Rodrigo Adem Alvarez, PhD
Theology in Arabic Seminars
These seminars, hosted by Georgetown University in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, invite scholars who work on theological reasoning in Arabic to present and discuss their translations of Arabic primary texts from the religious traditions of Islam, Judaism, Christianity and more, for the sake of enriching our appreciation of Arabic as a language of theological expression.
Theology in Arabic Themes:
Speculative theology
Science and Natural Philosophy
Epistemology
Pyschology and the Soul
Providence and theodicy
The experience of God; discussions of devotion
Contemplation, spiritual practice & autobiography
Virtue ethics and wisdom traditions.
Poetics of devotion, prayer, liturgy
Ascesis/Mysticism
Sainthood/Sufism
Covenantal Theology
Theology in Arabic seminars give emphasis to line-by-line translation and explanation of passages from texts in Arabic. As always, what matters most is to allow the reasoning of the texts to speak to us.
Upcoming Seminars:
Nov 5, 2025, "The Earliest Arabic Version of Jacob of Serugh’s Letter to the Monks of Sinai: Reception Context and Theological Resonances."
- Peter Tarras, LMU Munich
Dec 3, 2025, "Freethinkers in 9th-Century Baghdad"
- Mushegh Asatryan, University of Calgary
Past Seminars:
Oct. 10, 2025, "Freedom from Calamity: Choosing the Choosing Agent in the “Divine Science” of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī’s Compendium (Mulakhkhaṣ)"
- Michael Rapoport, Florida Atlantic University
March 28, 2025, "Making All Things New...Without Any Innovation. Christian Theology and Bidʿaʿʿ”
- Jason Welle, Boston College
March 14, 2025, "Intertextualities" Seminar
Title: “Between Predestined Marriage and Predestined Fornication: A Solomonic Tale in Medieval Arabic and Hebrew Literatures”
- Guy Ron-Gilboa, Bar-Ilan University
Feb 21, 2025, “An Early Argument for One God: al-Muḥāsibī's (d. 243/857) Kitāb al-ʿAẓama”
- Antonio Musto, NYU
April 3, 2024 | Patristic Quotations in Miaphysite and East-Syrian Arab Authors: The Case of Ephrem the Syrian."
- Dr. Bishara Ebeid, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
March 22, 2024 | Assessing the Conditionality of Divine Commands on Beneficial Outcomes: Moral Value Economics in Yūsuf al-Baṣīr's Work"
- Gregor Schwarb, LMU Munich
Dec. 1, 2023 | “Muslim Stories of the Buddha”
- Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University
Nov. 27, 2023 | “Epistemology and Theology in a Later Work of Ibn al-ʿArabī (1165-1240): Kitāb al-Ifāda"
- Aydogan Kars, Monash University
April 28, 2023 | “Classical Islamic Conceptions of Human Flourishing: Al-Māwardī (d. 1058) on Human Virtues, Divine Transcendence, and Just Governance”
- Mohamed Lamallam, Phd Candidate in Theology and Religious Studies, Georgetown University
April 14, 2023 | “A Classical Islamic Appreciation of the Yoga Sutra of Patañjali”
- Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University
March 31, 2023 | “Yaḥyā ibn Jarīr on Jesus' Perfecting of the Law of Moses”
- Diego Cucarella, Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies
February 24, 2023 | “An Ashʿarite’s Denial of Incarnation and a Coptic Christian’s Response: Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī and al-Ṣafī ibn al-ʿAssāl on Indwelling and Uniting”
- Salam Rassi, University of Edinburgh
November 18, 2022 | “Al-Jahiz on Divine Adoption in Jewish and Christian Scripture,”
-Nathan Gibson, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
October 28, 2022 | “A Ninth-Century Muslim Theologian on Maintaining God-Consciousness”
-Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University
April 2022 | “On The Triune Nature of God”
-Ryann Craig, Georgetown University
March 2022 | “Free Will in the Theology of Maimonides (Rabbi Mūsā b. Maymūn)”
-Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University
November 2021 | “Free Will in the Theology of Ibn Rushd (Averroes)”
-Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University
October 2021| “Thawdūrus (Theodore) Abū Qurra on Free Will”
-Rodrigo Adem, Georgetown University