Embracing Hope-filled Hospitality Dr Steve Cochrane, University of the Nations The four-day visit of Pope Francis to Iraq in March 2021 was filled with indications of hope, whether in meetings with Christian communities or Muslim leaders. It was the first time in history that a pope had visited Iraq, conveying not only his own desires for a brighter future but the longings of many that have left the region in recent years as well as those remaining. The Christians of…

Note: This post accompanies the material for an online course in Christian-Muslim relations offered by staff at the University of Edinburgh. You can find more information about this course and its aims here. Many course participants expressed dismay about the issue of Christian-Muslim relations in Egypt. Comments suggested worry about the difficulties that Coptic Christians in rural areas of Egypt have faced in building churches, as well as in other areas of everyday life. This is despite the fact that the…

Note: This post accompanies the material for an online course in Christian-Muslim relations offered by staff at the University of Edinburgh. You can find more information about this course and its aims here. The third week of this course explored some of the earliest historical encounters between Christians and Muslims in the Middle East and Europe. This included a ‘virtual tour’ of contested religious sites in modern-day Turkey and Spain, but also an introduction to the history of Syriac Christianity. For…

Note: This post accompanies the material for an online course in Christian-Muslim relations offered by staff at the University of Edinburgh. You can find more information about this course and its aims here. This week’s course readings focused on the differences and similarities between the roles of Jesus Christ and the prophet Muhammad, as well as how Christians and Muslims have approached them throughout centuries of dialogue and polemic. Course participants read the differing accounts of Christ’s birth within Christian…

Note: This post accompanies the material for an online course in Christian-Muslim relations offered by staff at the University of Edinburgh. You can find more information about this course and its aims here. Participants on the course are diverse in terms of their geographic and faith background, and a mapping exercise in the course introduction helped to establish the breadth of global experience that participants bring to the course. This diversity was represented by the way that participants reflected on…

Relations with those of other faiths might once have seemed an unusual occupation. More recent times make interfaith engagement – both irenic and otherwise – a major factor in countries around the world. Far from diminishing the importance of place, the proliferation of interfaith engagements across borders means local history, politics, and expectations is as important as ever. Thus, critical engagement with Christian-Muslim Studies still requires a keen awareness of context. With that in mind, this post reflects on both…