamic Studies in the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol.

As a member of Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity, I lectured in the Faculty of Divinity on ‘Jewish-Christian Relations’ and on ‘Wesley Texts’. I led seminars on themes in the History and the Methodology of the Study of Religion for the new one-year MPhil degree.

Under the modular systems at Anglia Polytechnic University, I offered MA units on: Pastoral Theology in History and Practice Jewish-Christian Relations Jewish and Christian Biblical Interpretation African and Asian Perspectives on Mission and Dialogue Jewish-Christian Relations: The Foundations and their Contemporary Relevance Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust

I have participated in academic conferences on inter-faith subjects in: France, Germany, , Canada, the USA, the , the Russian Federation, South Korea, and India. In two cases, I moderated groups at these conferences, and have prepared five papers in all.

Examinerships

Higher Degrees: I have acted as external examiner for PhDs at: Edinburgh University, Madurai Kamaraj University (Tamil Nadu, India) and UNISA (The University of South Africa, Pretoria); and for an MA by research at Birmingham University. I have acted as an assessor for students at the end of the first year of their doctoral research at Cambridge University.

Examiner for MTh and MPhil: Westminster College, Oxford (1995-99); and Cambridge University (1995-2001).

Examiner for BA: From 1996 to 2000, I was a supervisor, examiner and assessor for Part I, Prelims and Part II of the Theological and Religious Studies Tripos in Cambridge University (including third year dissertations on many aspects of world religions). The subjects were:

Paper 13 Problems of Truth and Dialogue in Religion Paper 20 Study of Theology Paper 26 The Religious Traditions of India: Hinduism and Buddhism

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Paper 27a The Concept of the Legal System in Judaism Paper 27b An Introduction to the Life, Thought, and Worship of Islam Paper 36b Christian and Jewish Responses to the Holocaust

I have also examined at undergraduate level for the Universities of Leicester and Derby.

SPECIAL LECTURES

2002 December. Teape Lectures in India.

1999 January and February. Teape Seminars in Cambridge University’s Faculty of Divinity on the theme of The Divine in Human Form in India. The two lectures were entitled ‘Jesus in India: an Oriental Christ?’; and, ‘Seeing the Divine in India: A Body of Faith and Love’.

1998 August. Three lectures to the Vacation Term for Biblical Study on the theme Words of God?: ‘Holy Books’; ‘Wholly Other?’; and, ‘Scriptures in Inter-Faith Dialogue’.

1993 October. A lecture to academics at the University of Durban and thereafter to the University of the Witwatersrand, ‘The Content and Ethos of Religious Education in a Plural Society’.

1992 August. A lecture, ‘Christian and Muslim Relations in Contemporary Britain’, read to the Islamic Association of Singapore.

1991 May. A lecture, ‘African Traditional Religion: A Christian Theological or an Anthropological Construct?’, at Anglican and Methodist Theological Seminaries in Umuahia, Nigeria.

1989 December. A lecture, ‘Christians in Dialogue with People of Other Faiths’, at the Tao Fong Shan Study Centre, Hong Kong.

1988 November. A lecture, ‘The Quest of the Historical Muhammad’, to staff and student members of the Department of History in the University of the Punjab, Lahore, .

1985 A lecture read to the Abu’l Kalâm Azâd Institute, Hyderabad, India, on ‘The Role of Women in the Islamic Thought of Syed Ameer Ali’.

ADMINISTRATION

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I run the new Wackerlin Center for Faith and Action at Aurora University. I am responsible for offering educational opportunities in the area of faith and action.

I was Acting Principal of Wesley House for six months in 1997, in charge of the college property, and responsible for formal links with the Methodist Church through the Trustees of the college. As Dean, I was responsible for determining which academic course each Methodist ordinand should take as part of their ministerial training, and for arranging their registration, the payment of fees and their academic supervision. These courses include, inter alia: Cambridge University CTM (Certificate of Theology for Ministry), the BTh (Bachelor of Theology for Ministry), the BA in Theology and Religious Studies, and MPhil. (I acted as secretary of the CTM and BTh committees.) MA courses at Anglia Polytechnic and Sheffield Universities PhD courses at the Universities of Bristol and Leeds

With Edward Kessler, the Executive Director, I founded the Centre for the Study of Jewish Christian Relations, an associate member of the Cambridge Theological Federation. In particular, we initiated the following developments: Location of suitable premises in Wesley House Organisation, content and validation of an MA in Jewish Christian Relations, and of MPhil and PhD programmes, awarded by Anglia Polytechnic University Appointment of part-time staff for the following responsibilities: secretarial work, teaching, fund-raising, IT and computer maintenance Appointment of a Junior Research Fellow in Jewish and Christian Responses to the Holocaust Appointment of Trustees and an Academic Advisory Committee Interviewing prospective students (in our first year, we had ten students, aged from 23 years to 78 years) A programme of distance learning, now available on the internet (vide: www.cam.net.uk/home/cjcr/index.html) A regular programme of seminars Fund-raising initiatives Locating scholarships for students from the Russian Orthodox Church, from Poland and from Links with the Council of Christians and Jews A major conference from 5-7 September 1999 on ‘Setting The Agenda: The Future of Jewish-Christian Relations’. Keynote Speakers: Rabbi Professor Marc Saperstein, and Revd Dr Remi Hoeckman

I am: joint editor of a series of published papers: Themes in Jewish Christian Relations A member of the editorial board for a series of books in Jewish Christian Relations, to be published by Cambridge University Press

As the first-ever Director of Inter-Faith Relations for the Methodist Church, I:

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produced an occasional bulletin called Connexions, distributed to over 400 people of many faiths, all over the world organised seminars and conferences. I visited many places in Britain to talk with people of Christian and other faith about how we might co-operate for the common good travelled to Hong Kong, the USA, Canada, Korea, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Bangla Desh and Singapore to establish networks with individuals and institutions of many faiths prepared a report to the 1994 annual governing body of the church, the Methodist Conference, on Principles for Dialogue and Evangelism: A Methodist reflection on the Inter Faith Network’s ‘Code of Conduct’

Although the Methodist Church has cut back much of its work, for financial reasons, it recognised the importance of my work, and appointed Dr Elizabeth Harris as my successor.

MEMBERSHIP

Committees Consultant, Abrahamic Forum of the International Council of Christians and Jews (2002-) Steering Committee, Cambridge Summer School in Contemporary Methodist Theology and Practice (since 1999) SCM Press Editorial Group (1998-2000) Academic Advisory Board and Trustee, Centre for Jewish-Christian Relations (since 1997) Steering Committee, Remembering For The Future 2000, an international conference to be held in Oxford in July 2000 on ‘Jewish-Christian Relations’ Board, formerly the Executive, of the Council of Christians and Jews (1997-1999) Secretary, Cambridge Committee for Christian Work in Delhi (1996-2000) Teape Sub-Committee (1995-2001) Consultant, Council of Churches for Britain and Ireland’s Commission for Inter-Faith Relations (1991-95) Founder-Secretary, Leicester Council of Faiths (1985-87; thereafter consultant until 1992) Theological Issues Consultative Group, British Council of Churches’ Committee for Relations with People of Other Faiths (from its beginnings in 1978 to 1995; secretary from 1981 to 1988)

Professional Bodies and Societies London Society for the Study of Religions (until 1999) British Association for the Study of Religions (until 1996) Royal Asiatic Society (since 1990)

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American Academy of Religion (since 1999)

CONSULTANCY WORK FOR PUBLISHERS

Reader of manuscripts for: Oneworld SCM International Sacred Literature Trust Routledge

ASSOCIATION WITH JOURNALS

Discernment Member of Editorial Board (1990-95) Areopagus (Tao Fong Shan Study Centre, Hong Kong) Editor in England (1990-97) Al-Mushir (Christian Study Centre, Pakistan) Consultant in England (1984-94) Bulletin of the Henry Martyn Institute of Islamic Studies (India) Editor in England (1977-95)

BOOK REVIEWS

Numerous book reviews and review articles for:

AREOPAGUS BULLETIN OF THE HENRY MARTYN INSTITUTE OF ISLAMIC STUDIES CURRENT DIALOGUE EPWORTH REVIEW EXPOSITORY TIMES INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN DIGEST ISLAM AND CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS METHODIST RECORDER MODERN BELIEVING REVIEWS IN RELIGION AND THEOLOGY ISLAM AND CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS WORSHIP AND PREACHING WORLD FAITHS FORUM

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LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

MARTIN FORWARD

BOOKS

Contracted (editor with Scott Alexander, Marcia Hermansen and Rashied Omar) A Dictionary of Christian-Muslim Relations, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, to be published in 2012

Contracted Area editor for ‘The Bible in Other Religions and in Current Religious Movements’ of the 30 volume Encyclopaedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter

2008 The Nature and the Name of Love: religion for the contemporary world, Peterborough: Epworth

2001 Inter-Religious Dialogue: An Introduction, Oxford: Oneworld

2001 Religion: A Beginner’s Guide, Oxford: Oneworld (Russian and Spanish – Mexican - translations)

2000 (editor with White, S. and Plant, S.) A Great Commission: Christian Hope and Religious Diversity, Berne: Peter Lang

1999 The Failure of Muslim Modernism?, Berne: Peter Lang

1998 Jesus: A Short Biography, Oxford: Oneworld (German translation, Verlag Herder: Freiburg; Portuguese translation, Editora Cultrix Ltda, São Paulo. Russian translation: Fair Press Publishing)

1998 A Bag of Needments, Berne: Peter Lang

1997 Muhammad: A Short Biography, Oxford: Oneworld (German translation, Verlag Herder: Freiburg; Malaysia and Singapore English edition, S. Abdul Majeed & Co: Kuala Lumpur. Russian translation: Fair Press Publishing)

1995 (ed) Ultimate Visions, Oxford: Oneworld

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BOOKLETS

1998 Gods, Guides and Gurus, Swansea: John Penri Press Subtitled ‘Theological Reflections on Travels with my Aunt’, the Sir David James Lecture delivered on 4 March 1998 at the University of Wales, Bangor

1995 (ed) The New Age Movement, Peterborough: Methodist Press

1988 (ed) God of all Faith, London: Methodist Home Mission Division

CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOOKS

2006 ‘Replacing Replacement Theology: A Fresh Look at Relationships between the Abrahamic Faiths’, in Stephens, A. and Walden, R., (eds.) For the Sake of Humanity: Essays in Honour of Clemens N. Nathan, Leiden: Brill, 63-76

2006 ‘Jewish-Christian Relations in the Interfaith Encounter’, in Aitken, J.K. and Kessler, E. (eds.) Challenges in Jewish-Christian Relations, Mahwah: Paulist Press, 218-242

2005 ‘Gateway Article on Other Faiths’, ‘New Age Movement’, ‘New Religious Movements’, Traditional Religions’, ‘Zoroastrianism’, in Bowden, J. (ed) : A Complete Guide, Edinburgh: Continuum/T&T Clark.

2005 ‘Jesus’, ‘India’, ‘Islam’, ‘Methodism’, in Kessler, E. and Wenborn, N. (eds.), A Dictionary of Jewish-Christian Relations, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press

2005 ‘Paganism’, in Fahlbusch, E. (ed), The Encyclopedia of Christianity vol. 4, Grand Rapids, Eerdmans

2003 ‘Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?’: a Christian spiritual theology for dialogue with Muslims’, Thomas, D. with Amos, C. (eds), A Faithful Presence: essays for Kenneth Cragg, London, Melisende, 371-383

2002 ‘Postlude’, Kessler, E., Pawlikowski, J., and Banki, J., (eds), Jews and Christians in Conversation: Crossing Cultures and Generations, Cambridge, Orchard, 2002.

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2000 ‘Culture, Religious Faiths, and Race’, Woodward, J. and Pattison, S. (eds), The Blackwell Reader in Pastoral and Practical Theology, Oxford, Blackwell, 248-256

1998 ‘Faith in the Future?: Islam and Postmodernity’, King, U. (ed), Faith and Praxis in a Postmodern Age, London: Cassell, 128-145

1998 ‘Orientalism and the Study of Each Other’, Bryant, M.D. and Ali, A. (eds), Muslim-Christian Dialogue: Promise and Problems, St Paul MN: Paragon House, 133-148

1995 ‘Pure Universal Love Thou Art’, McQuiban, T. (ed), Pure Universal Love: Reflections on the Wesleys and Inter-faith Dialogue, Oxford: Applied Theology Press, 47-61

1994 ‘Islam’, Holm, J. with Bowker, J. (eds) Worship, London and New York: Pinter, 91-115

1994 ‘Islam’, Holm, J. with Bowker, J. (eds), Human Nature and Destiny, London and New York: Pinter, 91-115

1994 ‘Islam’, Holm, J. with Bowker, J. (eds), Myth and History, London and New York: Pinter, 97-118

1994 ‘Islam’, Holm, J. with Bowker, J. (eds), Sacred Writings, London and New York: Pinter, 101-124

1994 ‘Islam’ (with Mohammed Alam), Holm, J. with Bowker, J. (eds) Attitudes to Nature, London and New York: Pinter, 79-100

1992 ‘A Christian Perspective’, Horton, J. and Crabtree H. (eds), Toleration and Integrity in a Multi-Faith Society, University of York: Politics Department, 12-18

1990 ‘How do you read?: The Scriptures in ’, Phan P. (ed), Christianity and the Wider Ecumenism, New York: Paragon House, 103-115

1985 ‘Methodists and Other Faiths’, Pickford, D. (ed) The Future of Methodism - Approaching End or New Beginning?, Birmingham: NACCCAN, 10-12

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ARTICLES

2005/6 ‘Clash of Civilizations, or a Dialogue of Heart?’, and ‘A Global Ethic’, Dialogue & Alliance, 19/2, 11-13, 39-46

2005 ‘A Global Ethic?’, Epworth Review, 32/4, 8-15

2002 ‘Donald Sopers for the 21st Century?’, Epworth Review, 29/1, 32- 38

2000 ‘Methodist Theology among the Religions in the Twenty-first Century’, Epworth Review, 27/I, 94-102

1997 ‘Preparing for One World Week’, Expository Times, 108/11, 331- 334

1995 ‘Understanding Islam’, Expository Times, 106/10, 299-302

1995 ‘Ameer Ali: bridge-builder?’, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, CSIC, June, 45-62

1994 ‘Ruth and Naomi: A Sermon for a Plural Society’, Discernment, New Series 1:2, 24-28

1994 (ed.) ‘Many Faiths, One World: the Urgency for Inter-faith Dialogue’, a special edition of the Indo-British Review: a Journal of History, September. Contributors include (among others): Lionel Blue, Kenneth Cragg, Bhagwant Singh Dalawari, Sona Khan, Ursula King, Jonathan Magonet, Albert Nambiaparambil, Geoffrey Parrinder, Anantanand Rambachan, Ralph Russell and Israel Selvanayagam. My own contribution was entitled ‘The Christian Scriptures: Readings for a World of Many Faiths’ (71- 81)

1994 ‘The Struggle for Identity: Christians, Sikhs and Dalits in India’, Areopagus, 7/3, 17-21

1994 ‘Jews and Parsees: Refugees in South Asia’, Areopagus, 7/1, 13-16

1993 ‘Jains and Buddhists: Heretics of Hinduism?’, Areopagus, 6/4, 14- 17

1993 ‘Gods, Guides and Gurus’, Areopagus, 6/3, 37-41

1992 ‘Salvation! O the Joyful Sound?’, Expository Times, 104/I , 6-9

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1992 ‘Sermon Notes for Preachers’, Worship and Preaching, 22/3, 120- 136

1991 ‘The Decade of Evangelism: Evangelism and People of Other Faiths’, Expository Times, 102/7, 197-200

1990 ‘The Land of Spices: South Asian Reflections’, Indo-British Historical Review, XVIII/I, 83-94

1990 ‘The Reconciling Spirit and Mission in the Context of Religious Pluralism’, International Review of Mission, LXXIX/316, 461-469

1989 ‘Inter-Faith Bibliography’, Current Dialogue, 16, 34-40

1989 ‘The pastor’s opportunities XXIII. Through another’s eyes’, Expository Times, 100/6, 208-212

1988 ‘Legacy of Empire’, Discernment, 3:I, 3-9

1988 ‘The pastor’s opportunities: XII. Christian relationships with people of other faiths’, Expository Times, 99/6, 164-168

1986 ‘Greeted with a Warm Embrace: Reflections on Two Weeks in a Pakistani Village’, Discernment, I:I, 19-22

1985 ‘Pilgrimage: Luke/Acts and the World of Religions’, King’s Theological Review, VIII/I, 9-11

1984 ‘The New Testament and Non-Christian Religions’, Epworth Review, 11/2, 59-65

1981/1982 ‘Sermon Notes for Preachers’, Worship and Preaching: II/I, 10-31; II/2, 12-32; II/3, 15-36; II/4,18-37; II/5, 22-43; II/6, 13-34; I2/I, 10-28; I2/2, 8-27; I2/3, 12-30; I2/4, 11-28

NON-PRINT MEDIA

1996 September and December. Travel (to Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and the USA,), research for, and presentation of a BBC World Service Radio series on ‘The ’ (broadcast in February and March 1997). This examined that group, in its varied manifestations, in the major world religions, and in some other expressions of faith

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1993 BBC World Service programme on ‘The Dalits’

1992 Travel to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, and research for, and presentation of, a BBC World Service Radio series called ‘Gods, Guides and Gurus: Religions of South Asia’

1988-1998 Regular broadcasts for the BBC World Service Religions Department: including a number of editions of ‘In Praise of God’ and ‘Pause for Thought’

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