The Watanabe Lecture
and Symposium on Cusanus, the Qur’an,
and the Cribratio Alkorani
September 29-30, 2018
United Lutheran Seminary
(New Name, Same Location)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 17325
In Cooperation with the American Cusanus Society and the International
Seminar on Pre-Reformation Theology
Watanabe Lecturer: Walter Andreas Euler, Trier
Banquet program: Cabaret Night with Broadway’s Bruce Moore
In addition to the annual Watanabe Lecture, we gather for a symposium focusing on the Cribratio Alkorani (1460-61), Cusanus’ detailed critique of the Qur’an. Here Nicholas undertakes a project unique in the fifteenth century: to discern Gospel truths within the Qur’an itself. We shall discuss this project within Cusanus’ career and alongside works by his contemporaries and later thinkers.
This symposium, as well as several previous Gettysburg Conferences and the Bond-Watanabe Collection, now one of the largest Cusanus collections in the United States, is made possible by the Kiyomi Koizumi Watanabe Fund in memory of Morimichi Watanabe. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge financial support from the American Cusanus Society and facilities and staff assistance from our host, United Lutheran Seminary.
PROGRAM (Tentative)
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 (for early arrivals)
3:30 p.m. Battlefield Tour Valentine Commons
5:30 p.m. Social Hour Singmaster Center
7:00 p.m. Dinner (on our own) Appalachian Brewing Company
Singmaster residents: Gather in the foyer, 6:45 p.m.
Motel guests: restaurant is two doors north.
9:00 p.m. Social Hour Singmaster Center
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
8:30 to 9:30 a.m. On campus guests: Breakfast on our own
Motel guests: In the motel
9:30 to noon Registration and Refreshments Valentine Commons/ Coffee Shop
10:45 a.m. Session I
Chair: John Monfasani, SUNY University at Albany
Cusanus, the Qur’an, and the Cribratio Alkorani
“Cusanus’ Use of Qur'an in Cribratio” or “The Missionary Purpose of Cribratio” Pim Valkenberg, Catholic University of America
“Cribratio’s Connections to The Religious Concordance” Joshua Hollmann, Concordia College, New York
“A New Set of Glosses on the Qur’an” José Martinez Gázquez, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona
12:00 p.m. Lunch Refectory
1:30 p.m. Session II Library Lecture Room Chair:
Contemporaries of Cusanus
“Did Nicholas of Cusa Talk to Muslims? Revisiting Cusanus’ Sources for Cribratio Alkorani and Interfaith Dialogue” Maarten Halff, United Nations, New York
“John of Segovia I” Anne Marie Wolf, University of Maine at Farmington
“John of Segovia II” Jesse Mann, Drew University
3:00 p.m. Coffee Break Coffee Shop
3:30 p.m. The 2018 Watanabe Lecture Valentine Auditorium
Chair: Donald F. Duclow, Gwynedd Mercy University
“Nicholas of Cusa and Martin Luther on Islam”
Walter Andreas Euler, Faculty of Theology, University of Trier
4:30 p.m. Reception Pioneer Room, Library
Recent Acquisitions, Bond-Watanabe Collection
5:00 p.m. Free Time
7:00 p.m. Candlelight Banquet Aberly Room, Valentine Hall
Music: “Cabaret on the Ridge”
Bruce Moore, Veteran Broadway Vocalist
9:00 p.m. Social Hour Singmaster Center
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
7:00 a.m. Mass St. Francis Xavier Church
7:30 a.m. Breakfast On-campus guests: Refectory
Motel guests: In the motel
8:15 a.m. Ecumenical Service of Word and Sacrament Chapel
9:15 a.m. Session III Library Lecture Room
Chair: Jason Aleksander, National University
Working Session on Texts of Cusanus and Torquemada
Led by Rita George-Tvrtkovic, Benedictine University; and
Thomas M. Izbicki, Rutgers University
Cusanus, selections from the Cribratio Alkorani on paradise
Juan de Torquemada, selections from “On the Errors of Mohammed”
10:15 a.m. Coffee Break Library Rotunda
10:45 a.m. Session IV Library Lecture Room Chair:
Cusanus and Later Thought on Islam
“Campanella” Paul Richard Blum, Loyola University of Maryland
“Erasmus” Nathan Ron, University of Haifa
12:00 noon Close
Departures begin at 12:15 p.m. Library, Singmaster, Motel
12:30 p.m. Lunch (Optional)
* * * * * * *
The Committee for the 2018 Celebration: Donald F. Duclow, Rita George-Tvrtkovic and Thomas M. Izbicki (co-chairs). Arrangements: Gerald Christianson. Registrars: Margaret Folkemer, Ashlyn Lizska
