Tue 18 Mar: Images of Jesus in Art and Poetry- Jesus through the eyes of other faiths
This is the second of five talks for Lent arranged by Churches Together in Charlbury on the theme 'Images of Jesus in Art and Poetry'. They will be held on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm in St Mary's Parish Church.
The speaker this week is the Rev Dr Nick Wood, former Dean and Fellow in Religion and Culture at Regent's Park College in the University of Oxford. Dr Wood studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. As a Baptist minister he was the Vice-Moderator of the Commission on Baptist Muslim Relations of the Baptist World Alliance and from 2015-2020 served in the same role on the revised Commission for Interfaith Relations. He is honorary Vice-President of the Christian Muslim Forum (England) and until recently served as a member of the Baptist Union of Great Britain's inter-faith working group.
He will be speaking about Jesus from the perspective of non-Christian faiths. For example, in Islam, Jesus is believed to be the penultimate prophet and messenger of God before Muhammad. Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is also called a Muslim who preached that his followers should adopt the 'straight path'. He is attributed with a vast number of miracles in Islamic tradition. Hindus also revere Jesus. The Sanskrit word acharya means 'one who teaches by example'. For Hindus, Christ is an acharya. They say his example is a light to any of us in this world who want to take up the serious practice of spiritual life. We may be surprised by the respect in which Jesus is held by other faiths and what they learn from his life and teaching.
There is no charge for admission but donations will be gratefully received towards expenses. Please arrive in good time for a prompt start to the talk at 7.30pm. There will be opportunity for questions and the meeting will finish by 9pm.