Scholar to Compare Historical Study of Muhammad and Jesus in Religious Studies Lecture at UA

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Dr. Herbert Berg, an expert on Islam and a professor in the department of philosophy and religion at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, will give a public lecture for the “Religion in Culture” Series of The University of Alabama’s department of religious studies, part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences.

His lecture, “The Historical Muhammad and the Historical Jesus: Comparing Scholarly Reinventions and Reinterpretations,” is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, April 14, in Gorgas Library Room 205. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Berg’s lecture will address ongoing work on these important figures in Islam and Christianity. Scholars of the historical Jesus and scholars of the historical Muhammad are engaged in seemingly similar activities, but they rarely look to each other to compare and evaluate their methods and theories. Such a comparison reveals that both seek to read thoroughly theological texts as historical texts, or at least ones out of which the historical facts can be rooted. Thus, both sets of scholars approach the texts with assumptions shared by the believers.

Furthermore, because of the status accorded Jesus in the development of Christianity and the contemporary relevance assigned to Jesus by scholars of the historical Jesus, these scholars also share similar goals and perspectives with believers. Berg will argue that the comparison suggests that scholars of the historical Muhammad may be fewer in number, have fewer resources, and have less sophisticated methodologies than their counterparts, but for the most part their conclusions are less theological.

Berg received his bachelor’s in religious studies and Middle East studies from the University of Waterloo in 1989. He completed his master’s and doctorate specializing in Islam at the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto in 1990 and 1996. He then taught at Middlebury College, the University of Vermont and Cornell University before coming to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in 1997. His courses, articles and books deal with two major subjects: Islam in its first few centuries and American forms of Islam.

For more information, visit www.as.ua.edu/rel/events.htm, or contact Dr. Steven Ramey at sramey@as.ua.edu or 205/348-4218.

The religious studies department is part of the College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.