The Curse and the Promise: Religion and Violence

This year the St Martin-in-the-Fields Autumn Lecture Series focuses on religion and violence, reflecting upon both how faith can become the cause and perpetrator of conflict and persecution, and also the victim.

But can our faith and our understanding of God also provide the promise for the healing of our nations? Looking from the perspective of the three Abrahamic Faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – we will be inviting our guest speakers to explore these themes from their own perspectives and faith traditions.

The Revd Dr Sam Wells is the Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields. He has served as a Church of England parish priest for 17 years – 10 of those in urban priority areas. He also spent 7 years in North Carolina, where he was Dean of Duke University Chapel. Sam is also Visiting Professor of Christian Ethics at King’s College, London. He has published 22 books, including academic studies and textbooks in Christian ethics, explorations of social mission, intercessory prayer and Anglican faith, and 3 collections of sermons. His most recent book, A Nazareth Manifesto: Being with God, is a study in ways of engaging with poverty and social disadvantage.