Fethullah Gulen and Martin Luther: Reformers across Contexts and Traditions, but a Shared Spirit – Jon Pahl Book Signing

Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish Muslim preacher who has inspired the global Hizmet (service) movement, is a clear reformer of Islam. How does he compare to one of the greatest (and most notorious) reformers in the history of Christianity, Martin Luther? In this talk, Jon Pahl will draw from his long-familiarity with Luther’s life and work, and from his recent biography of Fethullah Gulen, to draw some perhaps surprising parallels between the two theologians, across contexts and traditions. Gulen and Luther share emphases on education, vernacular languages, women’s equality before God, and advocacy for the oppressed. Both have reputations for passionate and powerful preaching, a penchant for paradox, and were oppressed by state-religious power. In their own lifetimes, Fethullah Gulen and Martin Luther were vilified, but they leave behind remarkable legacies as creative, faithful, and transformative interpreters of deep tradition, and unmistakable contributions to a more just and free world.

Jon Pahl is the Peter Paul and Elizabeth Hagan Professor of the History of Christianity at United Lutheran Seminary, Gettysburg/Philadelphia. He has also taught at Valparaiso, Temple, and Princeton Universities. Jon received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, and is the author or editor of seven books, including the first critical biography in English of the controversial Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, entitled Fethullah Gulen: A Life of Hizmet–Why a Muslim Scholar in Pennsylvania Matters to the World. Jon teaches mostly on-line these days, and lives on a lake in Clintonville, Wisconsin with his wife of 39 years, Lisa, where he enjoys gardening, spending time with extended family and friends, and sitting in on the sax with jazz bands and gospel choirs.