Richard McCallum
I am the director of the Solomon Academic Trust and the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies in Oxford, as well as being an associate member of the Faculty of Theology and Religion at the University of Oxford and a stipendiary tutor at Wycliffe Hall. My research interests lie in the contemporary encounter of Christians and Muslims in society, especially in the UK, within the framework of the sociology of religion.
I am a practising Christian whose faith and family roots lie in the Evangelical tradition and I seek to follow Jesus in my personal life, in my academic work and in the community. Before engaging in academic research, I was involved in church leadership, and I remain active in my local church. Yet, as for many others, I have reservations about the stereotypes and political associations attached to the Evangelical label today.
Having taught in Tunisia for several years, I have many Muslim friends and colleagues and am on occasion embarrassed by Evangelical statements and extremes with respect to Islam. My experiences among both Evangelicals and Muslims definitely inform my writing.
This book is intended for an academic audience, although my hope is that practitioners and leaders involved in the Christian-Muslim encounter will also benefit from it. I do not seek to pronounce judgement on different Evangelical responses and attitudes, although my views inevitably emerge in the discussion. Rather, my aim in writing is to give academics – Christians, especially Evangelicals, Muslims and others too – an insight into the discourse within the Evangelical public sphere as it wrestles with issues related to Islam.
My interest in Islam grew whilst living and teaching in Tunis, North Africa for 10 years and, on my return, my doctorate explored Christian responses to Islam in the British context following 9/11. I was then based at the University of Exeter where I taught the Sociology of Religion. I now provide teaching for Wycliffe Hall on Islam and Christian-Muslim Engagement and have taught Contemporary Islam, Christian-Muslim Relations and Christian Responses to Islam at various colleges and conferences in addition to providing freelance intercultural training to industry and the public sector.
I am the founder and director of the Oxford Muslim-Christian Summer School and am interested in the evaluation of recent inter-faith initiatives and the teaching of Islam in Christian seminaries.
I live in Oxford with my wife Heather and we have a daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren.
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