Wembley's Parliament of Living Religions was part of the British Empire Exhibition of 1924, inviting famous representatives of important living religions within the British Empire. Although the exhibition was held at Wembley Park in north-west London the conference was held at the Imperial Institute, between 22 September and 3 October 1924. [1]
The tradition of this and similar World Fairs go back to the early 18th century. Some of the more famous ones have been The Great Exhibition of 1851 in London and Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.
William Loftus Hare (1868-1943), at the time Director of Studies in Comparative Religion and Philosophy to the Theosophical Society, wrote:
"Christianity and Judaism were excluded from our plan for several sufficient reasons – not because, as some critic had not very seriously suggested, we considered them to be‚ no longer living religions. To have attempted to include the Christian faith in a short conference of single sessions would have involved many difficulties, the first being the invidious choice of expositors. We could not have pleased everybody. Secondly, we should have been instructing the already instructed. Thirdly, it would have been something of an impertinence for us to set up a new pulpit amid the thousands to which people may resort already. In lesser degree the same arguments apply to Judaism, which in its main Biblical features, is very familiar. We had of course, no anti-Christian bias nor had any of our expositors, except in the most formal sense. Practically, the English and the Christian received and returned the utmost friendliness. We placed Hinduism first on our program for various reasons which are apparent. Two hundred and seventeen millions of our fellow citizens deserved more than one lecture and would have had more if our time for preparation had been extended." [2]
Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, or simply Rumi, was a 13th-century poet, Hanafi faqih, Islamic scholar, Maturidi theologian and Sufi mystic originally from Greater Khorasan in Greater Iran.
Carbondale is a city in Jackson County, Illinois, United States, within the Southern Illinois region informally known as "Little Egypt". As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 25,083, making it the most populous city in Southern Illinois outside the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis.
The Nauvoo Expositor was a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois, that published only one issue, on June 7, 1844. Its publication, and the destruction of the printing press ordered by Mayor Joseph Smith and the city council, set off a chain of events that led to Smith's murder.
Proselytism is the policy of attempting to convert people's religious or political beliefs. Carrying out attempts to instill beliefs can be called proselytization.
The Latter Day Saint movement is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by Joseph Smith in the late 1820s.
Southern Illinois University is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Originally founded as a normal college, the university today provides programs in a variety of disciplines, combining a strong liberal arts tradition with a focus on research. SIU was granted limited university status in 1943 and began offering graduate degrees in 1950. A separate campus was established in Edwardsville, Illinois in 1957, eventually becoming Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels.
In the study of religion, orthopraxy is correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace. Orthopraxy is in contrast with orthodoxy, which emphasizes correct belief. The word is a neoclassical compound—ὀρθοπραξία meaning 'right practice'.
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the United Kingdom, he was the Chief Rabbi of those Orthodox synagogues but was not recognized as the religious authority for the Haredi Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or for the progressive movements such as Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism. As Chief Rabbi, he formally carried the title of Av Beit Din (head) of the London Beth Din. At the time of his death, he was the Emeritus Chief Rabbi.
The Dial was an American magazine published intermittently from 1840 to 1929. In its first form, from 1840 to 1844, it served as the chief publication of the Transcendentalists. From the 1880s to 1919 it was revived as a political review and literary criticism magazine. From 1920 to 1929 it was an influential outlet for modernist literature in English. In January 2023, The Dial was revived once again as a magazine of international writing and reporting.
London has centres of worship for many faiths. According to the 2021 Census, the largest religious groupings are Christians (40.66%), followed by those of no religion (27.05%), Muslims (14.99%), no response (7%), Hindus (5.15%), Jews (1.65%), Sikhs (1.64%), Buddhists (1.0%), and others (0.9%).
Mirza Basheer-ud-Din Mahmood Ahmad was the second caliph, leader of the worldwide Ahmadiyya Muslim Community and the eldest son of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from his second wife, Nusrat Jahan Begum. He was elected as the second successor of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad on 14 March 1914 at the age of 25, the day after the death of his predecessor Hakim Nur-ud-Din.
Khwaja Kamal-ud-Din was a prominent figure of the early Ahmadiyya movement and the author of numerous works about Islam.
Henry Nelson Wieman (1884–1975) was an American philosopher and theologian. He became the most famous proponent of theocentric naturalism and the empirical method in American theology and catalyzed the emergence of religious naturalism in the latter part of the 20th century. His grandson Carl Wieman is a Nobel laureate, and his son-in-law Huston Smith was a prominent scholar in religious studies.
Muhammad Azim ud-Din I was Sultan of Sulu from 1735 to 1748, and again from 1764 until his abdication in 1774. He was briefly converted to Christianity under the name Fernando until he returned to Sulu and reverted to Islam, dying as a Muslim.
The Review of Religions is an English-language comparative religious magazine published monthly by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. Regularly in print since 1902, it is one of the longest running Islamic periodicals in English. It has been described as the main publication of the Ahmadiyya movement in the language and as a valuable source material for information on the geographical expansion of Ahmadi activity. The magazine was launched by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad with the aim of conveying an accurate understanding of Islamic teachings across the English-speaking world and dispelling misconceptions held against the faith. The articles, however, typically comprise distinctly Ahmadi perspectives. In addition to the English edition published from London, the magazine currently publishes separate quarterly editions in German, French and Spanish.
Rev. William Oscar Emil Oesterley was a Church of England theologian, and professor of Hebrew and Old Testament at King's College, London, from 1926. His many books span a wide range of topics from Bible commentary and Christian doctrine, Judaism and ancient Israel to more general subjects such as Sacred Dance.
John Henry Barrows (1847–1902) was an American clergyman of First Presbyterian Church (Chicago) and Chairman of the 1893 General Committee on the Congress of Religions. He claimed that Abraham Lincoln had become a Christian in 1863.
Abdur Rahim Dard, known as A. R. Dard was an Ahmadi Muslim writer, missionary, and political activist for the Pakistan Movement, who served as the Imam of the historic Fazl Mosque, the premier gathering place for Indian Muslims regardless of denomination in London. He is known for convincing Muhammad Ali Jinnah to return to British India and fight for the Pakistan Movement.
Maulvi Sher Ali Ranjha was a prominent Ahmadi scholar and a companion of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who claimed to be the Promised Messiah and the awaited mahdi.