Clinton Bennett

Clinton Bennett (born 7 October 1955, Staffordshire, England) is a British–American scholar of Religious studies and participant in interfaith dialogue, specializing in Islamic studies and the relations between Islam and other religions. As an ordained Baptist Christian minister, he was a Christian missionary in Bangladesh before serving as the second director of Interfaith relations at the British Council of Churches in succession to Kenneth Cracknell. Bennett has also taken part in the dialogue activities of the World Council of Churches.

Clinton Bennett

He graduated at the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham, and Oxford. He has held several academic appointments in the United Kingdom and the United States, where he became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2012. He currently writes for various publications and teaches part-time at the State University of New York at New Paltz. He is a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Royal Anthropological Institute.He has authored academic books, chapters in books, journal articles, and encyclopedia entries. Ahmad Shafaat writes, "Bennett's approach allows him to treat Islamic traditions and their Muslim interpretations with sensitivity and respect, not often found among Christian writings on Islam."[1]


Biography

Background

Bennett was born in Tettenhall, then an urban district in Staffordshire, England. After gaining his School Certificate, he worked in Sydney as an officer in the state civil service 1972–1973.[2]He trained for the Baptist Ministry at Northern Baptist College, Manchester between 1974 and 1978 graduating BA in Theology from University of Manchester in July 1978. He was ordained July 2 1978. He spent a year at the Selly Oak Colleges preparing to serve with the Baptist Missionary Society in Bangladesh receiving a Certificate in the Study of Islam from University of Birmingham. In Bangladesh, he studied the language, pastored a congregation and tutored for the Bangladesh College of Christian Theology.

Education
Aston Webb Building, University of Birmingham where Bennett obtained his MA and PhD.

Returning to Birmingham in 1983 he graduated MA in 1985 and PhD in 1990 both in Islamic Studies. Between 1987 and 1992 he was executive secretary of the Committee for Relations with People of Other Faiths at the British Council of Churches' Conference for World Mission. In 1996 he received the MEd from University of Oxford.

Career

He joined the faculty of Westminster College, Oxford in 1992 and taught there until 1998. In 1998, he became an associate professor of religion at Baylor University, Texas. After a period working for an internet encyclopedia project he began teaching part time at State University of New York at New Paltz in 2008 and has also taught at Marist College, Poughkeepsie.

Involvement in the World Council of Churches

Bennett was a Consultant at the Baar Meeting of the WCC's Dialogue Sub Unit (1988) and a member of the Sub Unit's Working Party that drafted Issues in Christian Muslim Relations: Ecumenical Considerations (1991).[3] 1992 until 1998 he was a member of the World Council of Churches' Consultation on the Church and the Jewish People (CCJP) representing the Baptist Union of Great Britain, attending meetings in Geneva (1992) and Budapest (1994).

Voluntary service

He currently represents the Alliance of Baptists on the Inter-religious Relations and Collaboration on Topics of Mutual Concern Convening Table of the National Council of Churches USA and on several national dialogues. Between 1985 and 1992 he was associate minister of Highgaate Baptist Church, Birmingham. From 2017 to 2022 he was a member of the pastoral team at a United Methodist Church. On December 17 2022 he was formally incardinated as a priest of the Old Catholic Apostolic Church by its Patriarch.

Clinton Bennett outside a mosque in Bangladesh researching for his book on Muhammad. A. H. Mathias Zahniser describes Bennett's In Search of Muhammad (1998) as "a very personal narrative. Bennett takes us to mosques and coffee shops where he lays bare the depth of the Muslim experience of Muhammad".[4]

Bennett has regularly researched and taught at summer schools in India mainly at the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad, and for The Association for Theological Education by Extension based at Bangalore. He has attended conferences in or traveled to six Muslim majority states.

Victorian Images of Islam

Bennett's Victorian Images of Islam (1992) has been widely cited. For example, by Kate Zebiri (1997),[5] Rollin Armour (2003)[6] Hugh Goddard (2000)[7] and Dana L. Robert (2008).[8] Armour refers to the work of Bennett and of such scholars as Bernard Lewis and John Esposito as lying "behind almost every page that follows" (2003: xiv). David Thomas described the book as an "illuminating study into an overlooked corner of Victorian religious history". In particular, it showed that more diversity of approach existed among earlier contributors but that more often than not it is a priori premises rather than encounter that determine attitude[9] Bennett described contributors as confrontational or conciliatory, analysing the work of three scholars in each category. The three conciliators were Charles Forster, Frederick Denison Maurice and Reginald Bosworth Smith and the three confrontationalists were William Muir, William St. Clair Tisdall and John Drew Bate. Conciliators were those "Western writers who questioned the prevailing attitude of cultural and religious superiority that led to a belittling of everything non-European"[10] Confrontationalists perpetuated traditional anti-Muslim polemic. Bennett later commented that while "actual meetings between Christians and Muslims may result in a change of heart and mind ... more often than not ... it confirms our prejudices, which it has to be said is one of the biggest problems involved in Christian-Muslim encounter."[11] He stresses, though, that the story of Christian-Muslim encounter includes examples of harmonious co-existence as well as of hostility. By remembering these experiences we can ensure that future relations are not solely defined by a negative historical memory. Ahmad Gunney called the book "a valuable contribution to the debate on the important question of Islam and the West" and said that "the Baptist minister" had to a "certain extent" complemented "the work of three Muslim writers, M. A. Anees, Syed Z. Abedin and Z. Sardar" whose book had been published by the same publisher as Bennett's. Like Thomas, Gunney remarked that Bennett's research showed that even when people are "technically well equipped" and spend "extensive periods of residence in the countries of the world of Islam" this does "not necessarily lead to objective judgements, especially if one starts off, as in the case of the three confrontational writers with a priori assumptions about Islam."[12] Andrews, a Shi'a Muslim, suggested that the book's study by Muslim Imams-in-training might "go some way towards breaking down barriers and misconceptions" and observed that "through his own enlightened position" Bennett "has done a lot to undermine at least one Muslim's preconceptions about Christian missionaries, and about Baptist missionaries in particular".[13]

"In Search of" books
Francis of Assisi before the Sultan, Al-Kamil. Bennett writes, "St. Francis' ... willingness to negotiate peace with the Sultan of Egypt, and his rubric that while his Friars could pursue 'disputes and controversy', another method was to 'preach the word of God', qualify him as a conciliator."[14]

In 1996, Bennett wrote the first of five books with 'In Search of' in their title, In Search of the Sacred: Anthropology and the Study of Religion, in which he called for a combination of historical, textual and participant observation research to shed light on how religion is lived as well as on its history and official dogmas. He argued that no researcher is neutral and that we all need to engage in reflexivity to guard against bias and the imposition of a priori presuppositions, so that, as a reviewer commented, "suddenly the act of observation becomes the subject of observation" and "for a teacher like Bennett, his own experience as an ordained minister and missionary, his own experience with the give and take of ecumenical teaching becomes the data of religious thought". "Bennett", Dening continued, "is not independent of all the observations made through centuries of thought", so "there is convergence: library and field, intellect and emotion, thought and experience in the end come together". The book, said this reviewer, helped "to make the exposition of more than a hundred years of thought on the study of religions lucid and memorable".[15] Alan Race, in another review, described the book as cutting "through a dense thicket, yielding a clear, highly readable survey of how" anthropology and Religious Studies "have interacted and failed to interact", although remarking that it mainly discussed European history.[16][17] Bennett followed this in 1998 with In Search of Muhammad and in 2001 with In Search of Jesus: Insider and Outsider Images. A. G Noorani describes In Search of Muhammad as "an earnest effort by a devout Christian to understand Muhammad, and places" Bennett "in the ranks of others whose services Minou Reeves [18] acknowledges in her survey of Western writing on Muhammad."[19] Commenting on Bennett's discussion of the sources available for the life of Muhammad, Hugh Goddard says that while he is "not as negative" as "some modern Western scholars", neither "is he uncritical of them", suggesting that "some traditions, particularly concerning Muhammad's miracles and the role of women, should be judged as unreliable." Referring to Bennett's attempt to suggest how "Christ and Muhammad might be viewed as somehow complementary, rather than as rivals" he called this a "brave attempt" even though "there are no easy answers to such a significant question."[20] Citations include Gerard Rixhon, who says that he makes "words of Bennett's" his "own "when he wrote his searching book on Muhammad" and aimed "to hear Muslim voices."[21] Timothy Johnson, ABC News chief medical correspondent, who is also an ordained minister of the Evangelical Covenant Church, refers to Bennett as "a fine scholar and student of world religions", and recommends In Search of Jesus as "an amazing compendium of the many attempts to capture the story of Jesus by both insiders (those who claim to be Christians) and outsiders (those of other religious traditions)." "You can", he continues, "look up almost any writer on the subject of Jesus and find a brief but fair summary of the person's writing and point of view ... It is a great one stop source of quick summary information."[22] The fourth 'In Search of' book, In Search of Solutions: The Problem of Religion and Conflict appeared in 2008 as part of a series edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether and Lisa Isherwood. The fifth, In Search of Understanding: Reflections on Christian Engagement with Muslims after Four Decades, published in 2019, reprises some of Bennett's earlier writing and attempts to offer some suggestions on how congregations might rethink their ideas about Muslims and cooperate with them in peace and justice advocacy, and social and community development. Ataullah Siddiqui, who wrote the Foreword, comments, "Bennett’s treatment of the subject is never dull and is always rewarding. His handling of the issues central to Christian-Muslim relations reveals a reflective mind that is not satisfied with the soporific effects of ‘relaxed’ dialogue. He enquires, investigates, and challenges where necessary, and proposes new avenues in order to explore future relations.”[23]

Selected publications

Books
  • 1992, Victorian Images of Islam, London: Grey Seal, pp 204 (ISBN 1-85640-028-X); republished 2009, Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press (ISBN 9781607246732)
  • 1996, In Search of the Sacred: Anthropology and the Study of Religions London: Cassell Academic (ISBN 0304 336815 hb; 0304 336823 pb) pp 218
  • 1996, with Foreman-Peck, Lorraine and Higgins, Chris, Researching Into Teaching Methods in Colleges and Universities, London: Kogan Page (ISBN 0-7494-1768-4) pp 136, republished 2013 by Routledge
  • 1998, In Search of Muhammad, London: Cassell Academic (ISBN 0-304-70401-6) pp 276.
  • 2001, In Search of Jesus: Insider – Outsider Images London: Continuum (ISBN 0826449166) pp 364
  • 2005, Muslims and Modernity: An Introduction to the Issues and Debates, London: Continuum (ISBN 082645481X) pp 286
  • 2008, Understanding Christian Muslim Relations Past and Present, London: Continuum (ISBN 9780826487834)
  • 2008, In Search of Solutions: the problem of religion and conflict, London: Equinox (ISBN 978-1845532390), republished 2014 by Routledge
  • 2009, Interpreting the Qur'an: A Guide for the Uninitiated, London: Continuum (ISBN 9780826499448)
  • 2010, Studying Islam: The Critical Issues, London: Continuum (ISBN 978-0-82649550-1)
  • 2010, Muslim Women of Power: Gender, Politics and Culture in Islam, London: Continuum (ISBN 9780826400871)
  • 2012, South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation and Destiny, edited with Charles M. Ramsey, London: Continuum (ISBN 9781441151278)
  • 2013, Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies, (editor) London: Bloomsbury (ISBN 9781441127884)
  • 2017, Sufism, Pluralism and Democracy, edited with Sarwar Alam, Equinox, Sheffield (ISBN 9781781792216)
  • 2019, In Search of Understanding: Reflections on Christian Engagement with Muslims after Four Decades, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock (ISBN 9781532646553)
  • 2023, Islam as Imagined in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century English Literature, NY: Routledge (ISBN 9780367714536)

Chapters
  • 1994, "Islam", pp 95 – 122, in J Holm with J Bowker (ed) Making Moral Decisions, London: Pinter (ISBN 1 85567 096 8).
  • 1994, "Islam", pp 113 – 141, in J Holm with J Bowker (ed), Picturing God, London: Pinter (ISBN 1-85567-101-8).
  • 1994, "Islam", pp 88 –114, in J Holm with J Bowker, Sacred Place, London: Pinter (ISBN 1-85567-104-2).
  • 1994, "Islam", pp 90 – 112, in J Holm with J Bowker (ed), Rites of Passage, London: Pinter (ISBN 1 85567 103 4).
  • 1997, "Islam and Muhammad Iqbal," pp 127 – 143 in Modern Spiritualities: An Inquiry, ed Brown, Laurence, Farr, Bernard C and Hoffmann, Joseph R, Amherst, NY, Prometheous (ISBN 1-57392-112-2).
  • 2008, "A Christian response to the Absence of the Cross in Islam", 171–179, in David Emmanuel Singh (ed) Jesus and the Cross: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts, Oxford; Carlisle, Cumbria and Waynesboro, GA: Regnum/Paternoster (ISBN 978-1-870345-65-1).
  • 2009, "W. R. W. Stephens, Christianity and Islam", xxxiii – xxvii, in W. R. W Stephens and Clinton Bennett, Christianity and Islam: The Bible and the Koran, NY: Gorgias Press (ISBN 9781607244127).
  • 2010, "Subdivisions in Islam," pp 129–147 and "Mystical Islam," pp 148–150 in Marshall Cavendish Reference, Islamic beliefs, practices, and cultures, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Reference. (ISBN 9780761479260).
  • 2011, "States, Politics and Political Groups," 144–163, "Focus on Al-Qaeda," 164–167, "Islamism in the 21st Century," 192–215, in Marshall Cavendish Reference, Modern Muslim Societies, Tarrytown, NY: Marshall Cavendish Reference (ISBN 978-0-7614-7927-7).
  • 2011, "Saints, Incarnation and Christian-Muslim Relations: Reflections inspired by encountering Bangladeshi Islam", 99–111, in David Emmanuel Singh (ed)Jesus and the Incarnation: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts. Oxford: Regnum Books (ISBN 978-1-870345-90-3).
  • 2013, "Muslim Ideas about the 'Resurrection,'"155-162, in David Emmanuel Singh (ed) Jesus and the Resurrection: Reflections of Christians from Islamic Contexts, Oxford: Regnum Books (ISBN 978-1-908355-58-4)
  • 2014, "Empires and Religions: Colonialism, Postcolonialism, and Orientalism," in Paul Hedges (ed), Controversies in Contemporary Religion: Education, Law, Politics, Society and Spirituality, Volume 1, 273-302, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO (ISBN 9781440803420)
  • 2015, "Christian-Muslim Relations in the USA: A Postmodern Analysis after 9/11," 151-166 in Paul Hedges (ed) Contemporary Muslim-Christian Encounters: Developments, Diversity and Dialogue, London: Bloomsbury (ISBN 9781472588531)
  • 2017, "Christians and Muḥammad," pp. 296-303, and "Christian Minorities in Islamic Contexts," pp. 349-357, in Routledge Handbook on Christian-Muslim Relations, ed. David Thomas, London, Routledge (ISBN 978-1-138-81871-2)
  • 2017, "Anabaptist Promotion of Church State Separation," 757-759, "Emancipation of Jews in France," 823-824, "Emancipation of Jews in Germany," 862-863 in F. Curta, Great events in religion: An encyclopedia of pivotal events in religious history, Santa Barbara, CA, ABC-CLIO (ISBN 9781610695657)
  • 2018, "Education of Religious Minorities in Muslim Countries," pp. 377-387 in Handbook on Islamic Education, ed. Holger Daun and Reza Arjmand, Springer: Dordrecht (ISBN 9783319646824)
  • 2019, "Syncretistic Sufi Gnosticism in South and South East Asia," pp. 595-602 in The Gnostic World, ed. Garry W Trompf, Gunner B. Mikklesten, and Jay Johnston, London: Routledge (ISBN 978-1-138-67393-9)
  • 2019, "Promoting Social and Religious Harmony: Bāul’s origin and migration West and Roji Sarker’s performance in the British Bangladeshi Diaspora," pp. 72-92 in Cultural Fusion of Sufi Islam: Alternative Paths to Mystical Faith ed. Sarwar Alam, Abingdon: Routledge (ISBN 9781138615038)
  • 2019, "William Brackney – Linking Baptist Genetics, Human Rights, and Openness to the Salvation of All," pp 56-72, in Crossing Baptist Boundaries: a Festschrift in Honor of William Henry Brackney, ed. Erich Geldback, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press (ISBN 9780881466942)

Articles
  • 1992, "The Legacy of Henry Martyn" pp 10–15, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 16 No 1.
  • 1993, "The Legacy of Lewis Bevan Jones" pp 126–129, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 17 No 3.
  • 1996, "The Legacy of Karl Gottlieb Pfander" pp 76 – 81, International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol 20 No 2

Notes
  1. Shafaat, Ahmad "A Review of Clinton Bennett, In Search of Muhammad and In Search of Jesus", Islamic Perspectives, May 2002 A Review of Clinton Bennett, In Search of Muhammad and In Search of Jesus.
  2. "Bennett, Clinton", Contemporary Authors, Volume 157 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1997 ISBN 0-7876-1183-2) page 20.
  3. available at Issues in Christian Muslim Relations.
  4. Zahnister, A. H. Mathias, "In Search of Muhammad by Clinton Bennett", 89, Missiology: An International Review, XXIX: 1, January 2001 ISSN 0091-8296.
  5. Zebiri, Kate Muslims and Christians Face to Face, Oxford: Oneworld, 1997 ISBN 978-1-85168-133-4. She refers to Victorian Images pages 226 and 237 and to Bennett's "Legacy of Lewis Bevan Jones" (1993) pages 130 and 245.
  6. Armour, Rollin, Islam, Christianity and the West: A Troubled History, Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2003 ISBN 1-57075-407-1. References Victorian Images pages 136, 137, 139 and In Search of Muhammad pages 19, 134, 145 and 183 where he comments on Bennett's "sensitivity to the religious aspects of Islam".
  7. Goddard, Hugh A History of Christian-Muslim Encounter, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0-585-44320-1 pages 151 and 171.
  8. Robert, Dana Lee. 2008. Converting colonialism: visions and realities in mission history, 1706–1914. Studies in the history of Christian missions. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-8028-1763-1 . pages 83 and 267.
  9. Thomas, David "Victorian Images of Islam – Clinton Bennett". 217-9, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, V5 1994.
  10. Contemporary Authors.
  11. Bennett, Clinton Understanding Christian-Muslim Relations (2008) page 9.
  12. Gunney, Ahmad "Victorian Images of Islam by Clinton Bennett", 292–294, Journal of Islamic Studies, 5: 2 July 1994. See Sarder, Ziauddin et al., Christian-Muslim Relations: yesterday, today, tomorrow, London: Grey Seal, 1991 ISBN 978-1-85640-021-3.
  13. Andrews, Ahmed Y "Victorian Images of Islam by Clinton Bennett", 50–53, Discernment new series 4: 2, 1994.
  14. Understanding, p 105.
  15. Dening, Greg "Clinton Bennett, In Search of the Sacred", 245–246, The Journal of Religious History, 21: 2 June 1997.
  16. Race, Alan "Bennett, Clinton, In Search of the Sacred", 55, Theological Book Review, 9: 1 October 1996.
  17. In Search of the Sacred is referenced in The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion (2005), edited by John R Hinnells (London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-33310-8) pages 146, 158 and 150.
  18. Reeves, Minou Muhammad in Europe: A thousand Years of Western Myth-making, NY: New York University Press, 2000 ISBN 0-8147-7533-0.
  19. Noorani, A. G Islam and Jihad London, Zed Books, p 2002 ISBN 978-1-84277-271-3 p 53.
  20. Goddard, Hugh "In Search of Muhammad", Clinton Bennett, 305-6 Theology, July–August 1999.
  21. Rixhon, Gerard. 2005. "Muslim Voices: An Introduction to Islam's Oral Dimension." 117- 162 Asian Cooperation: problems and challenges in the new century. Yu-Jose, Lydia N (ed). Quezon City: Ateneo Center for Asian Studies. ISBN 978-971-92296-8-1. page 120.
  22. Johnson, Timothy. 2004. Finding God in the Questions: A Personal Journey. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press ISBN 0-8308-3214-9 p 206. In their Jesus and the Gospels (2006) Clive Marsh and Steve Moyise describe the book as a "useful survey of interpretations of Jesus." T & T Clark approaches to biblical studies. London: T&T Clark International. ISBN 978-0-567-04073-2. page 117.
  23. In Search of Understanding, p. viii

Bibliography
  • Anderson, Gerald H (ed) (1998) Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions, NY, Simon & Schuster Macmillan (ISBN 0-02-864604-5)
  • Contemporary Authors (1997) "Bennett, Clinton" Vol. 157, p 20, Detroit, MI: Gale Research, ISBN 0-7876-1183-2
  • New World Encyclopedia: Selected Articles (2008) "Project Contributors: Clinton Bennett", p 462, 2008 (editor-in-chief Frank Kaufmann), St. Paul, MN: Paragon House (ISBN 978-1930549494) available at Clinton Bennett
  • Gellner, David (1996) "Review of Clinton Bennett's In Search of the Sacred", 46-7, Discernment, new series 3: 2 (ISSN 0958-5532)
  • Riddell, Peter G (2006) "Review of Clinton Bennett's Muslims and Modernity with Islam in Britain (Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity) and Bill Musk's Kissing Cousins? Christians and Muslims face to face", Church Times, 2 June
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