Philip Lewis - author of Young British and Muslim and Islamic Britain – and Sadek Hamid – author of Sufis, Salafis and Islamists and Young British Muslims – give a public lecture on their new co-authored book British Muslims: New Directions in Islamic Thought, Creativity and Activism published in June 2018.

Nigeria with its neighbouring countries (Chad, Cameroon, and Niger) has endured a near decade (2009-till date) terrorist attacks from Boko Haram. Boko Haram is a Salafi-Jihadi group fighting to uproot Nigeria’s secular government and instate a full sharia state. Its attacks, threats and rhetoric have also been directed at international targets and symbols including its 2011 attack on the United Nations’ building in Abuja, several kidnap of foreign nationals and affiliation with other transnational terrorist organisations such as the Islamic State (IS). Since 2009, Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign has led to the death of over 20 thousand people and the displacement of over 3 million. Yet, despite its stated goal, there is very little understanding of the group’s motivation. One of the many theoretical explanations for the group’s behaviour is its anti-Western and anti-Christian disposition. For many years, especially in the early years of the terrorist campaign, churches and Christians were indiscriminately targeted by Boko Haram. However, while there remains sustained attacks on churches and Christians, the roughly equal amount of (or even more) attacks on mosques and Muslims challenges the anti-Christian narrative. It is therefore crucial to interrogate the lingering Christian-Muslim question in Boko Haram’s terrorist campaign. Is there a chance that Boko Haram’s attacks on churches and Christians are fortuitous? Are the attacks on Christians and churches distraction from Boko Haram’s original objective? Why is Boko Haram attacking mosques and Muslims? Is Boko Haram’s anti-Christian narrative justifiable? This paper attempts to answer all these questions.

Miroslav Volf’s book, Allah: A Christian Response argues that Christians and Muslims believe in and worship the same God, a claim that has generated both praise and scorn at the popular and academic levels. Although he admires Volf’s attempt, Steven argues that his book over-focuses on the immanent concepts of doctrine and practice in answering the same-God question, leaving the place of God’s transcendent action almost entirely untouched. To correct this, Steven draws from the reformed tradition of Christianity stretching through Augustine, Calvin, and Bavink to articulate a relationship between God’s transcendent action and immanent concepts of doctrine and practice. He then situates Islam therein to argue with Bruce McCormack that the same-God thesis is not something Christians should normatively believe, but it is something that they may hope.

The Second Vatican Council addressed Nostra Aetate to the subject of the relationship between Christianity and the world faiths, based on a detailed theological response from Karl Rahner, which was broadly understood as Catholic Inclusivism.

In 1977 the World Council of Churches published ‘Guidelines on Dialogue with People of Living Faiths’, which also considered the Exclusivist theological response of Karl Barth and John Hick’s Pluralism.

What was the Church of England’s response? Can it be understood within a particular theological framework? What were the ‘inter-faith issues’ which were raised for the National Church at this time?

Revd Dr Tess Kuin Lawton explores these issues using a close analysis of official documents and debates during a critical period of inter-faith awareness in the Church of England from 1966-1998, drawing conclusions for the Anglican approach to mission and diversity in the 21st century.