Cookies

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. You can change your cookie settings at any time. Otherwise, we'll assume you're OK to continue.

Department of Theology and Religion

Current students

Joshua Furnal

Personal web page

(email at j.r.furnal@durham.ac.uk)

Biography and Research

I am originally from the United States where I completed my undergraduate degree in biblical studies and theology (2005). For the next several years, I lived in Italy before coming to Durham to complete an MA thesis.

My MA thesis (Durham 2010) attempted to bring discussions from the philosophy of film into conversation with the field of religion and film.

My current research is on the reception of Søren Kierkegaard in 20th. century Catholic theology.

Although he is not always recognised as such, Søren Kierkegaard has been an important ally for Catholic theologians since the early twentieth century. Properly understanding this relationship and its origins offers valuable resources and insights to contemporary Catholic theology. However there are many obstacles to overcome: Kierkegaard has been viewed as an irrational Protestant irreconcilably at odds with Catholic thought. Nonetheless, the favourable mention of Kierkegaard in John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio is an indication that his work is not so easily dismissed. My research will provide a more sophisticated account of Kierkegaard’s reception among theologians associated with la nouvelle théologie. This will fill a gap in recent literature on la nouvelle théologie, which is noticeably silent on the influence of Kierkegaard's writings.

Feel free to contact me, if you are interested in joining the Italian Reading Workgroup in the department.

Other Research Interests

  • Kierkegaard
  • 20th Century Catholic Theology
  • Religion and Film
  • Muslim-Christian Dialogue

Publications

Journal Papers: Academic

Translation Work

For Peer Reviewed Journals

For IVP Academic

  •  Nuovo dizionario patristico e di antichità cristiane, edited by Angelo Di Berardino (forthcoming).

For Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi e d’Islamistica

  • The Institutional Role of Muhammad and the non-Muslim Minority by Fr. Paolo Nicelli, for Encounter n. 378 October 2012.
  • The Islamic Reformation and the Ideas of the Early Reformers (parts 1 & 2) by Paolo Nicelli, for Encounter n. 368 September 2011 and n. 369 October 2011.
  • The Mu'tazila and the Neo-Mu'tazilism of Muhammad 'Abduh: The Debate between Faith and Reason by Paolo Nicelli, for Encounter n. 358 October 2010 .
  • Historical Aspects of the Caliph and Its Theological and Juridical Dimensions by Paolo Nicelli, for Encounter n.349 November 2009.
  • Repudiation in Islamic Marriage and the Reaction of the Italian Legal System by Fiore Costantino,for  Encounter n.345 May-June 2009.
  • Reading Marracci and the Kaššâf Critically by Massimo Rizzi,for Encounter n. 344 April 2009.

Book Reviews

Is supervised by