Mark Spinnenweber
Doctoral Student
Biography
Mark Spinnenweber is a PhD student in Comparative Theology. His many interests include Islamic and Christian mysticism and metaphysics, Christian revelation and Islamic prophecy, transcendental Christology and theological aesthetics, religious belonging and hybridity, Christian and Muslim saints and sanctity, and the place of religious pluralism in Catholic theology. In addition, he holds a doctoral minor in Systematic Theology, with a variety of interests in dogmatics, phenomenology, hermeneutics, and twentieth-century Catholic theology, especially Karl Rahner, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and the nouvelle theólogie . Mark's current research focuses on the history and theology of French Catholic orientalism, especially the work of Louis Massignon (1883-1962) and his disciples, especially Jean-Mohammed Abd-el-Jalil, OFM (1904-1979) and Giulio Basetti-Sani, OFM (1912-2001), to name just a few enthralling characters. More contemporary figures, such as Bl. Christian de Chergé, OCSO (1937-1996) and Paolo Dall'Oglio, SJ (1954-2013?) who gave their lives practicing interreligious hospitality, also loom large in his theological imagination. Before coming to BC, Mark was a proud federal bureaucrat. He lives in Newton with his wife and thousand books.