Guy Stroumsa takes up Chair of Abrahamic Faiths at Oxford

CONGRATULATIONS TO GUY STROUMSA, who has taken up a new Chair in Abrahamic Faiths at Oxford University:

The Israeli who's taken Abraham to Oxford
We talk to Oxford University’s first Professor of Abrahamic Faiths

By Simon Rocker, May 27, 2010 (The Jewish Chronicle)

Oxford may have lost to Cambridge in this year's boat race, but in one pursuit Oxford has pipped its old rival to the post. Oxford's first Professor of Abrahamic Studies has been teaching there almost a year, while Cambridge is still in the process of recruiting one.

The holder of Oxford's new chair is a Parisian-born Jewish Israeli with a special interest in early Christian mysticism. Guy Stroumsa had been Martin Buber Professor of Comparative Religion at the Jerusalem's Hebrew University until his arrival here last autumn.

A decade ago the concept of "Abraham faiths", the comparative study of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, would have seemed fairly novel even in academic circles. "I don't think it starts before the late 20th century," said Professor Stroumsa, who cannot think of a similar chair at another institution.

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This is an exciting area that is crying out for more research.