Obituary
David Kerr
It was with great sadness that we in NIME received the news of the death
of our colleague professor David Kerr, Lund University. David Kerr was a
trusted colleague and an internationally renowned scholar within the field of
interreligious dialogue and Islamic-Christian relations. Prior to his last
position as professor in Missiology and Ecumenics at the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies
at Lund University, he held academic positions in England, United States and
Scotland. From 1973 to 1988 he was lecturer/senior
lecturer in Islamic studies in the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham, and director
of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim relations. From 1988
to 1996 he was appointed professor of Islamic Studies
and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary, Connecticut, USA; and from
1996 to 2005 he was professor of Christianity in the Non-Western World at the
University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He thus got only three years 2005-
The primary focus of David Kerr’s research was the relationship between
Christianity and Islam; and in books and articles he
expanded this theme within the areas of Christian-Muslim relations, Middle
Eastern Christianity and Ecumenics. He earned his
doctorate 1973 at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Oriental Studies, by a
thesis on The Temporal Authority of the Maronite Patriarchate, 1920-1958. It is first of all a historical study of the relationship between
church and state in Lebanon in a very important period. The thesis bears
witness to professor Kerr’s basic training in Middle Eastern Studies and he
upheld a lifelong interest in Middle Eastern Christianity so often overlooked
in ordinary theological discourse.
Within the area of the relationship between Christianity and Islam David
Kerr analysed both the global dimensions of the encounter and the contextual
character of their respective identities in different parts of the world. He
had a magisterial overview of the central figures in the history of Christian
mission to Islam. By providing historical perspectives on aspects of Islam and
of Christian witness amongst Muslims, David Kerr managed to shed light on the
present conflictual understanding of the relationship
between the two religions and the civilizations they have spawned. In a
situation where the socio-cultural relations between Christianity and Islam were more strained than at any time in recent history, the
author remained an advocate for peaceful convivenzia instead of construing
the Christian-Muslim encounter as a clash
of civilisations.
On several occasions David Kerr offered sound
Christian theological evaluations of Islam and Muslim evaluations of
Christianity. He was especially interested in the reinterpretation
taking place in different forms of liberation theology that he thought
could help find a way through the impasse which Christian-Muslim dialogue
reached in the late 20th century.
As the well-known director of three global
academic research centres in Birmingham, Hartford and Edinburgh David Kerr was an experienced
academic administrator. He served in various capacities as consultant to
national and international councils and directed international research
projects. Characteristically David Kerr combined his administrative with his
communicative skills. His research and teaching brought him to
many parts of the world as he was a sought after lecturer because he often
managed to combine the theoretical perspectives with reflections on practice. Finally it brought him to Sweden and we had all hoped that
David Kerr would have had a longer tenure in the Nordic area. He gave the
keynote at the NIME meeting in Finland 2007: a magisterial overview of the Missiological developments from Edinburgh 1910 to Today. Due
to his already then progressed illness he was not able
to give the lecture in person but by video link we could follow how he, with
academic vigour, struggled with his fate. The lecture will appear in print in
the next issue of Swedish Missiological Themes (SMT). The Nordic colleagues will
honour the memory of professor Kerr and continue to take inspiration from his
life and work.
Viggo Mortensen
Professor in Theology of Mission
and Ecumenics and
Director for
the Centre for Multireligious Studies, University of
Aarhus.
Chairperson for Nordic Institute
for Missiology and Ecumenics
(NIME)