For Immediate Release 

Princeton Seminary to Host Lecture Examining Early Divide between Christians and Muslims

—March 21 lecture by Professor Rifaat Ebied will feature his work in translating and interpreting a 14th-century exchange between Christians in Cyprus and the Muslim scholar, Ibn Abi Talib al-Dimashqi—

Princeton, NJ, March 4, 2005 – On March 21, the History Department at Princeton Theological Seminary will host Professor Rifaat Ebied’s lecture, “Muslim-Christian Polemic from the Crusades: A Muslim Theologian’s Response to Christianity.” The lecture, which will feature a Muslim-Christian interchange from the fourteenth century, will be held in the Main Lounge of the Seminary’s Mackay Campus Center at 7:00 p.m. For a map and directions, see http://www.ptsem.edu/look/maps/campusmaps.htm.

   Ebied, the Foundation Professor of Semitic Studies at the University of Sydney in Sydney, Australia, and currently a member-in-residence at the Center of Theological Inquiry, will present his work on the emergence of Muslim interfaith attitudes in the fourteenth century. When the Christian people of Cyprus wrote a letter suggesting that the Qur’an really supported Christian views, the Muslim scholar, Ibn Abi Talib al-Dimashqi, responded with arguments that formed the basis for later Muslim views of other religions.  

       “To date, we still only possess a partial knowledge of how Christians and Muslims in this period encountered and perceived each other,” said Ebied. “Similarly, we have little understanding of what actually happened between these groups and particularly the manner of arguments employed by either side in their altercations and arguments against one another.”

   Ebied’s lecture is free and open to the public. The lecture, originally scheduled for February 28, was postponed due to the inclement weather. For more information, contact Professor Kathleen McVey at 609-497-7996 or kathleen.mcvey@ptsem.edu.