[Visual from Inter Faith website]
To mark Inter Faith Week this year, Bath Inter Faith Group is organising a public conversation on “Science and Religion between Christianity and Islam”.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Revd Michael Beasley, is a noted epidemiologist, having for many years combined Christian ministry with a scientific career. The Imam of Bath Mosque, Dr Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour, is a renowned Islamic theologian, co-author of a recent book entitled “Science and Civilisation between Islam and Christianity”.
The event was partly inspired by the example of the mediaeval scholar Adelard of Bath (c1080-1152). Adelard is known both for his original works in natural philosophy but also for translating into Latin many important scientific works from ancient Greece, which would have been lost had they not been preserved through the centuries in Arabic versions under Islamic guardianship.
The event will be held on Thursday 14 November, at 7.30pm at the Church of St Michael’s Without, Broad Street, Bath BA1 5LJ. Doors open and refreshments are available from 7pm. All are welcome but, as space is limited, booking via Eventbrite is recommended.
The speakers
The Rt Revd Michael Beasley is the 80th Bishop of Bath and Wells and was installed in Wells Cathedral on 12th November 2022. He grew up in rural Staffordshire and was educated in Stafford before studying biology and epidemiology at Imperial College, London and Oxford University.
Bishop Michael trained for ministry at Cranmer Hall, Durham, before being ordained in the Diocese of Lichfield in 1999. For many years he combined Christian ministry with a scientific career. The latter involved working with a research group based in the Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College that enabled programmes in low income countries designed to improve the health and education of school aged children. In 2015, he became the Bishop of Hertford in the Diocese of St Albans before coming to Bath and Wells.
Dr Mohamed Gamal Abdelnour, as well as being Imam at the Bath Mosque, is a faculty member at Al-Azhar University (Cairo) and a research fellow at the University of Bristol, U.K. He holds an MA in Catholic Theology (Durham University, U.K.) and a PhD in Comparative Religion (SOAS University of London). He is the author of The Higher Objectives of Islamic Theology (Oxford University Press, 2022) and a co-author of Science and Civilization between Islam and Christianity (2024).
Bath Inter Faith Group, established in 1990, has the following key aims:
- Provide opportunities for people of all faiths or none to meet together in fellowship, and gain knowledge, understanding and respect for each other;
- Celebrate the diversity of religions in Bath and the surrounding district;
- Demonstrate dialogue among religions in Bath and the surrounding district;
- Enrich the spiritual life of Bath and the surrounding district by promoting harmony between people of different faiths;
- Encourage public bodies, including Council, health and educational institutions, to reflect interfaith principles in their policies and actions;
- Act as a resource-centre for information about local faith communities.
The special guests will include the Inter Faith Group’s two patrons: the Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, represented by Deputy Lieutenant Mrs Jane Sedgman, and the Mayor of Bath, Cllr Michelle O’ Doherty. Messages of support have been received from both Wera Hobhouse, MP for Bath, and Dan Norris, MP for North-East Somerset and Hanham: both regretted they had other engagements.
Inter Faith Week takes place in the UK every year from Remembrance Sunday to the following Sunday. Until 2023 it was run by the Inter Faith Network which was wound up earlier this year. More information at www.interfaithweek.org.
