Abstract
Second Annual Terence Nichols Memorial Symposium
It’s often said that learning about another religion can deepen your own faith. However, this lecture will address a different but related phenomenon: when your faith is deepened because an aspect of your own religion has been illuminated by an outsider’s perspective. In this lecture, Dr. George-Tvrtković will share examples of how Muslim students’ insights about Benedict’s Rule and Aquinas’ Summa have helped Catholics understand their own Christian tradition better.
Rita George-Tvrtković (PhD, University of Notre Dame) is associate professor of theology at Benedictine University in suburban Chicago, where she specializes in medieval and contemporary Christian-Muslim relations. Her books include A Christian Pilgrim in Medieval Iraq: Riccoldo da Montecroce’s Encounter with Islam (Brepols, 2012); Christians, Muslims, and Mary: A History (Paulist Press, 2018); and a co-edited volume, Nicholas of Cusa and Islam: Polemic and Dialogue in the Late Middle Ages (Brill, 2014). Her articles have appeared in Theological Studies, Medieval Encounters, Catholic Historical Review, and America. She is former associate director of the Archdiocese of Chicago's Office for Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs.
Dr. Terence Nichols, former chair of the Department of Theology, was co-director of the Muslim Christian Dialogue Center on the campus of the University of St. Thomas from 2007 until his untimely death in 2014. For the greater part of his life, Terry put his heart and soul into dialogue with Muslims. We dedicate this yearly lecture series to his memory.
Sponsored by the Theology Department's Theological Encounters Program: Encountering Islam in collaboration with the Jay Phillips Center. To make an accessibility request, call Disability Resources at (651) 962-6315.